Ann Coulter can write whole books debunking the conspiracy theories of Objective JournalismTM - and it is as if nothing was ever said. For example, Treason discusses the lack of evidence, and the positive evidence against, journalism's theory of "McCarthyism." The reality of so-called "McCarthyite censorship" is that the evidence for the theory actually rebuts the theory completely.From JFK To 9/11: Why People Believe In Conspiracy (Sometimes Its Just Obvious, DUH Alert)That is, the only "evidence" of McCarthyite censorship is found in published complaints about it. Now if something were being effectively censored in America with its First Amendment, that censorship would have to suppress not only its direct object but the very fact that that object was being censored. Once absorb that obvious point, and all evidence for McCarthyite censorship evaporates. And what you are left with is the realization that the theory of McCarthyite censorship is a conspiracy theory - and the knowledge that to challenge that theory is to inspire publication of conspiracy theories about yourself.
NGOs and pundits know that unless they are prepared to go over the top, they shouldn't venture out at all. Talk to any public service leader - especially in the NHS or the field of law and order - and they will tell you not that they mind the criticism, but they become totally demoralised by the completely unbalanced nature of it.Here in America, we call it "Bush Derangement Syndrome." Here, it is received wisdom that the hurricane which caused such devastation in New Orleans some time ago actually was directed by President Bush! And that is simply an illustration of your earlier point thatThird, the fear of missing out means today's media, more than ever before, hunts in a pack. In these modes it is like a feral beast, just tearing people and reputations to bits. But no-one dares miss out.Herd journalism breeds utterly conspiracy theories such as the idea that Bush steered Hurricane Katrina to New Orleans, or that, having the authority to declassify the information, Bush clandestinely "outted" Valerie Plame's role in the CIA in punishment for her husband's opposition to Mr. Bush's (and your own) position on Saddam Hussain's interest in acquiring Uranium. Indeed, what is happening to Scooter Libby is exhibit "A" of "just tearing people and reputations to bits."But, it is important to realize, this phenomenon is actually not new at all, and is not generally a transient phenomenon. The same thing happened here, half a century ago, to Senator Joseph McCarthy - and to this day his name is a byword for evils which he himself neither perpetrated nor attempted.
Blair Slams Media as he Heads for Exit Door
MND ^ | June 13, 2007 | Warner Todd Huston