News media battered

The Oklahoman ^ | 27 September 2004 | David Broder

[PhiKapMom]

David Broder
WP Writers Group

WASHINGTON - .... The American news media have been clobbered.

...the news organizations on which people should be able to depend have been diverted into chasing sham-events...

...editors of ..., The New York Times and USA Today, were forced to resign because their organizations were duped by lying staff reporters, ...

...none of these damaging failures would have occurred had senior journalists not been blind to the fact that the standards in their organizations were being fatally compromised....

The first symptom ... began offering their most prestigious and visible jobs not to people deeply imbued with the culture and values of newsrooms, but to stars imported from the political world. Journalists learn to be skeptical -- of sources and of their own biases as well.... Politicians learn something very different -- how to please the public....

The way to the top of journalism was no longer to test yourself on police beats and city hall assignments, under the skeptical gaze of editors.... It was to make a reputation as a clever wordsmith, a feisty advocate, a belligerent or beguiling political personality and then market yourself to the media.

These hires were made by executives who themselves had little commitment to the solid and steady journalistic values that come from working a beat for a sustained period of time....

Any Texan with a grudge against George Bush and the National Guard who suddenly produced a purported photocopy of an explosive 30-year-old order signed by a dead man would have been treated with the deep distrust he deserved by the reporters to whom he offered his wares. And no professional journalist would have made a call to the Kerry campaign encouraging a flack to contact this dubious source....

[PhiKapMom]

This has been excerpted since David Broder is a member of the Wash Post Writer's Group -- that said, the link goes to The Oklahoman not the Wash Post -- why give the liberal Post any hits.

This actually is a very good article (except his biased reporting on the Swift Boat guys) about where journalists integrity came up missing in the MSM. Actually I took this to be a slam at the Clinton years and all their spin that reporters (readers) took as truth and never bothered to investigate that has continued today in biased reporting of this campaign and the War on Terror.

[PhiKapMom]

This has to be one of the first columns that I have actually agreed with a lot of what Broder has to say. Thought you would find it interesting.

[Grampa Dave]

[dirtboy]

This actually is a very good article (except his biased reporting on the Swift Boat guys)

This is actually SOP for Broder. He'll act like he's balanced and unbiased, but at the end of the day he still lines up for his Kool-Aid.

Any so-called journalist who calls the Swifties liars without specifically saying where they are lying is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

[marty60]

Frankly when the msm start whining I shut them out. They brought this on especially during the THINGs administration. They protected his sorry a** at every turn.

Maybe if they tried, who, what, when, and where, they might get a little credibility back. doubtful.

actually you know what? Good Riddance.

[NutCrackerBoy]

Another form of the piece was discussed here.

[PhiKapMom]

I agree on Broder -- that's why I snipped out his Swift Boat comments -- doubt if he would like what I picked out to post. Took me forever! :) That said, this was much better then most of his articles I have ready recently.

[keat]

This article was put up yesterday. You need to read it a couple of times to see that Broder is really playing the blame game. The title sucked me in as well but as soon as I read "...a scurrilous and largely inaccurate attack on the Vietnam service of John Kerry..." I knew where it was going. I really loved the part where he credited the MSM for uncovering the memogate scandal.

Broder is a rat and incapable of honest thought.

[The_Media_never_lie]

Any so-called journalist who calls the Swifties liars without specifically saying where they are lying is part of the problem, not part of the solution.

Good observation. I remember in the mid-nineties all the lamestream media had to do was lable someone far right, conspiracy theorist etc. and they could discredit everything that person or group was saying. I hate it when the lefties lable someone and don't consider what they are saying.

[MeekOneGOP]

“The ballad of Dan Rather” (“Beverly Hillbillies” theme song):

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1224680/posts?page=155#155

To: MeekOneGOP; Slip18; Argh; xsmommy; Gabz; VRWCmember

BALLAD OF DAN RATHER

(Think "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song)

Come and listen to my story 'bout a man named Dan,
The documents were fake and he didn't give a dam*;
He put 'em on the air, an' he thought he'd done the job,
But up from the web come a howlin' mob.

Blogs, that is.
Web logs.
Checkin' facts.

Well, the first thing you know ol' Dan's a-runnin' fast;
Made a false report an' it bit him in the a$$;
He said 'dog-gonnit, I done thought I'd get away!'
But it turned out to be his a-reckonin' day.

Busted, that is.
Red-faced.
Mud in the eye.

Well, now it's time to say goodbye to Dan and all his men;
And they would like to shoot you folks for turnin' them in;
You're all invited back next week to watch the Evening News,
And see which correspondent's picked to fill Dan's empty shoes.

Y'all come back, now, hear?

155 posted on 09/23/2004 4:15:51 PM CDT by TheGrimReaper

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Just so ya'll will know, I'm ashamed
that Dan Ra^ther is from Texas!

[TheGrimReaper]

BALLAD OF DAN RATHER

[Eric in the Ozarks]

His point about police beats and city hall assignments is right on. That's where good reporters develop their skills.

[Cboldt]

See also: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1228078/posts
See also: http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1227470/posts

[The Great RJ]

Broder misses the point. The media dinosauers have been outed not battered. They have been outed as being biased and condescending to their audience. Given other opportunities for their news and opinions the people are just giving their honest opinion by not watching their broadcasts or reading their newspapers.

[PhiKapMom]

I put in a search and nothing came back. That's why I enjoyed excerpting the article because there were parts that were absolutely the truth! By excerpting you get to the heart of the matter which is journalistic integrity is not found very often in today's national readers!

[PhiKapMom]

Look at the title that was in The Oklahoman and also the same was in the Norman Transcript -- that's the title I searched on so the others did not show up! :)

[Cboldt]

Look at the title that was in The Oklahoman and also the same was in the Norman Transcript -- that's the title I searched on so the others did not show up! :)

* Bump *

I am completely indifferent to the presence of duplicate posts. Just providing cross reference links for people who are interested in comments about Broder's piece. If you prefer, I'll refrain from that when you post an article.

[Richard Kimball]

BS from Broder. The journalism department is down the hall from me. None of them want to be reporters. They're crusaders. They don't want to cover stories or dig up facts. They want to write editorials. Reporters aren't the stars with the big contracts and their photo next to their column. How many reporters make as much money as Molly Ivins? David Broder? Ellen Goodman? Dave Barry? Other than Woodward and Bernstien, how many reporters (not editorial writers) can even Freeps, who are far more educated than the average populous, name?

[eggman]

The news media has allowed themselves to become advocates for a point of view rather than advocates for the facts.

[MeekOneGOP]

haha! Good one, Grampa! :^D

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Media Research Center:
Dan Rather on Bill Clinton:
"I think he’s an honest man."

   O’Reilly: "I want to ask you flat out, do you think President Clinton’s an honest man?"
    Rather: "Yes, I think he’s an honest man."
    O’Reilly: "Do you, really?"
    Rather: "I do."
    O’Reilly: "Even though he lied to Jim Lehrer’s face about the Lewinsky case?"
    Rather: "Who among us has not lied about something?"
    O’Reilly: "Well, I didn’t lie to anybody’s face on national television. I don’t think you have, have you?"
    Rather: "I don’t think I ever have. I hope I never have. But, look, it’s one thing-"
    O’Reilly, jumping in: "How can you say he’s an honest guy then?"
    Rather: "Well, because I think he is. I think at core he’s an honest person. I know that you have a different view. I know that you consider it sort of astonishing anybody would say so, but I think you can be an honest person and lie about any number of things."
    O’Reilly: "Really?!?"
    Rather: "Yeah, I do."
    O’Reilly: "See, I can’t. I want my government to be honest across-the-board. I don’t want people lying."

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