Ali Imam/Reuters
Pakistani Muslims in Peshawar protest a report, since retracted by Newsweek, that American interrogators desecrated a Koran.
Posted on 05/21/2005 9:39:07 PM PDT by neverdem
SO many Americans apparently now see journalists as self-interested, careerist and unprofessional that perhaps it would make sense for media executives to call up another group of bosses who once faced fundamental questions about their product: the makers of Tylenol in the 1980's.
After all, Johnson & Johnson proved that credibility, not to mention market share, could be regained after scandal - in its case, a series of deaths caused by cyanide-laced capsules some 20 years ago. Part of the strategy was to portray the company as a victim in its own right.
"We expressed genuine regret and took the hit, and made an honest effort to get the facts out," said Harold Burson, the public relations titan who advised the company's executives at the time. "And we tried to behave with the public interest at heart, such as reassuring the mothers of America that our products were dependable."
Compared with the news media outlets, Tylenol may have had it easy. It would be hard for the media to pitch itself as a innocent victim of its own shortcomings. And though journalists like to think of themselves as guardians of the public trust, too, opinion polls for at least two decades have shown declining faith in print and television news. Reassuring the public that these products are dependable, in turn, has proved frustratingly elusive.
Is it even possible for such an unwieldy industry to regain a healthy measure of public trust?
It may have seemed possible in the period of national fellowship after 9/11, but the prospects are doubted by image-shapers like Mr. Burson, pollsters and others.
"With so many media players and gatekeepers today, and the assaults on the media from people in power, the best each organization can do is try to improve its own credibility," said Tom...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
Ali Imam/Reuters
Pakistani Muslims in Peshawar protest a report, since retracted by Newsweek, that American interrogators desecrated a Koran.
(Denny Crane: "Sometimes you can only look for answers from God and failing that... and Fox News".)
I wish the entire staff of the NYT would take extra strength Tylenol.
This [ http://www.pamelashanteau.com/pics/Temporary_tattoo_leopard_spots.jpg ] makes as much sense as the media reinventing itself as trustworty.
At the NY Times it's company policy.
That "tell the truth" thing will never fly with the MSM. They'd rather eat poisoned Tylenol than tell the truth about their RAT puppet masters.
Novel concept: how about, rather than trying to behave with the public interest at heart, actually behaving with the public interest at heart.
Gee, who'da thunk?
Well, if they like this comparison, perhaps the first thing the MSM should do, is stop intentionally putting poison (bias, lies, etc) in their own product. Just a helpful auggestion.
It is impossible for a news organization to by unbiased, but the MSM is hardly interested in making even the slightest attempt. The media has one goal, to bring down George Bush and/or tarnish his legacy in any way they can.
That's a rhetorical question, right?
It's the bogus reporting and reporters that obviously have an agenda
Gatekeepers- That would be us.
The NY Slimes calls themselves middle of the road.....
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It comes down to trust
Folks trusted (in time) Tylenol to fix things and make them better
I doubt anyone trusts the New York Times and the other rags to fix things and do better reporting
They have a history of making the same mistakes over and over and over
WorkingClassFilth (Fun Fact: Did you know that NEWSWEEK has killed more people than Ted Kennedy's Oldsmobile?)
GREAT (and tragically true) TAGLINE!
"Reassuring the public that these products are dependable, in turn, has proved frustratingly elusive."
It's very difficult to trust members of an institution that lie and lie and lie, then say they really don't have to answer to anyone, then lie some more, then play word games instead of being honest.
I once had an ambition to be a journalist--even had my first job in journalism. When I saw what it was all about--gotcha--I changed fields of employment. Do not at all regret not looking back, and, I admit, look with disdain at those journalists who claim to speak for my right to know when all they're trying to do is perpetuate more untruth while protecting their backsides.
I'd say more, but wife says they need the pulpit back at the church.
Turns out that the Leftist media IS the poison in the "Tylenol bottles" America has been opening. Time to pull a lot of advertising off the MSM shelves....
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