Posted on 05/11/2013 9:48:45 AM PDT by Sub-Driver
CBS Anchor: 'We Are Getting Big Stories Wrong, Over and Over Again'
"Our house is on fire."
Daniel Halper May 11, 2013 12:09 PM
CBS anchor Scott Pelley said at a speech at Quinnipiac University that journalists "are getting big stories wrong, over and over again."
"Our house is on fire," said Pelley. The video of Pelley's speech is courtesy of nowthisnews.com.
"These have been a bad few months for journalism," he added. "We're getting the big stories wrong, over and over again."
The CBS newsreader was quick to take at least partial blame. "Let me take the first arrow: During our coverage of Newtown, I sat on my set and I reported that Nancy Lanza was a teacher at the school. And that her son had attacked her classroom. It's a hell of a story, but it was dead wrong. Now, I was the managing editor, I made the decision to go ahead with that and I did, and that's what I said, and I was absolutely wrong. So let me just take the first arrow here."
And Pelley said the republic relies on the quality of the news business. "Democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism," said Pelley. "America is strong because its journalism is strong. That's how democracies work. They're only as good as the quality of the information that the public possesses. And that is where we come in."
Yeah but think how much different things would be if we had an honest media. Obama wouldn’t be potus that’s for sure.
Mary Mapes could not be reached for comment...
Well, I agree with you completely, but right now we have a failure in journalism that is creating a woefully ignorant populous. Yes, the burden ultimately is on the people to become knowledgeable, but the entities that have long been trusted to provide news and information have evolved into an arm of the ruling big government liberals. They are creating a falsified reality for too many Americans.
This is not new, but it has become much worse in the past 20 years. The press has long been biased, but now it is an intricate branch of the DC ruling class.
Zero intellectual curiosity. Determined champions of one ideology, regardless of the facts. An intertwined relationship where individuals freely move from the government branch to the media/entertainment branch. Marriages, friendships and ideological organizations that span both sides. Just today, it was shown that a high ranking official of the administration is related to the president of CBS news. This is a sick and perverted form of journalism in 2013.
Quite a mea culpa for one story. Is Lanza the only wrong story?
Only when he's alone in the room. And even then...
“Journalism is about covering important stories - with a pillow, until they stop breathing.” Iowahawk
Months? Did he actually say ‘months?’ How about years, or better yet, decades?
Intentionally, I'm sure. By putting on the appearance of introspection, it shores up the credibility of all the propaganda fables they DON'T mention. "See, we're very careful to watch that what we say is true, and we catch ourselves when we get out of line. Nothing to see here. Certainly no anti-freedom bias."
Also note that they carefully picked a case that wouldn't cast doubt on any of their sacred collectivist anti-rights government-sucking shiboleths. ("Gun control", unchecked immigration for anyone who might vote Democrat, Tea Party are evil and racist, expansive intrusive government in general, etc.)
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"These have been a bad few months DECADES for journalism," he added.
Wow! What a condemnation of America -- tying Her to MSM employees.
MSM employees are skid marks on Journalism's shorts.
We need to have the way it was before TV when cities had multiple newspapers.
We're getting there with talk radio, the alternate media and the Internet.. lets clear the air of the foul odor caused by MSM employees.
And you are still getting it wrong, try the last five years!
Along with that skepticism, aspiring journalists need to have the concept of objectivity pounded into their heads.
They will never truly achieve it, but they should always be on guard against allowing personal biases from intruding on the stories they write.
I find it telling that they don’t seem to be interested in why they’re getting it wrong (it’s obvious to us, probably to them too). It sounds like they’re whining about the fact that they’re required to get it wrong and are trying, in the process, to salvage a shred of self-respect.
& “wrong” isn’t the right word to use anyway - that implies an intent to get it “right.” The correct word is, “lie.”
And Pelley said the republic relies on the quality of the news business. “Democracies succeed or fail based on their journalism,” said Pelley. “America is strong because its journalism is strong. That’s how democracies work. They’re only as good as the quality of the information that the public possesses. And that is where we come in.”
Is that good or bad??? Are you patting yourself on the back or kicking yourself in the butt???
The bigger problem is, they don't look for the facts to begin with.
“We’re getting the big stories wrong, over and over again.”
(but who the heck cares as long as the public continues to believe then) is what he doesn’t say.
Those kinds of 'mistakes' happen in a breaking crisis. That's not why the press is losing credibility. If Lanza's shirt had been blue, if his mother was a waitress or a teacher or he played video games or was a democrat IS NOT of great national concern.
Pattern recognition matters.
Was Lanza - like all the other young mass murderers - on psychoactive drugs? Are antidepressants a factor?
And Benghazi - did our government choose to allow Americans to die? That issue matters to all Americans. It's not a crazy lone wolf when the whole Administration is in on it... Is our government been lying? And if this is a lie, what else?
Those are the types of issues that destroy credibility - not if some killer's mother worked at a school or not. Breaking stories have mistakes... happens. Bengahazi lies have been here for months...
Years ago newspapers were concerned they were losing trust because of simple spelling and punctuation errors. It was a totally self-serving and shallow excuse for the larger issue: that credibility was lost because of bias. CBS is doing the same. It's not small mistakes in breaking stories that's the problem. It's bias. It's getting stories that are fed to them by liberal sources. It's NOT having a diverse newsroom ( diversity of ideas not diversity of what people do in bed - or pigmentation.)
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