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Shepherd Smith: Disappearing Journalist, or Hero?
Vanity

Posted on 09/05/2005 5:40:25 PM PDT by ventana

I watched Fox News over the last few days. I don't have tv, as of recently, at my own home. Self-editing in order to get to all those books that never get read when TV is a click away. Daughter needs a break from the easy entertainment, too. Been there, done that before; and read a lot! But, anyway, I was on vacation at the Beach with TV, and glad for it.

The news had us riveted to the monitor. The chaos was cataclysmic. What was happening? Were welfare blacks going mad? Where was the Governor? Was the government ignoring the plight of those in New Orleans? Was Bush in touch? What was wrong with the Mayor of New Orleans? How many people were affected? What was happening, what were they going through, what could be done? This was what was going through our minds. And we wanted to know: who could we trust to get us the real story?

Amidst all this Shep was great. He was human in the way he put a human face on what we were watching. He was a journalist. He had class. He may be possibly responsible for actually moving the rescue mission forward by hours if not days. We felt his palapable anger and frustration as he stood on the bridge stating, then grumbling, then lamenting, then bewailing the lack of action. He was a voice in the abandonment. He spoke to us, for us, and , most importantly, for them. His impassioned pleas and description, his true balance in the face of two sided finger pointing--wherein he explained that there WAS bad behavior, but there WAS ALSO a lack of response to human need that, he hinted, insiniuated a note of complacency, a complacency that might not have charitable origins, got everyone's attention.

Shep did yeomans work. He continued to point out that Aid was promised and Aid was not arriving. He put a human face on a catastrophe.He allowed his emotions to work in front of the camera for the good of his fellow man, knowing, I believe, full well he was compromising his Journalistic position as a professional above the fray. He did it to save lives. He is a hero.

Shep Smith should win a Pulitzer, and I hope he does.


TOPICS: Miscellaneous
KEYWORDS: foxbots; foxnews; shepardsmith; shepherdsmith
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To: bonfire

Yeah, I am with you. Sometimes I wanted to shake him. But, my God, Geraldo! "I am tearing my own skin AHHHHH!" That's what Geraldo came off like. Not believable. Shep, I believed.V's wife.


21 posted on 09/05/2005 5:58:32 PM PDT by ventana
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To: ventana

I agree Ventana. You'll get flamed, but who cares. Shep was a hero.


22 posted on 09/05/2005 5:59:26 PM PDT by Blogger
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To: mv2; ventana

Personally, I like Shep. I watched him for 14 hours the Sunday preceding landfall. So what if he got a bit emotional or passionate at times? He's human after all.


23 posted on 09/05/2005 5:59:32 PM PDT by proudofthesouth (Boycotting movies since 1988)
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To: ventana

By yesterday afternoon I realized that if I had been there, I probably would have been the female Geraldo!! :) (and he got on my last nerve!)


24 posted on 09/05/2005 6:01:08 PM PDT by bonfire (dwindler)
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To: ventana

Geraldo is great too, but you have to keep in the back of your mind- he's Geraldo. If he had acted any differently I would be disappointed.


25 posted on 09/05/2005 6:01:10 PM PDT by Blogger
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Comment #26 Removed by Moderator

To: ventana

I admire anyone who could endure the horror that was New Orleans before, during, and after the storm.


27 posted on 09/05/2005 6:06:15 PM PDT by ladyinred (Leftist=Anti American!)
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To: ventana

Did anyone notice after the medics carted Shep away in a straight jacket (I'm sure they did) the guy who replaced him was a Shep look a like only about 40 pounds heavier.


28 posted on 09/05/2005 6:08:10 PM PDT by Ditter
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To: ventana
Gone is the Dan Rather, Tom Bokaw, lockjawed Ralph Lauren talking head.

Yeah - now it's some brain-damaged poop in a plastic poncho with a backwards baseball cap on his head, standing out in the storm while his cameraman is hunkered-down in a doorway.

29 posted on 09/05/2005 6:09:39 PM PDT by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
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To: ventana

Hard to believe that Shemp Smith could have a national audience with his worthless "Around his brain in 80 seconds" show.


30 posted on 09/05/2005 6:10:01 PM PDT by RasterMaster (Saddam's family were WMD's - He's behind bars & his sons are DEAD!)
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To: ladyinred

cluelessness has it's advantages.


31 posted on 09/05/2005 6:10:24 PM PDT by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
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To: Ditter

LOL! Yeah, Shep had a rough time of it. But, that's the (cynic here) theatre of it. Surely we have all seen Network. These are the days we are living in. V's wife.


32 posted on 09/05/2005 6:11:06 PM PDT by ventana
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To: mv2

Sometimes he was overly dramatic but I'll give him a pass. He must've seen some really nasty stuff.


33 posted on 09/05/2005 6:11:32 PM PDT by Translates
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To: ventana
Under the conditions at the time, Smith reported the horror that consumed N.O.

Geraldo manufactured and staged his reports from the convention center. He is an entertainer and not a journalist.

34 posted on 09/05/2005 6:13:34 PM PDT by afnamvet
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To: ventana
When Shep first joined FOX, I was one of the few here who thought he deserved a chance. I figured he was young, but he would mature out nicely. He didn't.

I know that I won't forget what he's done. He has caused immeasurable damage and it was uncalled for ignorance on his part and on the part of the producer who put it on day after day.

35 posted on 09/05/2005 6:14:23 PM PDT by McGavin999 (Global Dumbing far more serious threat than Global Warming)
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To: RasterMaster
people watch shlep because they don't know any better. OR, they don't watch any of FauX's other performers and, so, think his show is pretty good.
36 posted on 09/05/2005 6:15:09 PM PDT by solitas (So what if I support an OS that has fewer flaws than yours? 'Mystic' dual 500 G4's, OSX.4.2)
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To: stocksthatgoup
I am looking to have the SS chip put on to my TV. It turns the channel whenever Shep is on.

Where can I get one of those?

37 posted on 09/05/2005 6:15:29 PM PDT by NautiNurse (The task before us is enormous, but so is the heart of America.)
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To: Translates

On his home turf too - he's from Mississippi I believe.


38 posted on 09/05/2005 6:17:47 PM PDT by 1066AD
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To: McGavin999

Lt. Gen. Russel Honore expressed solidarity with the frustration Shep Smith voiced. And he was a military man with Chain of Command and the ability to execute a mission. Shep was a bystander with just frustration to voice and no ability to act. He did what he could: he pleaded. Well, so anyway, you and I see it differently. C'est la Free Republic.V's wife.


39 posted on 09/05/2005 6:23:29 PM PDT by ventana
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To: ventana
Shep Smith should win a Pulitzer

Why, because he was able to shower & shave when no one else in New Orleans could? Because he was on the air day after day in his perfectly ironed shirts becoming unhinged? Because all he did to help was shove a microphone in people's faces as they came out of the water? Sorry. I lost the little respect I had for him when I saw his performance these past few days.
40 posted on 09/05/2005 6:25:22 PM PDT by looney tune
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