Axis of Inaccuracy

Accuracy in Academia ^ | November 15, 2012 | Malcolm A. Kline

[Academiadotorg]

One thing that journalism and the humanities have in common is that people don’t like either of them. Yet another thing they have in common is that journalists and English professors can’t figure out why.

“Americans’ distrust in the media hit a new high this year, with 60% saying they have little or no trust in the mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly,” the Gallup organization reported on September 21, 2012. Meanwhile, at the last Modern Language Association (MLA) convention, which this correspondent attended, the thousands of English professors in attendance could attend panels on topics such as “Making a Case for the Humanities: Advocacy and Audience”; and “Betrayal and the Function of the Humanities within the University.”

Two journalism professors from the University of Iowa think they know how journalism and the humanities can work together to bridge their respective credibility gaps. “There are no easy answers or game plans for what a remarriage of the humanities and journalism would look like,” David D. Perlmutter and David Dowling write in The Chronicle Review. “We are not asking the Gray Lady of New York to serialize Fifty Shades of Grey as a means to pay for its Iraq desk.”

“Rather, in a time of flux and uncertainty, bold experimentation is welcome and necessary.” Perhaps if English departments focused on more timeless works than Fifty Shades, the number of English majors would not be getting closer to the number of English professors.

Moreover, it is not the Iraq desk that is noticeably moribund at The New York Times but the Benghazi beat.

[RatRipper]

Two journalism professors from the University of Iowa think they know how journalism and the humanities can work together to bridge their respective credibility gaps. . . . “Rather, in a time of flux and uncertainty, bold experimentation is welcome and necessary.”

If your industry was not fundamentally set up to misrepresent, deceive and suppress those who would tell the unbiased, full truth, you would not have a credibility problem. Your problem is one of motive and dishonesty, not public perception. The public thinks you are a bunch a lying creeps because you ARE a bunch of lying creeps.

[JWinNC]

“During times of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act.”

[A_perfect_lady]

Humanities professors are among the slimiest creatures in the country. They are on par with paparazzi, lounge singers, personal injury lawyers, used car salesmen, Nigerian princes who offer business deals on the internet, and talent agents for child stars.