|
|
August 6, 2005Journalism’s recovery from coma?Sister Toljah owns the blogosphere this weekend, and she deserves to - she’s written a piece (filled with linky goodness) that gives some weight to the idea that the Mainstream Media is involved in a “pushback” against the blogs - she cites, specifically, the utter refusal of the Grey Lady, the WaPo or the networks to look into the story of Air America’s misuse of funds. Of course, the Air America story is not the first time the MSM has decided a story was not worthy of their attention. Recall, too, that the Eason Jordan assertion (made at Davos) that American troops were targeting journalists for killin’ got no coverage, nor did the challenge to John Kerry’s military records made by over 200 veterans. In the former case, Jordan finally made it easy for his pals by resigning from CNN before they actually had to report on him, in the latter case, the press went full-tilt “smear ‘em” on the vets and proceeded to carry Kerry on their collective shoulders as far as they could toward the White House. Recall, too, that were it not for a blue dress, the press would have been quite happy to paint a young White House intern as a “loon and a stalker” and a woman named Juanita Broaddrick’s credible interview with Lisa Meyer, wherein she recouted a rape by a future president, was spiked by a network until the “this is a stale story” talking points could be pronounced by the sisterhood of Eleanor Clift, Ellen Ratner and other “committed feminists.” So…it’s nothing new. The press, still stuck - mentally and emotionally - in the 1960’s and early 1970’s has shown itself to be utterly owned by the Democrat party and liberal interests, and their double standards and moments of selective outrage are simply SOP for the news industry. When it comes to reporting stories which are not in line with their agendas or which darken the bright narratives they compose for their favorites, the MSM have long-resorted to playing the “lalalal, I can’t hear you,” game. And they resent like hell the bloggers who are insisting that they take their fingers out of their ears and grow up. As to the craft of journalism - that doesn’t seem to be taught any longer in J-school - and indeed journalism never required a graduate school burnishment. It seems to me, as I watch the astonishing research being accomplished by a “non-journalist” like Ed Morrissey, and read the remarkable, reasoned prose of someone like Frank Martin, that the craft of Journalism is being resuscitated from a long and worrying coma. You would think serious journalists who love the craft would appreciate the waking up, but all too many of them seriously resent the intrusion into their slumber. For them, it seems, the news business was much more fun, and more comfortable, when no one was checking out a word they wrote, or breathing down their necks asking them why some stories are more newsworthy than others, why the report of a president’s poor treatment of women is less outrageous than the “haughty sneer”of a nominee to the UN ambassadorship, why the belief of a Democrat that Iraq held WMD is somehow more understandable than the same belief in a Republican, why the story of a highly-touted liberal radio show’s misuse of money meant for children is less important than the adoption records of the childless. The mainstream media has a means of redeeming itself - it could stop “framing” the news and simply start reporting it. It could begin to consider the “bad” news from Iraq only half the story, rather than the whole story. But I am not going to hold my breath. There is an insideous and immature bunker mentality alive and well in the MSM. And right now, they’re making sandbags. UPDATE: Chris Muir had a wonderful cartoon touching on this same issue, today. WELCOME: CQ readers! While you’re here, please look around. This weekend we’re also suspicious of the EU’s sudden concern about cleavage in the beirgartens, we’re learning something about suffering from An American Housewife and we’re reading some takes on Iraq that are not quite making it past the MSM filters. http://theanchoressonline.com/2005/08/06/journalisms-recover-from-coma/trackback/ 8 Responses to “Journalism’s recovery from coma?” |
August 6th, 2005 at 2:27 pm
What they resent like hell is not bloggers but conservative bloggers. They had no problem picking up from the story of the remark by then Senate Majority leader Trent Lott from the blogosphere. It it when stories they don’t want to report on gain traction in the blogospere that they get annoyed. If the majority of blogs was like the Daily Kos they would have been on the blog bandwagon instead of being annoyed by accountability.
August 6th, 2005 at 2:36 pm
> So…it’s nothing new. The press, still stuck - mentally and emotionally - in the 1960’s and early 1970’s has shown itself to be utterly owned by the Democrat party and liberal interests, and their double standards and moments of selective outrage are simply SOP for the news industry.
It’s not just news, either. Many non-political magazines have a lefty bent, as well. I’ve been looking through back issues of Popular Science, where they openly declaim “manmade global warming is not in doubt” and “there is total concensus” and, over in Discover, this month’s issue has a lovely piece about “arborial cultures vs. desert cultures”, which quite casually lumps Judaism, Xtianity, and Islam all into a gruel of indistiguishable homogeneity as all springing from desert cultures and having little real difference, compared to “arboreal cultures”. Nice timing, of course. When’s the last time you heard of a bomb in an abortion clinic? Someone assassinated for expressing moderate Xtian beliefs? Yeah, they’re alike all right.
August 6th, 2005 at 3:28 pm
The Turret Rotates…
The New York Post is reporting that Eliot Spitzer has opened up an investigation into Gloria Wise Boys & Girls club that provided $875,000 in loans to Air America. AA has deposited its first “payment” of $50,000 to an escrow…
August 6th, 2005 at 6:52 pm
There is an insideous and immature bunker mentality alive and well in the MSM. And right now, they’re making sandbags.
An elegant and apposite phrase.
In one of my earliest blogpieces, “Everything you wanted to know about Blogosphere, but where too busy updating your Blog to ask”, I comment on this special bugbear of mine, MSM, and their coverage of Blogosphere specifically. I wrote:
Obviously, it has escaped no one’s notice that many political bloggers are right-of-centre. Coupled with Fox News and AM talk radio, it must be a nightmare for MSM who never before had to deal with a concerted opinion, all feeding off of each other, as irreverent, intelligent, and articulate as many of the Vietnam-era cadre of journalists took themselves to be.
The worry here is that MSM will make blogging into some kind of neo-con bastion, where it’s anything but that. And yet, one already sees that slant happening. Why is it that politically-conscious progressives are called “activists”, but conservative ones are dismissed as “lobbies”, “special interest groups”, or as mentioned above, “lynch mobs”? Makes one wonder.
If asked what bothers me most about the snide attitudes by MSM, print or airwaves, is their underlying world view, which colours their coverage.
When you start off with their premise on things, and largely, you’re not the type to share it, your resentment boils.
Blogs just blew off the cover off this steaming brew.
They who love to report that Iraq is the cause of terrorism are not reporting that their bias is the great impetus for the Blogosphere they see today.
Cheers,
Victoria
August 6th, 2005 at 6:55 pm
Anchoress, is their a way of separating sentences or paragraphs in post-replies, that I am not aware of?
I have tried so far, all the HTML separators, without success. I just tried the one for paragraph, to try to space my long post out so it reads better. Nada.
Just wonderin’.
Cheers,
Victoria
August 6th, 2005 at 7:47 pm
Bunkertime
The Anchoress places the mainstream media’s non-coverage of the “Air Enron” scandal into context alongside other lefwing scandals they’ve avoided and concludes that there is “an insidious and immature bunker mentality alive and well in the MSM. An…
August 6th, 2005 at 10:05 pm
You remember things slightly different than me- the eason Jordon story was on all the news I saw, in all the mags- even on popular TV shows. Is there a liberal bias? Definately. Is it 100%? No, more like 60/40, according to all the studies I’ve read from conservative think tanks.
August 7th, 2005 at 12:56 am
I’d like to see your sources Stephanie…On the broadcast side(over the air and cable) it’s 13 to 1…
60/40 sounds like just FoxCable.
CBS was 93/07 in that University of Chicago study of last year.
The MSM refused to cover the Eason Jordan story until his resignation. And then all the stories were from the template of “shock and indignation…the new McCarthyism…why should he resign?