The wisest and most cautious of us all frequently gives credit to stories which he himself is afterwards both ashamed and astonished that he could possibly think of believing . . . It is acquired wisdom and experience only that teach incredulity, and they very seldom teach it enough. - Adam Smith
Half the truth is often a great lie. - Benjamin Franklin
Ping
My hat's off to other, more noble, FReepers who provide the spiritual, earnest and high-minded commentary.
It is amazing, though, how they view themselves. It's like they are the Vicar of Christ.
The Stone Age Press write stories for each other so they have to slant it towards the Rats and attack Republicans. That is the only way their overinflated egos are satisfied.
Pray for W and Our Troops
What is wrong with the press?
They've gotten lazy. Or, maybe being charitable, they no longer have the resources to do quality journalism.
Most reporters simply push "facts" into "template" and then rush the story to print. This is the course of least resistance... they know their editor will like the formula story, and the editor doesn't like any more effort on a story than is necessary. The editor figures that the formula story has "always sold" so therefore it will sell again.
There are exceptions of course, but I've just covered 95% of the news stories that I see and hear.
Fortunately, the MSM has run into people who don't need to stick to a formula, don't have an editor trying to crank out content with the least amount of effort, and are well-trained in spotting biased formulas.
"What's wrong with the press?" is that they have chosen sides. Much like the justice system the press should be neutral in its pursuit of truth.
I watched it too. Hlen insisting that whe and others write 'the truth'...It was interesting.
"What is wrong with the press?"
For a much shorter answer try asking the question, " What is RIGHT with the press " !!!
What's RIGHT with the press?
Bump! The problem with the press is that it lies and it's mostly stupid.
What wrong with the Press?
I would say helen thomas is a walking advertisement for what is wrong with the Press.
The Press isnt there to make their lifes work a partisan effort to criticise anything done by an administration they dont agree with.
The Press is supposed to report what is happening fairly and unbiased.
Helen Thomas is anything BUT fair and unbiased.
What is wrong with the press? I see four big problems.
First is perception: Of course, the press "presses" that wrong perception to its own advantage but it is an erroneous perception. No one is completely objective but the press pretends to such omniscience and encourages us to believe they are totally objective. Other points of view are either ignored or villified.
Second, the nature of the business. The press, as in the MSM, exists to make money. It must do so by increasing readership numbers and thereby attracting advertisers. Reporters, news readers and others don't like this crass characterization of their "high-minded" profession but the bottom line rules all.
In order to salve their consciences and appear noble, reporters kick against this reality and pretend that they are above such concerns. One way they do this is to convince media moguls that "public issues" must have some play in the publication/broadcast. But it must be accomplished without hurting the bottom line so the press must find issues such as social justice or "we're looking out for the little guy" stories to buttress their pretense while not driving away their advertisers. Reporters therefore, while proclaiming to be dedicated to "the truth", constantly search for something to hold up their fantasy.
Third, the Watergate Effect. Part of the problem can be traced back to Woodward and Bernstein, who romanticized the idea of a reporter taking on the government and bringing it down. The journalism students which entered school before Watergate and after Watergate were markedly different in their ideas of the role of a reporter. While pre-Watergate journalism students were largely motivated by informing the public, the post-Watergate students were often drawn by the idea of power and influence. That is a broad generalization but having my own journalism studies spanning that period I can at least attest anecdotally to the effect of Watergate.
Lastly, exclusivity. Journalists tend to be exclusive. Where long ago journalists saw themselves as making large numbers of friends and contacts among the newsmakers, now journalists see newsmakers as adversaries to be brought down should they get too uppity. The result is a narrowing of the points of view to which a journalist is exposed in his or her everyday life. Some ninety percent of journalists are liberal and that is the point of view with which they surround themselves. Since so many around them hold the same point of view, why, obviously, only an idiot would believe otherwise. Add to this the heavy concentration of Northeastern liberals in positions of power in the MSM and you have ignorance of most of America and its concerns and a serious tilting in favor of stories about or concerning the Northeast.
Actually these are just a few of the problems. I didn't see the program. Were any of these issues discussed by the panelists? If not, they are still living in a fantasyland.
I watched that CSPAN show.
The press that they are talking about believes the Iraq war to be a folly and blames itself for not asking the so-called tough questions. They also believe the Islamic threat to be something amorphous and any US reaction to it as "unfair".
Because they learned "truth to power" in college, they have nothing buy disdain for power, legitimate or illegitimate.
They are cynics, not skeptics. They believe in nothing but some kind of unattainable perfection. They live with a smug attitude of self-satisfied angst because they see that the world is so unfair and that they are the enlightened ones fighting against it. In short, apocalyptics.
Unfortunately, they really don't know what to think about the reality that Iran is willing to start lobbing nukes all over the Middle East. They don't believe Saddam would happily have done the same. And they have no regard for the dismantling (hopefully) of the AQ Kahn network.
In effect the intellectual elite is a cult of atheist apocalyptics, locked in a battle with Muslim apocalyptics that they don't believe in, because they don't believe in anything.
An neutral, independent, highly critical press, willing and able to challenge the credibility of any administration, politician or policy is a good thing. What is wrong with the press is that they have chosen sides in the political process and openly support one party while openly hostile to the other.
Thanks for linking "Why Broadcast Journalism is Unnecessary an Illegitimate" in your post. OUTSTANDING thread for anyone who has not read it BUMP!
Well it's quite simple, they voted for BJ Clinton and it wasn't their fault. So they feel free to lie about everything to prove themselves right.
Howard Dean's version of the truth as read by Dan Rather.
Nothing.
Not a damned thing.
The media's what they are.
The media does as they please.
The media's pleased with what they do.
Period.
The media in The United States of America doesn't owe anyone a thing, nada, nyet.
The media proves that repeatedly each & every day and in a hundred different ways.
Why anyone would believe the media -- whatever form -- is compelled to be "fair" and/or "Honest" with anything is perplexing, to say the least.
Where're the rules governing the LSmedia written?
Is the lamestream media's behavior dictated in the Constitution? No, of course not. Only rules I know of describe what the LSmedia can do with complete immunity, their first Amendment rights.
So.
Whatever one sees/hears from the LSmedia, that's what one gets.
No more & no less.
LSMedia has never covered up what they are, not to those who could read.
Never denied what they stand for, not for those who could see.
People irked by the LSmedia are the same people who refuse to believe what their own eyes see & ears hear.
How does one fix that?
What the LSmedia really is -- to those who claim to watch 'em -- is no secret, no mystery.
...none a'tall.