There is no substitute for integrity! The ongoing reporting of the New York Times, the Washington Post and, yes, even the Wall Street Journal, are what serve to keep us a free nation.
I hope that Tim Tai can be awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize for upholding the highest standards of professional journalism; perhaps the inscription on his award can be "The truth shall set you free." Something that Melissa Clark apparently never learned.
I hope that Tim Tai can be awarded an honorary Pulitzer Prize for upholding the highest standards of professional journalism; perhaps the inscription on his award can be "The truth shall set you free." Something that Melissa Clark apparently never learned.
2
One may observe that the sky is blue while Fox News asserts that the sky is olive green and anyone who says it's blue is a professional liar for the mainstream media, while The New York Times reports that there are two sides to the story. It's all extremely depressing.
Professor Click lost her temper in a stressful situation, then promptly apologized and resigned from the university — and this is destroying journalism how, exactly? This is comparable to the powerful, all-pervasive right-wing noise machine in what conceivable way?
Professor Click lost her temper in a stressful situation, then promptly apologized and resigned from the university — and this is destroying journalism how, exactly? This is comparable to the powerful, all-pervasive right-wing noise machine in what conceivable way?
8
When I was younger, I wanted to be a journalist, because I felt I would always be safe. Who would harm the person who held the only chance of getting your story told and out to the public where one might understand? (Not so anymore!) Well, I played (what else can I call it with little formal training) reporter and I loved it --- but it's not what anyone thinks. In a small town you might find yourself at a ballpark without any knowledge of baseball (my "Field of Dreams") or out in the flooded countryside without a restroom. Then, I learned to never call an advertiser's property an eyesore. And, this is where the trouble begins.
3
The 'absurd moment' Mr Egan mentions is actually beyond absurd: it is chilling. I am an old hand at covering riots and demonstrations, but seeing the 6-odd minute video [shot by student journalist Mark Schierbecker] in its entirety, with Click's astonishing coda, left me stunned. Fact-check: Click is not in the justly-famed school of journalism; she is in the 'school of communication', with expertise in arcana such as sexuality in the Twilight series, and Lady Gaga. She had a courtesy appointment in the J school which she promptly resigned while its faculty were meeting to decide what to do about her.
Whether one is more or less sympathetic to the '1950' movement, or to Lukianoff's anti-coddling position, a thoughtful American must recoil in horror at the Red-Guard style of suppression of public, opposed speech (Yale's wealthy “shrieking girl”--not my phrase) or, far worse, the overt, blunt-force threat that Click represented, not just to a journalist or to a student journalist, but to anyone exercising his right to be in a public space.
This kind of presence simply cannot be explained away. Yale philosophers can give spirited defenses of the “oppressed” raising their voices to be heard, and have; but I do not think that in Constitution-driven public discourse we need to accept blunt-force threats of 'muscle' against journalists.
Whether one is more or less sympathetic to the '1950' movement, or to Lukianoff's anti-coddling position, a thoughtful American must recoil in horror at the Red-Guard style of suppression of public, opposed speech (Yale's wealthy “shrieking girl”--not my phrase) or, far worse, the overt, blunt-force threat that Click represented, not just to a journalist or to a student journalist, but to anyone exercising his right to be in a public space.
This kind of presence simply cannot be explained away. Yale philosophers can give spirited defenses of the “oppressed” raising their voices to be heard, and have; but I do not think that in Constitution-driven public discourse we need to accept blunt-force threats of 'muscle' against journalists.
19
Extremely funny that university Professor ; however neither out of the ordinary nor the subnormal,deemed normal by many, of a nation state that practically treads the same thorough fare of hypocrisy, fabrications and blazen lying and self contradiction while in the full knowledge of its utter contradiction and rabid negation of what it preaches.......world wide!
Lauding democracy the USA does not flinch from accommodating the most oppressive regimes and hailing them as trusted allies.
Lauding anti Semitism the USA dares not NOT basing it policy on supporting and upholding the most racial regimes including the self proclaimed Apartheid South Africa ( the USA was the last major state o boycott ithalfheatedly) and its present day emulator Israel well on its way to adopt it fully re its Arab "citizens" and it's black citizens as well
The said Professor can base its defense on the sound basis that she was only following national policy...sad as that would be it would, nevertheless, be true!
Lauding democracy the USA does not flinch from accommodating the most oppressive regimes and hailing them as trusted allies.
Lauding anti Semitism the USA dares not NOT basing it policy on supporting and upholding the most racial regimes including the self proclaimed Apartheid South Africa ( the USA was the last major state o boycott ithalfheatedly) and its present day emulator Israel well on its way to adopt it fully re its Arab "citizens" and it's black citizens as well
The said Professor can base its defense on the sound basis that she was only following national policy...sad as that would be it would, nevertheless, be true!
3
"Real reporters have been replaced with fake reporters.". Totally agree. Serious journalism, as a profession, has been sullied beyond belief. Edward Murrow would be aghast. As to Ms. Click, she embodied everything I ever saw during my own time at University of Missouri Columbia, racism, sexism, and anything that would prevent true journalists from objective reporting. I see after 30+ years, Ms. Click affirmed that nothing had changed at UMC. Boo Tigers.
9
As someone brought up in the partisan press environment in the UK where even "news" articles have a slant depending on the political proclivities of the newspaper, it has always been refreshing to read US newspapers that clearly try to divide their news pages from their editorial content. So one can read interesting analysis and investigatory work in the likes of the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times that is generally free of any manifest bias.
The same is true to some extent with TV news except for Fox which has an obvious tilt. The right-wing in this country has come to think of any media that does not share their own outrage and biases as "liberal" but the truth is the media in this country will go for the throat no matter what party the target is from - as Bill Clinton can surely attest.
If paranoia is a feature of the Right, then political correctness is becoming so on the Left and particularly on our university campuses. Our universities are the very places where we need to hear every voice especially the ones expressing views with which we heartily disagree.
The same is true to some extent with TV news except for Fox which has an obvious tilt. The right-wing in this country has come to think of any media that does not share their own outrage and biases as "liberal" but the truth is the media in this country will go for the throat no matter what party the target is from - as Bill Clinton can surely attest.
If paranoia is a feature of the Right, then political correctness is becoming so on the Left and particularly on our university campuses. Our universities are the very places where we need to hear every voice especially the ones expressing views with which we heartily disagree.
8
Not our paper, the Albuquerque Journal. In a city with 80% Democrats our newspaper is the most conservative in any city I've lived in: San Diego, Honolulu, even Phoenix. The editor is in love with the Koch Brothers and our doc in the box lawyer Republican Governor Martinez. They rarely publish comments from the public from anyone but hysterical conservative twits and evangelical women haters. To this day they still go after Bill Richardson even though he left the governorship five years go. Only glowing lies about Martinez. I don't even read it anymore, and probably miss some local news.
9
What was Ms or Dr. Click thinking? I saw that video and was horrified that an academic would act like a thug towards a student reporter who has every right to be in the public space of a university, that is also "his" space. I hope she is fired. This has been a problem with many academic appointments. Many smart minorities get only the Adjunct positions, while idiots like Dr. Click end up as Assistant Professors.
Some of these faculty think if they join every activity, disagreement and protest by students they will get a good assessment, and they'll get hired through "great student evaluations". That's not how academe is supposed to work. Learning is not always easy or fun or comfortable. And faculty should not all be just entertaining, likable and agreeable. And faculty can join protests without acting like thugs.
Schools of journalism? Don't get me started. Some of the worst performing students get admitted to this program. They are not that bright, motivated or hard working, and many come into journalism because they want to be "Anderson Cooper", or some pretty talking female face earning huge money on TV.
We don't have to go back to the old patriarchal, racist and colonial so-called-glory days of journalism or academics. But we should not accept the current mess either.
We certainly need more, and better, qualitative researchers in every field, except for SEM...even in technology.
Some of these faculty think if they join every activity, disagreement and protest by students they will get a good assessment, and they'll get hired through "great student evaluations". That's not how academe is supposed to work. Learning is not always easy or fun or comfortable. And faculty should not all be just entertaining, likable and agreeable. And faculty can join protests without acting like thugs.
Schools of journalism? Don't get me started. Some of the worst performing students get admitted to this program. They are not that bright, motivated or hard working, and many come into journalism because they want to be "Anderson Cooper", or some pretty talking female face earning huge money on TV.
We don't have to go back to the old patriarchal, racist and colonial so-called-glory days of journalism or academics. But we should not accept the current mess either.
We certainly need more, and better, qualitative researchers in every field, except for SEM...even in technology.
9
I hope, one day, The Hague will judge Ruppert for his crimes against humanity.
Fox News is a bizarre experiment made to prove Democracy can be control by even the most simplistic way possible: - Ignorance and Lies.
Fox News is a bizarre experiment made to prove Democracy can be control by even the most simplistic way possible: - Ignorance and Lies.
30
Speaking as a journalist in New Hampshire I would be delighted to earn $44,360 a year. In this state our newspapers have set records not only for low wages but also for not giving raises for years--and reporting staffs have been cut by more than half. People who take up this profession are definitely not in it for the money--unlike the smug talking heads on cable TV.
I think people who hear politicians calling the "media" liars or liberal flunkies should ask themselves why nearly everyone -- outside of Fox News, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal (same people as Fox News) and Rush Limbaugh -- reports the same thing, and that includes the foreign press. It's like climate change--the fact that only 2 out of 100 scientists has reservations about it is pretty convincing proof that it's real. In my experience at least6 2 percent of any group either doesn't have a clue about a given subject and/or doesn't care.
Let's face it. It's a political strategy: if you can discredit the messenger or kill him, you control the narrative. It's as simple and scary as that.
I think people who hear politicians calling the "media" liars or liberal flunkies should ask themselves why nearly everyone -- outside of Fox News, the editorial page of the Wall Street Journal (same people as Fox News) and Rush Limbaugh -- reports the same thing, and that includes the foreign press. It's like climate change--the fact that only 2 out of 100 scientists has reservations about it is pretty convincing proof that it's real. In my experience at least6 2 percent of any group either doesn't have a clue about a given subject and/or doesn't care.
Let's face it. It's a political strategy: if you can discredit the messenger or kill him, you control the narrative. It's as simple and scary as that.
43
Nacky Loeb?
There is no way a free journalist can earn that money, minuscule as it is compared to money "mechanics", without towing the line and obeying the grand master who owns his medium.
Capitalist ownership of media makes of it another tool in their voracious appetite for more and more.
The writer of this comment must be aware that one of the last bastions of free journalism and ouditry, Le Monde, fell lately
Capitalist ownership of media makes of it another tool in their voracious appetite for more and more.
The writer of this comment must be aware that one of the last bastions of free journalism and ouditry, Le Monde, fell lately
1
It's so disheartening to be a journalist these days. I am one. I try and be courageous and report things that need to be reported. But I am attacked on all fronts.
There are the advertisers, who email us to insist that they are presented a certain way. My publisher, who was once so brave, cowers. How could he not? These people are our paymasters.
There are the interviewees, who are angry that I haven't reported the spin that they gave me. The bigger and more significant the company, the angrier they get. They see it as their right, to control what I write. If they're not confident that I'm on their side, they won't give me an interview.
Then there is the general public. My friends, my family. They all complain about the media. They think what I do is worthless. They couldn't care less if the entire fourth estate collapsed tomorrow, because they think my efforts - and the efforts of journalists like me - are a big trick.
The media relies on the goodwill of people like me, willing to work hard for minimum wage. Well, no more. My colleagues are all bailing out and becoming spin doctors. Guess what, cynics? You won. You've driven us out. But I guess you won't miss our efforts to hold the powerful accountable.
There are the advertisers, who email us to insist that they are presented a certain way. My publisher, who was once so brave, cowers. How could he not? These people are our paymasters.
There are the interviewees, who are angry that I haven't reported the spin that they gave me. The bigger and more significant the company, the angrier they get. They see it as their right, to control what I write. If they're not confident that I'm on their side, they won't give me an interview.
Then there is the general public. My friends, my family. They all complain about the media. They think what I do is worthless. They couldn't care less if the entire fourth estate collapsed tomorrow, because they think my efforts - and the efforts of journalists like me - are a big trick.
The media relies on the goodwill of people like me, willing to work hard for minimum wage. Well, no more. My colleagues are all bailing out and becoming spin doctors. Guess what, cynics? You won. You've driven us out. But I guess you won't miss our efforts to hold the powerful accountable.
26
Well of course the uber leader wages of 1% media elite, or corporate CEO's are not reduced by the occasional appearance of an immigrant from Britain in their upper ranks! Please don't insult our intelligence, readers know that all the world's 1%s are by definition immune to the damages they cause.A British intellectual enculturated to demand his human rights from a rare in the world "nation of law" is not going to act like a desperate, illiterate illegal ... you know like the people that comprise most of our 10's of millions of illiterate immigrants that our holier than thou "immigration nation" 1% chanters exploit like plantation slaves. And pointing out how comically biased Fox News is does not change the fact that the rest of our media is massively biased in favor of wealth and power. They're just more skillful at hiding their manic propagandizing for the rich and the powerful using more creative different lies, deceptions and arguments, selective reporting and emphasis of facts than the comical political right is. How much substantive difference can there be when bipartisan gangs of 8 propose to amnesty 11 million, double legal immigration and still not enforce immigration laws in the future, and both parties scheme to fast track ever more manufacturing jobs to China and Mexico. The 1% media and political class are all members of the same criminal upper class who simply use different rhetoric to create the illusion that we actually have some choice in this fake democracy.
6
just one quibble. politics are so vicious because the stakes are so small. Well, if the stakes include a life-time salaried appt, then, those stakes are rather biggish.
4
In your larger point of the fortunes of journalism and the challenge of selling printed words. It seems that the handwriting is on the wall for their future. I am not happy but from the beginning of the nightly evening news and Edward Murrow's longer format, one could sense that a new force had being created to capture the eyeballs of the public and that ink would not recover.
Your article touched me because of the mention of I.F. Stone, who struggled to do his job despite failing eyesight. His dedication to facts for a cause put him on the pantheon of the written word.
What seems to be replacing the very difficult work of journalism. I submit it is the digital editions of the newspapers like the Times and the commentary when it a controversial issue containing both facts and opinion. Of course, it is a lot of reading but important.
I am hoping that the facts journalism will continue to help society reach the truth and get a better grip on reality. I don't yet know whether the new force is for good or not but I hope so. I can see though that for those that have the resources, their interests which may be narrow, can be served by the new media.
I try to pick out writers who make a difference and see how well they do. You are one, Paul Krugman is another. In the World of opinion, writers who can capture the public's attention based on careful recording of facts are important to the furtherance of humankind. Think of Silent Spring and Rachel Carson.
Your article touched me because of the mention of I.F. Stone, who struggled to do his job despite failing eyesight. His dedication to facts for a cause put him on the pantheon of the written word.
What seems to be replacing the very difficult work of journalism. I submit it is the digital editions of the newspapers like the Times and the commentary when it a controversial issue containing both facts and opinion. Of course, it is a lot of reading but important.
I am hoping that the facts journalism will continue to help society reach the truth and get a better grip on reality. I don't yet know whether the new force is for good or not but I hope so. I can see though that for those that have the resources, their interests which may be narrow, can be served by the new media.
I try to pick out writers who make a difference and see how well they do. You are one, Paul Krugman is another. In the World of opinion, writers who can capture the public's attention based on careful recording of facts are important to the furtherance of humankind. Think of Silent Spring and Rachel Carson.
11
The news was never objective, but reporters used to report the facts. Now they create a narrative marinated in their bias. Fox News certainly didn't invent that, and their news shows as easily as balanced as any in the Big 3 or CNN. The Left whines an awful lot about talk radio, but it is the only medium where they are not dominant.
The biggest problem I see with the with the press is the dilution of talent after the advent of the 24-hour news cycle on cable TV and through the internet. Much like major league baseball after the expansion, there are too many poorly trained journalists taking short-cuts to invent new angles on stories. All this leads to the deluge of opinion masquerading as news.
The biggest problem I see with the with the press is the dilution of talent after the advent of the 24-hour news cycle on cable TV and through the internet. Much like major league baseball after the expansion, there are too many poorly trained journalists taking short-cuts to invent new angles on stories. All this leads to the deluge of opinion masquerading as news.
6
Conservatives and republics don't do irony.
8
Rupert Murdoch is to blame for the whole mess. He's as rich as Croesus and couldn't care less what he has wrought. When someone like that controls major voices in a democracy, democracy is doomed. Just as Goebbels.
15
When Ted Cruz taunted those who believe in immigration reform, he said that if educated professional people were coming over the border then the press would be for building a wall to keep them out. But the vast majority of those coming across the border do jobs that most Americans will not for a wage they would shun. Cruz was comparing apples and oranges, and he knew it. But he, of course, is a lying demagogue. Moreover, he talks like the whole throng of candidates for the GOP.
18
Dear Mr Egan
I read Dr Krugman's blog, and his occaisional comments on the press; ditto Dean Baker and Brad Delong
and I think the question any reasonable person would have is: why does the press have as much respect as it does ?
you report, without context, what someone says; not one reader in 100 knows that the person said something different a few years ago
you report, all the time, numbers without any context or magnitude (quick: is a 10 billion dollar a year change in the us economy significant ?
NO)
I could go on, but what really strikes me is that for the last 100 years you media people were incredibly arrogant (anyone else remember how hard it was to place a classified ad ? we had to put ads in the Globe in the 90s; their attitude was you don't like us, tough, we don't need you rmoney)
andyou could get away with it cause you were a monopoly
well, you aren't a monopoly anymore,so we don't have to put up with your arrogance
when you recognize that, you will really be on a path to understanding the problem
I read Dr Krugman's blog, and his occaisional comments on the press; ditto Dean Baker and Brad Delong
and I think the question any reasonable person would have is: why does the press have as much respect as it does ?
you report, without context, what someone says; not one reader in 100 knows that the person said something different a few years ago
you report, all the time, numbers without any context or magnitude (quick: is a 10 billion dollar a year change in the us economy significant ?
NO)
I could go on, but what really strikes me is that for the last 100 years you media people were incredibly arrogant (anyone else remember how hard it was to place a classified ad ? we had to put ads in the Globe in the 90s; their attitude was you don't like us, tough, we don't need you rmoney)
andyou could get away with it cause you were a monopoly
well, you aren't a monopoly anymore,so we don't have to put up with your arrogance
when you recognize that, you will really be on a path to understanding the problem
1
If it was hard to put an ad in the Globe that's not the fault of journalists. That's the ad department.
12
What about the "fairness doctrine" eliminated by Reagan ? This is the major reason radical right wingers like Hannity and Limbaugh get to voice their nonsense unchallenged.
20
Sorry, what you want is an Accuracy Doctrine, and there's never been any such animal. Unless you count the body of law on the subject of libel.
1
Accuracy in media is an oxymoron.
1
Right on, bro. Ah for the days when reporters were paid a living wage and were respected even as they were sometimes loathed as they went about the business of standing in the rain or snow to get a story, or waiting on a hard bench for guys in ties to emerge and lie to them, or staying up all night to watch a legislature struggle for votes, or missing dinner while waiting by the phone for that essential, confirming call. By the way, Melissa Click needs a class in the right of all to be in a public place. Maybe she could take "Introduction to Journalism" at the excellent U of Mo School of Journalism.
15
Well said. "Professor" Click makes nearly $60,000/year in her job (this is a matter of public record) and her husband, Richard Callahan, who is also seen on video harassing those same students, and who is also on the university faculty, makes over $100,000 annually. I don't understand why they are still employed at Missouri. One of the students they assaulted has pressed charges. Good for him!
16
Tim begins evenhandedly, and rightfully criticize Click for her absurd behavior.
But he migrates to attacking conservatives and Fox news (climate change and minimum wage). What he fails to see is that these pillars of the leftist faith may not be substantial enough to build your church upon -- along with other things like racist cops target Blacks, women are paid less than men for the same work, etc., Obama is brilliant, big gov and big taxes are good.
Lefty news sources regard these as articles of faith not to be trifled with and any disagreement is heresy and based on out and out lies. There will be no debate. Oh we can vote for the dumbest repub, but that's about the only debate allowed.
A 2nd reason for beating on the press is their lack of curiosity about things they believe true -- like Obama must be president, giving MSNBC tingles in their collective legs. So no one on the left vetted his record and beliefs.
Another reason conservative beat on the press. Press biases are so obvious and juvenile, based on belief systems that have little basis in reality. Big government is good, ACA works really well. CC is happening now.
Which makes conservatives think that journalism is a profession whose practitioners lack critical thinking.
It also is a profession that treats math and statistics incompetently, selecting data that conforms to a narrative while ignoring unfavorable data
Hope that helps you understand why conservatives beat the press.
But he migrates to attacking conservatives and Fox news (climate change and minimum wage). What he fails to see is that these pillars of the leftist faith may not be substantial enough to build your church upon -- along with other things like racist cops target Blacks, women are paid less than men for the same work, etc., Obama is brilliant, big gov and big taxes are good.
Lefty news sources regard these as articles of faith not to be trifled with and any disagreement is heresy and based on out and out lies. There will be no debate. Oh we can vote for the dumbest repub, but that's about the only debate allowed.
A 2nd reason for beating on the press is their lack of curiosity about things they believe true -- like Obama must be president, giving MSNBC tingles in their collective legs. So no one on the left vetted his record and beliefs.
Another reason conservative beat on the press. Press biases are so obvious and juvenile, based on belief systems that have little basis in reality. Big government is good, ACA works really well. CC is happening now.
Which makes conservatives think that journalism is a profession whose practitioners lack critical thinking.
It also is a profession that treats math and statistics incompetently, selecting data that conforms to a narrative while ignoring unfavorable data
Hope that helps you understand why conservatives beat the press.
2
When a majority of scientists (over 90%) are telling us that climate change is happening and we will suffer much more erratic weather ahead, why do conservatives poo poo and mock? During the Bush administration scientists were effectively muzzled and not allowed to publish and speak about their findings. Why do you not remember that, and why isn't it important to you? There were so many incidents just like that happening, the consolidation of media and thus the expression of ideas and truths. So much hatred and distrust has been fostered by the likes of Limbaugh, Levin, Hannity, et. al., that conservatives are at the point where they will not listen to reason about what is happening in our country and would put someone as unqualified as Ben Carson in the White House. If you fear losing your freedom and liberty just wait until the monied interests finally get their hands on whatever is left of the SS trust fund and they dismantle Medicare. We the People have got to come together for our own survival and stop listening to hate talk. Some big govt programs are good, women are paid less for doing the same job, the ACA may not be perfect but it can be improved so all Americans can have healthcare. So many problems we face and inciting people to hate is not an answer.
12
I think you must get your facts from the conservative press. You think press biases are so obvious because you have a believe system, i.e., a conservative one, so balanced reporting looks biased to you.
5
I have several "hopes" for Ralphie:
1. He lives ON the coast in CT.
2. He is young, and lives a long, long life-----long enough to watch his seaside mansion floating toward the Georges Bank...the result of his (and his ilk's) refusal to recognize climate change when it is slapping them in the face.
3. That during that long life, he learns enough rudimentary math to understand that $0.76 does NOT equal $1.00.
4. That finally, that he learns that the four words "conservative media" and "critical thinking" can NEVER be used in the same sentence.
1. He lives ON the coast in CT.
2. He is young, and lives a long, long life-----long enough to watch his seaside mansion floating toward the Georges Bank...the result of his (and his ilk's) refusal to recognize climate change when it is slapping them in the face.
3. That during that long life, he learns enough rudimentary math to understand that $0.76 does NOT equal $1.00.
4. That finally, that he learns that the four words "conservative media" and "critical thinking" can NEVER be used in the same sentence.
7
Real journalists write about the Republicans silly climate denial AND about how Democrats have not espoused consistent climate-change policy (has Egan criticized Obama's opening of east coast and Arctic off-shore oil drilling? Obama's equivocating on the KXL pipeline? Obama's green-lighting of fracking? Obama's refusal to halt oil drilling on public lands?).
Yes it it difficult for earnest and ethical journalists to do their jobs. What is their job? ccording to the Society of Professional Journalists:
seek the truth and report it
minimize harm
act independently
be accountable and transparent
Not so easy anymore. Why? Pressures from what/whom?
1. We now live in a capitalist utopia, where the business models prevails. The business model is all about profit, market share, reduced costs--does truth have anything to do with this model? No, it's all about money, sales, ratings and advertisers.
2. Politicians favor propaganda rather than truth and especially these days. Political parties are all about big money, and big money is all about wealthy donors, and wealthy donors are all about successful business and financial people who increasingly favor Republican politics because that is the party that kowtows to business and the 1%.
3. Our media has been consolidated and a small number of media corporations control a larger share of news media and organizations--it's a business, not about truth telling.
4. To counteract the influence of money and business, many advanced countries have a true public media funded by taxpayer dollars, buy the GOP made sure to cut government funding for Public Broadcasting, which increasingly relies on wealthy and corporate donors (like the Kochs' involvement in WNCY).
Journalists are now mostly working for a big business where conformity and loyalty are rewarded, not telling the truth.
seek the truth and report it
minimize harm
act independently
be accountable and transparent
Not so easy anymore. Why? Pressures from what/whom?
1. We now live in a capitalist utopia, where the business models prevails. The business model is all about profit, market share, reduced costs--does truth have anything to do with this model? No, it's all about money, sales, ratings and advertisers.
2. Politicians favor propaganda rather than truth and especially these days. Political parties are all about big money, and big money is all about wealthy donors, and wealthy donors are all about successful business and financial people who increasingly favor Republican politics because that is the party that kowtows to business and the 1%.
3. Our media has been consolidated and a small number of media corporations control a larger share of news media and organizations--it's a business, not about truth telling.
4. To counteract the influence of money and business, many advanced countries have a true public media funded by taxpayer dollars, buy the GOP made sure to cut government funding for Public Broadcasting, which increasingly relies on wealthy and corporate donors (like the Kochs' involvement in WNCY).
Journalists are now mostly working for a big business where conformity and loyalty are rewarded, not telling the truth.
15
Mr. Egan is right. While the rise of the internet has brought much good to society, the gutting of the free press and professionalism journalism represents a huge cost to our democracy. Mr. Egan is right that the creation of the partisan media chambers has effectively insulated politicians from reality. It has amplified the power and influence of the fringe elements in both parties thereby making compromise all but impossible.
Unfortunately for the GOP, professional wingnut talkers like Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck and so forth are only tenuously tethered to planet earth. While they may be able to push the party in a certain direction (cynically it is merely a knee jerk policy prescription intended to antagonize listeners and fill their private coffers), it turns out that direction is over a cliff.
Thoughtful Republicans (maligned now as "establishment Republicans") now realize they have lost control of this tea party extremist mob with all of its jingoism, xenophobia, obstinance and conspiracy theories. Sadly they want to stop the show which has turned into a nightmare for them and yet the horror show goes on.
Unfortunately for the GOP, professional wingnut talkers like Hannity, Limbaugh, Beck and so forth are only tenuously tethered to planet earth. While they may be able to push the party in a certain direction (cynically it is merely a knee jerk policy prescription intended to antagonize listeners and fill their private coffers), it turns out that direction is over a cliff.
Thoughtful Republicans (maligned now as "establishment Republicans") now realize they have lost control of this tea party extremist mob with all of its jingoism, xenophobia, obstinance and conspiracy theories. Sadly they want to stop the show which has turned into a nightmare for them and yet the horror show goes on.
11
There is much to criticize in the press... beginning with the giant media-entertainment corporations (each with its own poll, thanks) and their huge take from the $15 billion election-industrial complex. Lawrence Lessig is right. Our politics is killing America.
But for a presidential candidate to require only softball questions or he won't play.... I say, let them walk. The fewer the better.
But for a presidential candidate to require only softball questions or he won't play.... I say, let them walk. The fewer the better.
10
It was those evil-right wing "fake" reporters who brought down the sainted "non-partisan" Dan Rather when he reported fake documents as real, not the trained world of professional journalists. How many scandals from the world of "real" journalists have there been since the rise of the Internet? Would Fox News and talk radio have found their niche had the "real" journalists of the main media outlets in this country been the least bit professional and non-partisan? There would have been no niche to occupy had the "real" journalists taken the time to do their job and report all the news, fairly, not just the news and viewpoints that fit their meme.
Journalism at its best should be held in high regard by all Americans, for it is an honorable and important institution in a functioning democracy that keeps a check on the powers of government. Instead, the biggest outlets became a cheerleader for only one side, opening up an opportunity for the other side to create their own partisan media. Here's a simple test that all professional journalists should employ - if you aren't periodically outraging all your readers at least part of the time by your reporting, you're probably not calling it down the middle. If you aren't periodically uncomfortable reporting a story because it makes your side look bad, you're probably not calling it down the middle.
Journalism at its best should be held in high regard by all Americans, for it is an honorable and important institution in a functioning democracy that keeps a check on the powers of government. Instead, the biggest outlets became a cheerleader for only one side, opening up an opportunity for the other side to create their own partisan media. Here's a simple test that all professional journalists should employ - if you aren't periodically outraging all your readers at least part of the time by your reporting, you're probably not calling it down the middle. If you aren't periodically uncomfortable reporting a story because it makes your side look bad, you're probably not calling it down the middle.
4
Reporters having upgraded themselves to "journalists" more often than not fail to perform the duty they claim for themselves. I do not refer to political bias, per se. Rather, their inability to understand numbers, data, statistical analysis, methodology, statistical and data massaging/manipulation, socio-economic conceptualizations, etc., etc., Yet, much reporting centers upon socioeconomic, medical, physical science research (including polling/surveys).
Without rigorous intellectual habits of mind to understand the limits, implications, warranted evidentiary conclusions, alternative approaches,
and much more, reporters will continue to receive critique and suffer legitimate accusations of arrogance and pretentiousness.
I have been interviewed hundreds of times on issues of public import. Almost never has a reporter showed the capacity for nuance, reliability, validity, or statistical meaning (even simple distinctions/interpretation of mean/median elude them.)
At an elementary level, for example, I have explained to reporters (Money Magazine, NYT, and WSJ, and others) that a longitudinal change in the median price of houses (up or down} says nothing about whether house prices have increased or fallen. Still, ignorance abounds as reporters nearly always use median home price to signal housing appreciation and depreciation.
On issues such as GDP, unemployment, inflation, foreign trade, "incomes", "wealth", "poverty", reporters befuddled.
Their desired story line prevails
Without rigorous intellectual habits of mind to understand the limits, implications, warranted evidentiary conclusions, alternative approaches,
and much more, reporters will continue to receive critique and suffer legitimate accusations of arrogance and pretentiousness.
I have been interviewed hundreds of times on issues of public import. Almost never has a reporter showed the capacity for nuance, reliability, validity, or statistical meaning (even simple distinctions/interpretation of mean/median elude them.)
At an elementary level, for example, I have explained to reporters (Money Magazine, NYT, and WSJ, and others) that a longitudinal change in the median price of houses (up or down} says nothing about whether house prices have increased or fallen. Still, ignorance abounds as reporters nearly always use median home price to signal housing appreciation and depreciation.
On issues such as GDP, unemployment, inflation, foreign trade, "incomes", "wealth", "poverty", reporters befuddled.
Their desired story line prevails
3
Who wants facts, they get in the way of our opinions. Opinions are more fun. Even if the reporters understood statistics the average citizen doesn't. A standard deviation important as it is to the validity of a mean, means nothing to the average citizen. It is easier to watch football, basketball, ice hockey or a talk show than deal with the complexities of economics, foreign policy, or the outrageous lies of our politicians or the purchased opinions of so called experts. Understanding the complexity of and the manipulation of modern society may well be beyond the understanding of the average citizen not mention the average professor. The sciences have propelled us into an era citizen democracy is ill equipped to deal with.
1
The mainstream press largely has itself to blame for the right's attack on their bias, because they are in fact biassed. Survey after survey shows over 70% of journalists to be Democrats, or to lean left, and that personal opinion has characterized much current journalism. Even the venerable New York Times, which I love, shows its left-wing bias in reporting stories both small and important. So why should we be surprised that the right wing has become so belligerent in trumpeting that bias? Bring back actual factual reporting, not laden with innuendo, snide commentary or oblique editorializing--if it can be brought back--and respect for the media will increase.
Although in the age of internet journalism and internet vigilanteism it's not clear we can ever go back.
Although in the age of internet journalism and internet vigilanteism it's not clear we can ever go back.
But what if reality has a liberal bias?
6
Bravo, C. Richard!
2
After the embarrassing moderators at NBC revealed their incompetence and bias, you are complaining about bias in the media. From Dan Rather to the current MSNBC and the at best vapid and at worst frankly deceptive mainstream media you are criticizing reporting that does not carry your particular political flavor. Objective, fact-based journalism is indeed dead on both the right and left.
1
Wages lower that the average worker? Welcome to an educator's world.
9
International Press Institute (IPI) fights for freedom of the press in a world increasingly dangerous for the press. My daughter, a journalism student at Indiana University Bloomington, interned there in Vienna, Austria this summer. She's a senior now looking to start her career. Your column makes me worry for her future!
2
"But elsewhere, in promulgating a create-your-own-facts media world, they’ve [Conservative media] made a mess of our democracy."
It's a rare occurrence that something in an Opinion piece makes me genuinely angry. I'll maintain as measured a tone as I can muster. Tim, this country's major media outlets, in failing to vet then Candidate Obama back in 07-08, did the single largest disservice to the American people in their profession's history.
In an understandable fervor to see the nation elect its first Black president, Candidate Obama's legislative record & inexperience were wholesale ignored. Questions on his general qualifications for the job went unasked. Deep, investigative reports, non-existent.
Tim, how do I know Marco Rubio's missed 34% of Senate votes this year while running for the Republican nomination? You guessed it! Media have (rightfully so) called critical attention to it on multiple occasions. The same media that ignored Senator Obama's missed Senate vote percentages of 35% in 2007 and 68% in 2008.
Tim, I often disagree with you, but very much enjoy reading your work. That makes this revisionist, incorrect & unfair statement that much more disappointing.
It's a rare occurrence that something in an Opinion piece makes me genuinely angry. I'll maintain as measured a tone as I can muster. Tim, this country's major media outlets, in failing to vet then Candidate Obama back in 07-08, did the single largest disservice to the American people in their profession's history.
In an understandable fervor to see the nation elect its first Black president, Candidate Obama's legislative record & inexperience were wholesale ignored. Questions on his general qualifications for the job went unasked. Deep, investigative reports, non-existent.
Tim, how do I know Marco Rubio's missed 34% of Senate votes this year while running for the Republican nomination? You guessed it! Media have (rightfully so) called critical attention to it on multiple occasions. The same media that ignored Senator Obama's missed Senate vote percentages of 35% in 2007 and 68% in 2008.
Tim, I often disagree with you, but very much enjoy reading your work. That makes this revisionist, incorrect & unfair statement that much more disappointing.
Media did not ignore Obama's missed votes. It just seems that the voters didn't care.
4
And yet Chris, President Obama for all his lack of experience has brought us back from the brink of economic collapse that we faced when he took office. And, he did it with zero help from the republicans. We are better off now than we were when GWB left office, that's a fact sir. Google all the ways, you may have to admit he didn't do such a bad job after all.
2
One British newscaster making more than the average American reporter is an argument for refuting Ted Cruz' brilliant statement on how an influx of undocumented workers can drive wages down for those who live legally in this country? I know, I know. The Times and its readers have an agenda. They call out the far right but fail to see their own illogical and biased ways.
2
Dr Click is not a journalism prof or journalist. She is in the Communication Department and the JSchool gave her a courtesy appointment so she could serve on thesis committees. The JSchool reviewd her courtesy appt and she resigned. To those of us in journalism, the distinction between "mass comm" or "speech comm" and journalism is -- to put a fine point on it -- the difference in Dr. Click (the resignee) and the student photographer, who is a journalist. Timothy Egan, a "contributing op-ed writer," should know the difference.
11
To call Limbaugh and Hannity journalist requires that you call Krugman, Maureen Dowd and David Brooks journalists. All are editorialists and all claim to be fair, honest and infallibly correct. Those positions are each demonstrably lies.
"Journalist" has become a dirty word to many because the profession (both MSM and Fox/talk radio) has turned to editorializing, and selective reporting or conclusions that attempt to tell the public what to conclude about each story. We long for the days of actual "reporters" and "just the facts maam".
The "once storied free pres" is also a once storied press that respected its readers and didn't tell them what to think. The downfall lies at the feet of the left of center group think in the MSM, which gave rise to a desperation for more balanced reporting that birthed the right of center Fox/talk radio.
Valuable insights come from both sides but each of us must critically carve out the news from the left and right spin. Today there is no honest press beyond local news and it is hard work to get to a balanced understanding.
"Journalist" has become a dirty word to many because the profession (both MSM and Fox/talk radio) has turned to editorializing, and selective reporting or conclusions that attempt to tell the public what to conclude about each story. We long for the days of actual "reporters" and "just the facts maam".
The "once storied free pres" is also a once storied press that respected its readers and didn't tell them what to think. The downfall lies at the feet of the left of center group think in the MSM, which gave rise to a desperation for more balanced reporting that birthed the right of center Fox/talk radio.
Valuable insights come from both sides but each of us must critically carve out the news from the left and right spin. Today there is no honest press beyond local news and it is hard work to get to a balanced understanding.
2
Only Limbaugh, if any of those,claims to be infallibly correct.
1
It starts with journalism schools. Today, many have been renamed "mass communications" and advertising, marketing and public relations come under their umbrella. In most of them, print journalism, the gold standard, has the fewest students. The schools are kept afloat by the other majors. Advertising, marketing and PR are NOT journalism and have no place in a J school. They belong in a business college. Journalism schools should be focusing on true journalism as described in the above article. And graduates with a true "journalism" degree should be paid top dollar for their skills. Remember, when a politician looks into her or his rear view mirror, she or he should see a reporter!
13
All good points to be sure.
Here’s another one: mainstream news outlets continue to engage in he-said-she-said reporting in political debate, perpetuating false equivalencies. Focusing so intently on the non-stop horse race of the primaries, the media could instead be providing more in-depth, fact-based critique of what the candidates actually claim and propose, and calling out falsehoods for what they are.
A persistence in reporting both sides of the story as if they were always equally legitimate utterly defeats the well-intended effort to provide objective journalism. The media not only provide a non-stop platform for endless falsehoods that have replaced legitimate fact-based argument in current political discourse—falsehoods that demonstrably emanate far more often from conservative partisans than from centrists and liberals—but in so doing, they further marginalize their own critical role in informed democratic governance. If reporting too often simply repeats what is demonstrably untrue, then it pushes itself into irrelevancy.
Here’s another one: mainstream news outlets continue to engage in he-said-she-said reporting in political debate, perpetuating false equivalencies. Focusing so intently on the non-stop horse race of the primaries, the media could instead be providing more in-depth, fact-based critique of what the candidates actually claim and propose, and calling out falsehoods for what they are.
A persistence in reporting both sides of the story as if they were always equally legitimate utterly defeats the well-intended effort to provide objective journalism. The media not only provide a non-stop platform for endless falsehoods that have replaced legitimate fact-based argument in current political discourse—falsehoods that demonstrably emanate far more often from conservative partisans than from centrists and liberals—but in so doing, they further marginalize their own critical role in informed democratic governance. If reporting too often simply repeats what is demonstrably untrue, then it pushes itself into irrelevancy.
9
Many protesters in the civil rights era were trained extensively in non-violence and various non-violent strategies. These included such challenging tenets as accepting suffering without retaliation and avoiding all forms of violence, including refusing to hate opponents. These characteristics are missing from the Missouri protests. While the intent is noble, the strategies are either naive or outright offensive. Those who proposed to protect the "safe space" on Mizzou's public campus from a working photographer, at least from the numerous videos posted on line, seemed to be enjoying aggression for aggression's sake.
1
Those non violent protests seemed to be missing from the Clive Bundy incident in spades. Those protesters brought along their guns and trained them on Parks Department workers. I certainly hope you were appalled at their behavior as you seem to be at the young students in Missouri.
1
The media have always been the arenas where the revealers battle the suppressers. This conflict is why the First Amendment needs so much defending.
As for the profession of journalism, it wouldn't be satisfying, or even any fun if it were easy.
Deep-digging journalism is a prickly pleasure to read unless it's my ox that's getting gored.
Apparently the good Prof.'s ox got it so bad, the reptilian part of her brain completely vanquished her frontal lobes. One could say the same thing about the Republicans.
As for the profession of journalism, it wouldn't be satisfying, or even any fun if it were easy.
Deep-digging journalism is a prickly pleasure to read unless it's my ox that's getting gored.
Apparently the good Prof.'s ox got it so bad, the reptilian part of her brain completely vanquished her frontal lobes. One could say the same thing about the Republicans.
4
In all these wars between the Conservative or Liberal Press or coverage of individuals or issues, both conservative and liberal, guess who are the winners ? Celebrities and Entertainment !!. Nielsen's Ratings are more coveted than 'Journalist of the Year Award' or 'The Pulitzer'. Journalists are hired not by their experience on the field and the quality of stories covered but on the scoops of sexual depravity of Politicians and Celebrities. Honesty is not a badge of honor anymore. Witness the sprouting of the likes of Brian Williams.But the fault does not lie with the Media either. The public is equally at fault, who has a voracious appetite for the skeletons in the cupboard and their need to be titillated. So the Press has to feed them what is they demand, because they need the jobs to feed themselves. The drying up of 42% newsroom jobs does not help the cause to improve but take the fourth estate profession to a downward spiral even further.
6
Interesting how the righties laud Tim Tai for doing his job after sneering and scorning Jorge Ramos for doing his.
At least Click only called for muscle and graciously and swiftly resigned her position for doing so.
Donald Trump ordered Jorge Ramos to be physically manhandled, after which Ramos was hustled out of a press room and told to go back to his country - despite the fact that he is an American citizen.
I guess righties only like free speech when Blacks and Latinos aren't the ones demanding it.
At least Click only called for muscle and graciously and swiftly resigned her position for doing so.
Donald Trump ordered Jorge Ramos to be physically manhandled, after which Ramos was hustled out of a press room and told to go back to his country - despite the fact that he is an American citizen.
I guess righties only like free speech when Blacks and Latinos aren't the ones demanding it.
7
Melissa Click's last name is ironic--many people feel informed simply by clicking on various web sources WITHOUT checking them for veracity.
In an age of 24/7 news outlets on video, radio, and online, where opinion poses as fact all too often, the role of education is KEY in enabling people to weigh competing sources for truth. This is why today's GOP denigrates fact-based education--and media.
In an age of 24/7 news outlets on video, radio, and online, where opinion poses as fact all too often, the role of education is KEY in enabling people to weigh competing sources for truth. This is why today's GOP denigrates fact-based education--and media.
2
As more and more traditional newspapers were gobbled up by Corporations, the message from the top down was on profit rather than excellent fair & balanced journalism. Just as a talented actor will choose Hollywood entertainment movies is they're interested in getting rich quickly instead of cultivating their talent by performing in various Shakespearean plays or film productions which require a high degree of expertise although fail to break a profit at the box office. The US has always been a rather plebeian population who thrive on yellow journalism, sensationalism, TV & low brow humor. This is in sharp contrast with more advanced countries who have a high degree of educational attainment & a much more discriminating audience of information. In Europe, it is expected that students will learn a minimum of three languages & thus, are able to quickly peruse information in several languages for news information. In the US, in contrast, beginning with William Hearst & the San Francisco Chronicle, the newspaper used its platform to manipulate the readers instead of informing them. Just as the NY Times & Guardian skew far left in social politics & far right in foreign policy & the Financial Times & Wall St. Journal are read by the people who actually own the country & dictate policy discussions. The current controversy swirling on a few University campuses is being amplified because it is sensational & thus readers will be interested similar to a new Kardashian "story".
7
Trace the rise of Limbaugh, Fox, et al, to the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine by Reagan appointees to the FCC, allowing propaganda and subterfuge to pass itself off as "news."
4
From Paul Krugman today in The NYT: "In fact, the failure of conservative monetary predictions has been so abject that news reports, always looking for “balance,” tend to whitewash the record by pretending that Republican Fed critics didn’t say what they said." Journalists haven't been doing their job, for fear of offending the right-wing politicians; the profession isn't just innocents under attack. And there is no "balance" in these attacks: their provenance is almost exclusively the Republican Party and its propaganda organ, Fox News. Who on the left is attacking non-propaganda journalists - except for some academic types whom ad hoc attack everything as opportunity presents itself? If there is a war on journalism it's been declared by the political and religious right-wing, and if some of us aren't rushing to assist in a defense it's because we see establishment journalism's failure to perform.
6
Generally speaking, Mr. Egan makes excellent points.
But he might have devoted some of this same thoughtful attention to Ms. Click. She seemed to me from the first someone simply caught up in the moment -- so full of the righteousness of the cause that she couldn't shift gears when the need arose.
As a former newspaper reporter myself, I can't excuse her behavior for a second. But the context felt familiar and that's something every journalist needs to remember. Nothing happens in isolation.
But he might have devoted some of this same thoughtful attention to Ms. Click. She seemed to me from the first someone simply caught up in the moment -- so full of the righteousness of the cause that she couldn't shift gears when the need arose.
As a former newspaper reporter myself, I can't excuse her behavior for a second. But the context felt familiar and that's something every journalist needs to remember. Nothing happens in isolation.
4
It used to be that reporters reported the news, as best they could discover it. The reputation of a news source used to be that it was accurate in its accounts of the facts. That changed with Fox "News" — suddenly saying anything that promoted the agenda became not just acceptable but applauded, even if it was demonstrably false. They are destroying this country by courting people who don't think critically and feeding them lies disguised as "reporting." And then millions of people are living in a fantasy world.
Is there even a job description called "fact checker" at Fox?
Is there even a job description called "fact checker" at Fox?
7
It's much more difficult to find in-depth articles, interpreting/parsing the obtuse language of the proposed (& worrisome) TPP legislation, than it is to avoid constant bombardment of celebrity fluff and inane viral videos showcasing extreme idiocy. News became conflated with entertainment with media cross-ownership (Comcast, Disney, News Corp, Time Warner, CBS, Viacom)—not beneficial for journalism or the public.
5
I think we need to create a new character on the national scene named Rash Lamebrain. Colbert has really left a void to fill.
1
One of the most frustrating things about journalism today is that it can't, or wont, separate truth from fiction as it attempts to achieve some sort of balance in it's reporting. On the eve of our invasion of in Iraq 82% of Americans thought Sadaam Hussein was behind the attacks of 911. This, of course, was demonstrably not true but you couldn't blame the average guy on the street for this misconception when you saw our vaunted forth estate all, dutifully, put on their helmets and imbed themselves with the fightin' whoevers and become part of the charade. We count on the press to weed out the important news of the day from the partisan spin rooms that exist only to obsfucate and distract our citizens. 9 Benghazi hearings, Death panels, half the Republican candidates, wall to wall speculation for three months on that downed airplane from Malaysia, Hillary's Emails, Obama's birth certificate and a slew of controversies and scandals that don't live up to their billing shows us that news reporting today is no more than stenography for those with the loudest megaphones. You can't be taken seriously if you're unwilling to be discerning when it comes to the truth. We've traded weight for balance.
4
In the end, in our form of democracy, we will get more or less the government we deserve. If nobody voted for them, these Republican dissemblers and knaves would be relegated to the debate at the local coffee shop. I am afraid that we, like an addicted person, might have to hit a bottom before we clean house.
3
So raising the minimum wages doesn't always cause job losses? That's not what the NYT editors believed a few years back, when they stated that the minimum wage should be zero. But then I guess the truth is relative, or maybe the law of supply and demand has been repealed since the NYT expressed its previous position.
2
To become a serious journalist nowadays, to be able to get the experience and clips necessary to impress potential employers, requires one to be "upper middle class" and effectively subsidized by their families beyond their 20s. (Or the alternative is to just make stuff up, which far too many do.) There are many reasons for this -- particularly that great job destroyer we all adore, the Internet -- but the main result is a generation of journalists who have no concept of the working classes and can't relate. Just listen to NPR and its daily "Look at these poor disadvantaged kids... They're reading!" story.
Two other problems: One, "reporting" is not sitting on your butt and culling stuff off the Web, but darned if this new generation realizes that -- their "bulls**t detectors," a crucial part of any worthy journalist's brain, have never even been turned on. Two, journalism and reporting used to be a trade, but somewhere along the way it was turned into a profession. A lot of great reporters attended college, learned by doing and listening. Nowadays one has to have a master's degree (usually learning from folks who couldn't hack it in the real world) and a load of debt to start -- unless they can afford it to begin with.
In the end, it's our own dang fault -- meaning we, the people. We express outrage until we get distracted by the next piece of clickbait. We get the politicians we deserve, and we get the media we deserve.
Two other problems: One, "reporting" is not sitting on your butt and culling stuff off the Web, but darned if this new generation realizes that -- their "bulls**t detectors," a crucial part of any worthy journalist's brain, have never even been turned on. Two, journalism and reporting used to be a trade, but somewhere along the way it was turned into a profession. A lot of great reporters attended college, learned by doing and listening. Nowadays one has to have a master's degree (usually learning from folks who couldn't hack it in the real world) and a load of debt to start -- unless they can afford it to begin with.
In the end, it's our own dang fault -- meaning we, the people. We express outrage until we get distracted by the next piece of clickbait. We get the politicians we deserve, and we get the media we deserve.
5
The balkanization of news services--so that each constituency/demographic can be provided precisely the news that it wants--coupled with the advancing science of 'influence' (i.e. manipulation), have created means of population control that at least rivals that of medieval religion.
Will we allow ourselves to be controlled like that? Some of us are clearly more resistant than others.
We need to find ways of confronting the lies and the mind control. Of supporting those (reporters in particular) that bring us the truth. And of assuring that we ourselves can learn the truth and have the ability to accept it, regardless of whether it supports our beliefs.
Can we do that? Yes, we can. I like to think that some of us have done pretty well so far--with the help, of course, of certain journalists: Egan, Krugman, Maddow, HIghtower, and a number of others come to mind.
Will we allow ourselves to be controlled like that? Some of us are clearly more resistant than others.
We need to find ways of confronting the lies and the mind control. Of supporting those (reporters in particular) that bring us the truth. And of assuring that we ourselves can learn the truth and have the ability to accept it, regardless of whether it supports our beliefs.
Can we do that? Yes, we can. I like to think that some of us have done pretty well so far--with the help, of course, of certain journalists: Egan, Krugman, Maddow, HIghtower, and a number of others come to mind.
2
"More than 20,000 newsroom jobs have been lost in this country since 2001 — a work force drop of about 42 percent." With Richard Murdoch purchasing National Geographic, loss of jobs and lower pay, the vital fourth estate is clearly under assault with democracy suffering as a result.
10
The future of a free press in America?
Ideally I see the free press as something of a seeing into all workings of society: A map laid on the table of society, or an aspect of it, operating in time and space so intelligent modifications can be made of it for future development. Report to see and know and possibly change for the better. But America today seems quite fractured within because of this or that competing ethnic group, race, religion, business interest, etc. and America is faced from multiple and fast moving threats from without similar to the threats from within but of greater danger and in greater number and diversity.
The result for America in such a situation is the psychological/philosophical response of simultaneously acting in secret period (in all directions) and imposition of a preferred belief or propaganda effort on society. To be clearer, many of the foreign threats directed at America require a response hatched in secret from America (from our collective security agencies); but many of our internal problems are of similar enough degree to require secretive action operating within the nation. The current and increasingly fragmented situation of America within and without is leading to more and more secretive action "so we have better chance of success against enemies" and vastly greater propaganda efforts infecting of course internal politics and all this is fatal to free press. A world of roving, secretive agency, manipulated free press and illusion.
Ideally I see the free press as something of a seeing into all workings of society: A map laid on the table of society, or an aspect of it, operating in time and space so intelligent modifications can be made of it for future development. Report to see and know and possibly change for the better. But America today seems quite fractured within because of this or that competing ethnic group, race, religion, business interest, etc. and America is faced from multiple and fast moving threats from without similar to the threats from within but of greater danger and in greater number and diversity.
The result for America in such a situation is the psychological/philosophical response of simultaneously acting in secret period (in all directions) and imposition of a preferred belief or propaganda effort on society. To be clearer, many of the foreign threats directed at America require a response hatched in secret from America (from our collective security agencies); but many of our internal problems are of similar enough degree to require secretive action operating within the nation. The current and increasingly fragmented situation of America within and without is leading to more and more secretive action "so we have better chance of success against enemies" and vastly greater propaganda efforts infecting of course internal politics and all this is fatal to free press. A world of roving, secretive agency, manipulated free press and illusion.
In all fairness, Egan does identify Ms. Click as an assistant professor, but mostly he refers to her as professor. In reality Assistant Professor Click was not even on that first rung of professional hierarchy, but a non-teaching "courtesy" appointment. She acted intemperately, but the situation points out the flaws of higher education hiring part-time, non-continuing staff, more than flaws in contemporary journalism.
8
Still, she has a degree in journalism, regardless of her titles and what rung she is on. It's not the position held as much as the education she has; obviously she did not absorb what she was taught. A failure.
1
Douglas Fisher - In all fairness Ms. Click may have resigned her "courtesy" appointment BUT she remains an assistant professor in the university's Department of Communication.
A position she should be fired from and would have been if she were a "right wing" assistant professor.
A position she should be fired from and would have been if she were a "right wing" assistant professor.
The University of Missouri has shown itself in much need of introspection, soul-searching and examination of conscience. Academic freedom can mean many things to many people, but what it should never condone is hypocrisy. Any institution of higher learning that considers the likes of Melissa Click fit for the faculty should be required to change its motto to "Do as we say, not as we do."
5
Egan: "So, climate change is a hoax, because Limbaugh says so. Raising the minimum wage always causes job losses — as Ben Carson asserted on Tuesday — because that’s what you hear on Fox. Both claims are demonstrably false."
You hit the "bullseye" today, TE!
What we routinely get from the "fake reporters" is nothing more than a "he said, she said" narrative. No facts are checked and no documentation from the politicians making absurd statement is required.
As a result, we get an "Alice in Wonderland" world where "Things are what I say the are."
So many of these "clowns" obviously believe that they are entitled to their own facts as well as their own opinion, a problem the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned us about some years ago: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."
You hit the "bullseye" today, TE!
What we routinely get from the "fake reporters" is nothing more than a "he said, she said" narrative. No facts are checked and no documentation from the politicians making absurd statement is required.
As a result, we get an "Alice in Wonderland" world where "Things are what I say the are."
So many of these "clowns" obviously believe that they are entitled to their own facts as well as their own opinion, a problem the late Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan warned us about some years ago: "Everyone is entitled to his own opinion, but not his own facts."
8
Let's not confuse journalism and entertainment. Rush Limbaugh and Sean Hannity are entertainers, not journalists. So long as they can attract (entertain) a large audience it does not matter to the network how outrageous they are. It's all about viewership, ratings and advertising income. It always has been. They are balanced by the likes of Jon Stewart, also an entertainer, appealing to an entirely different audience, but again for the same objective... to sell products. This is just one of many ways politics and business blend in our capitalist, consumerist society.
5
Minimum wage laws always cause job loss and a loss of future employment opportunities. Government laws by themselves cannot create wealth.
2
Your first sentence is demonstrably wrong. Why do you believe that? Do you have your own database of private facts?
Your second sentence is correct and not controversial. Why do you bring it up? I am not aware that any sane person on either side of this debate has made that claim.
Your second sentence is correct and not controversial. Why do you bring it up? I am not aware that any sane person on either side of this debate has made that claim.
3
It's the conservative media's fault? Well it's nice to know that the New York Times would never stoop to that.
What I find ironic is that liberal students are going after liberal administrators at Yale, et. They are attacking the very people who championed their position and effected change that worked in their favor
For example, where is it in this paper that the student that was having the hunger strike is the son of a VP for the Union Pacific Railroad? That his father's compensation is in the millions each year? That his parents live in a very affluent part of Omaha? Where is it that he's been a grad student for 8 years?
Where is a column debunking the student who claimed the KKK was on campus which he has now recanted?
Egan can mock FOX News but if memory serves they have the top 15 rated cable news programs and have consistently for years. MSNBC on the other hand has cancelled 7 programs this year.
How many columns has Egan written about the FBI investigation of Clinton's emails? I see no mention by him of that fact that the FBI is expanding their investigation into whether or not materially false statements were made by people who have testified and now they are doing their own internal review of the emails, essentially shutting out the obstructive State Department.
And how Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills among others are being forced to turn over documents by Dec 1st?
Egan, you only want the truth when you can decide what that is, irrespective of the facts.
What I find ironic is that liberal students are going after liberal administrators at Yale, et. They are attacking the very people who championed their position and effected change that worked in their favor
For example, where is it in this paper that the student that was having the hunger strike is the son of a VP for the Union Pacific Railroad? That his father's compensation is in the millions each year? That his parents live in a very affluent part of Omaha? Where is it that he's been a grad student for 8 years?
Where is a column debunking the student who claimed the KKK was on campus which he has now recanted?
Egan can mock FOX News but if memory serves they have the top 15 rated cable news programs and have consistently for years. MSNBC on the other hand has cancelled 7 programs this year.
How many columns has Egan written about the FBI investigation of Clinton's emails? I see no mention by him of that fact that the FBI is expanding their investigation into whether or not materially false statements were made by people who have testified and now they are doing their own internal review of the emails, essentially shutting out the obstructive State Department.
And how Huma Abedin and Cheryl Mills among others are being forced to turn over documents by Dec 1st?
Egan, you only want the truth when you can decide what that is, irrespective of the facts.
3
"Egan can mock FOX News but if memory serves they have the top 15 rated cable news programs and have consistently for years. MSNBC on the other hand has cancelled 7 programs this year."
---------------------------
In other words, for years, Fox viewers have stayed glued to television way more than have MSNBC viewers. It figures the right wing would take honor in that, although it would explain why red states take more from the federal till than what they contribute: they're too busy watching t.v. to go out and raise the revenue necessary to support themselves.
The rest of your post is mere partisan rambling and thus unworthy of comment other than to point that out.
---------------------------
In other words, for years, Fox viewers have stayed glued to television way more than have MSNBC viewers. It figures the right wing would take honor in that, although it would explain why red states take more from the federal till than what they contribute: they're too busy watching t.v. to go out and raise the revenue necessary to support themselves.
The rest of your post is mere partisan rambling and thus unworthy of comment other than to point that out.
1
Fox is popular because they get very attractive women and they are entertaining without regard to truth.
3
Well explain this then, in 2011 FOX News made $700 million, more than MSNBC, CNBC,CNN,ABC,CBS, and PBS combined. Advertisers spend their money where they can make money and it sure not on your nonsense.
I didn't realize that money going into the Treasury was divided by blue and red states
In 2010 $2.162.7 trillion was received in the US Treasury. How much was from red and blue states?
In 2011, $2.305 trillion was received into the Treasury. Please give me the exact number by blue and red states
In 2012 $2.450 trillion was received in the Treasury. Again, the exact number by blue and red states.
That comment is utter nonsense I can tell you what the projection will in 2020 ($4.332 trillion) Can you tell me what the breakdown will be then?
Well under your president we had a stimulus that guaranteed 6% unemployment yet we had 42 months of 7% or higher
62.2% labor participation rate the lowest in 37 years
46 million under the poverty level
Manafacturing jobs cut in half from 2009 to 2013
Black unemployment double the national average
A 1.2% GDP under Obama, the lowest ever.
2/3 of jobs created under Obama were part time jobs
50% of illegals are on welfare
50% of college grads cannot find a job in their degree.
Better watching FOX than going down and buying lottery tickets, hoping to get lucky because your entitlement check doesn't cut it. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. I would be embarrassed to write what you did. My granddaughter could do much better
I didn't realize that money going into the Treasury was divided by blue and red states
In 2010 $2.162.7 trillion was received in the US Treasury. How much was from red and blue states?
In 2011, $2.305 trillion was received into the Treasury. Please give me the exact number by blue and red states
In 2012 $2.450 trillion was received in the Treasury. Again, the exact number by blue and red states.
That comment is utter nonsense I can tell you what the projection will in 2020 ($4.332 trillion) Can you tell me what the breakdown will be then?
Well under your president we had a stimulus that guaranteed 6% unemployment yet we had 42 months of 7% or higher
62.2% labor participation rate the lowest in 37 years
46 million under the poverty level
Manafacturing jobs cut in half from 2009 to 2013
Black unemployment double the national average
A 1.2% GDP under Obama, the lowest ever.
2/3 of jobs created under Obama were part time jobs
50% of illegals are on welfare
50% of college grads cannot find a job in their degree.
Better watching FOX than going down and buying lottery tickets, hoping to get lucky because your entitlement check doesn't cut it. Don't bring a knife to a gun fight. I would be embarrassed to write what you did. My granddaughter could do much better
For those who say we get the news that we deserve for our inane fascination with celebrities or some other ridiculous indicator, you are only partly right. Because only some of our vast numbers behave that way. Usually those who are more susceptible to the peer pressure doled out by ... you guessed it, the media.
We take what we can get. And what we can get in today's version of "the news" is whatever the handful of wealthy owners of all of our news outlets deems acceptable. And this includes this paper. Just look at the early TPP coverage or any mention of the insanely scary anti-gay "Freedom" conference three of the leading GOP candidates attendedor the ongoing coverage of any Democratic candidate other than Hillary (or lack thereof). I won't even go into other stories that are now either ignored or slanted. This was a gradual shift. Trust me, I have been reading the NYT since my childhood in Brooklyn in the 1950s. Corporate bias hasn't crept in, it is continuing in a landslide.
Speaking of which, as in all other businesses that have been consolidated into mega corporations, salaries and staffing for reporters have been negatively impacted, in turn affecting quality. Many professionals are finding their salaries dropping to lower than half the median ... the median includes hedge-fund managers and CEOs. So, excluding them, we are all a part of the latest experiment in recreating the gilded age.
We take what we can get. And what we can get in today's version of "the news" is whatever the handful of wealthy owners of all of our news outlets deems acceptable. And this includes this paper. Just look at the early TPP coverage or any mention of the insanely scary anti-gay "Freedom" conference three of the leading GOP candidates attendedor the ongoing coverage of any Democratic candidate other than Hillary (or lack thereof). I won't even go into other stories that are now either ignored or slanted. This was a gradual shift. Trust me, I have been reading the NYT since my childhood in Brooklyn in the 1950s. Corporate bias hasn't crept in, it is continuing in a landslide.
Speaking of which, as in all other businesses that have been consolidated into mega corporations, salaries and staffing for reporters have been negatively impacted, in turn affecting quality. Many professionals are finding their salaries dropping to lower than half the median ... the median includes hedge-fund managers and CEOs. So, excluding them, we are all a part of the latest experiment in recreating the gilded age.
7
The odd thing is this. In my days of student and labor union demonstrations we were always complaining about the lack of press coverage. Now they're complaining because the press wants to cover them? I don't get it. Isn't the point of a protest supposed to be to draw attention to your cause? How do you do that if you chase away the press?
7
One reply I heard about the reason for such "no-media zones" was concern about "reconnaissance," the fear that being captured on video or film will provide authorities with a weapon to harass, arrest, or otherwise repress demonstrators. I heard these same arguments back in the Sixties, and in many cases they were based on fact. Police and the FBI routinely scanned and cataloged photographs from demonstrations to build up dossiers on those whom they considered "threats." In the context of Mr. Egan's column, these concerns may be even more widespread today because journalists are no longer seen (if they ever were) as neutral observers. The polarization of American politics extends into journalism where coverage of events is viewed as mere propaganda.
3
The Constitution is a left-wing document. Why we skew it to be conservative is the nation's most pressing historical conundrum.
28
Said the left-wing columnist from the left-wing house organ that is the Times. You got it half right until you went into your left-wing diatribe about the right and then your credibility fades away and you are exposed as a just another member of the liberal media.
6
Yet you have not taken off your blinders long enough to point out where Egan is wrong.
Besides, if you despise what you consider to be the left wing media, why bother to hang around it?
Besides, if you despise what you consider to be the left wing media, why bother to hang around it?
2
So as usual with too many Fox "News" listeners, emulate your source: don't even try to refute the facts, just rant and call names.
5
Public discourse in America seems to consist of non-stop harangues against one group or another. We vilify teachers, journalists, politicians, police officers, fat people, smokers, college students, big business, college professors, administrators, Democrats/Republicans, Wall Street, white men, you name it.
I wonder what it would take to get us pulling together.
I wonder what it would take to get us pulling together.
12
Just as the US facilitates division of various religious tribes in the US, the oligarchs who control the US & purchase the candidates, use the media to divide the population. Since all of the various ideological & ethnic groups are engaged in staking out their diminishing positions in the new banana republic America, the wealthy are busy raking in huge Wall Street profits. Notice that no one who has achieved a position of wealth within the US engages in divisive agendas unless they're Donald Trump who seeks to become President by demonizing immigrants.
2
Journalists err when they don't report facts. Two examples from todays NYT Now Friday Briefing:
The briefing states as a fact that Donald Trump compared Ben Carlson to a child molester. This is spin. If one bothers to read to full story, Trump said some things about Carlson and he said some things about child molesters; he neither said that Carlson was a child molester or that he was like a child molester. There was a comparison made about mental symptoms. The briefing is not clearly a lie, but it is stated to make Trump's comment look much worse than it was. What makes this spin especially questionable is that Trump is clearly not the Times favorite candidate, so the impression is one of biased reporting.
The briefing also says that a new poll shows that Hillary Clinton's campaign is gathering strength among primary voters. Going to the full article reveals nothing about gathering strength. Trends were not polled. (A minor point, there are as yet no primary voters.) Hillary did better than Sanders on some questions, worse on others at this point in time. What exactly does "gathering strength" mean in this context, if anything? I think it counterfactual to say the poll showed gathering strength. Gathering strength would seem to be more on the order of a campaign hope or campaign spin. Doing well (compared to what?) is not gathering strength. I think Colbert's "truthiness" applies to this situation better than false or spin. Truthiness is not good journalism.
The briefing states as a fact that Donald Trump compared Ben Carlson to a child molester. This is spin. If one bothers to read to full story, Trump said some things about Carlson and he said some things about child molesters; he neither said that Carlson was a child molester or that he was like a child molester. There was a comparison made about mental symptoms. The briefing is not clearly a lie, but it is stated to make Trump's comment look much worse than it was. What makes this spin especially questionable is that Trump is clearly not the Times favorite candidate, so the impression is one of biased reporting.
The briefing also says that a new poll shows that Hillary Clinton's campaign is gathering strength among primary voters. Going to the full article reveals nothing about gathering strength. Trends were not polled. (A minor point, there are as yet no primary voters.) Hillary did better than Sanders on some questions, worse on others at this point in time. What exactly does "gathering strength" mean in this context, if anything? I think it counterfactual to say the poll showed gathering strength. Gathering strength would seem to be more on the order of a campaign hope or campaign spin. Doing well (compared to what?) is not gathering strength. I think Colbert's "truthiness" applies to this situation better than false or spin. Truthiness is not good journalism.
16
c'mon dairubo,
Im no fan of either man but Trumps analogy and tactics were clear.
Im no fan of either man but Trumps analogy and tactics were clear.
What a subtle reading of a brutally stupid quote by Donald Trump: "I know it's in the book, that he has got a pathological temper or temperament. That's a big problem because you don't cure that. That's like, you know, I could say, they've say you don't cure — as an example, a child molester, you don't cure these people. You don't cure a child molester. There's no cure for it. Pathological, there's no cure for that."
So Donald Trump is saying Ben Carson suffers from an incurable, pathological affliction. Just like child molesters do. But, according to you, that is not a comparison. But wait. You said, "There was a comparison made about mental symptoms" but not one that compared Carson to a child molester. Whoaaa! This is too complex. But biased? On what basis?
So Donald Trump is saying Ben Carson suffers from an incurable, pathological affliction. Just like child molesters do. But, according to you, that is not a comparison. But wait. You said, "There was a comparison made about mental symptoms" but not one that compared Carson to a child molester. Whoaaa! This is too complex. But biased? On what basis?
dairubo - Keeping in mind that there is no such thing as liberal bias in the media!
"I Have Abbandoned My Search For Truth, And I'm Looking For A Good Fantasy"
(Ashleigh Brilliant). "Sometimes the Sanest reaction to an insane situation...
Is Insanity" (R.DeForest)
(Ashleigh Brilliant). "Sometimes the Sanest reaction to an insane situation...
Is Insanity" (R.DeForest)
5
I thought climate change was a hoax because I am cold.
Seriously, we collectively get the government we deserve and, sadly, the same is true with journalism.
If people only buy garbage, there will be more garbage and less available quality.
The problem comes when the population is unable to distinguish garbage from quality - whether because they are misled or foolish.
Sooner or later, we expect that eating too much garbage will be bad for us.
Some of us are still waiting for the rest to catch up
Seriously, we collectively get the government we deserve and, sadly, the same is true with journalism.
If people only buy garbage, there will be more garbage and less available quality.
The problem comes when the population is unable to distinguish garbage from quality - whether because they are misled or foolish.
Sooner or later, we expect that eating too much garbage will be bad for us.
Some of us are still waiting for the rest to catch up
5
My old colleague Tim Egan is right, and not for the first time. One "advantage" of being a journalist is that you can always get criticism and advice from people who just know they could do your job better, more fairly, etc., even though they've never tried it.
2
A free democratic society requires a free press dedicated to telling every significant truth that has broad societal relevance. When the press does its proper job, the politicians and power brokers will complain bitterly. No problem there. The general contempt for the press comes from its far too frequent focus on nonsense and trivia as if they had broad societal relevance, such as telling us more and more about the Kardashians because the press has decided we want to know. In other words, respect between the press and the public ought to be mutual.
11
A well informed electorate and a vital free press are necessary for the success of a democracy. Thomas Jefferson said something like that.
Our vital and free press gives republican lies the gravitas that makes them sound like truth.
The moment of revelation in the last debate was the moderator, probably Mr. Baker, asking Fiorina how she would respond to the debate question that would surely come comparing the job numbers during Clinton and Obama's terms to those numbers during bush ii's. Bush's numbers were anemic compared to Clinton and Obama's, but that didn't stop Fiorina from saying "Yes things always get worse during a democrat's term." The moderator let that go, no follow up, no nothing.
Especially No Truth.
Keep at this line of reporting, Mr. Egan. Keep up the good work.
Our vital and free press gives republican lies the gravitas that makes them sound like truth.
The moment of revelation in the last debate was the moderator, probably Mr. Baker, asking Fiorina how she would respond to the debate question that would surely come comparing the job numbers during Clinton and Obama's terms to those numbers during bush ii's. Bush's numbers were anemic compared to Clinton and Obama's, but that didn't stop Fiorina from saying "Yes things always get worse during a democrat's term." The moderator let that go, no follow up, no nothing.
Especially No Truth.
Keep at this line of reporting, Mr. Egan. Keep up the good work.
13
Mother Jones, Huffington Post, The New Yorker, Daily Beast, Salon, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Chicago Sun Times, LA Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Sacramento Bee, Time, New York NBC, ABC, CBS, Bloomberg are all conservative entities? Thanks for clearing that up
3
Speaking of lies, what about Hillary Clinton claiming to support environmental policies, address income inequality, skim over the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of foreign government's contributions in exchange for favors conflict of interest while she was Secretary of State or her outlandish hypocritical position on gun control while she negotiated billions of US arms deals with Saudi Arabia (state sponsors of terrorism including 9/11), & ridiculous flip flopping on positions like Keystone XL Pipeline & TPP. It is most interesting to point out that she helped negotiate the TPP while Secretary of State yet suddenly, just in time to win the liberal votes, she flip flops on her pro global trade positions. She also wants to suddenly raise the minimum wage while she favored Wal Mart positions on anti-labor wages while serving on the Board. Her acceptance of oil companies large contributions while supposed position on fighting climate change is laughably opaque & condescending. Why isn't there one moderator willing to confront her on these glaring flip flops including supporting public education while sending her one child off to expensive private schools including Stanford & Oxford? It's insulting!
4
Democracy is based on the availability of accurate information- first and foremost in the form of education.Once special interests have undue influence over what is taught, studied and a good education is priced right out of ones hands we are left with a free for all of politically motivated, financially supported corporations and their ilk
4
Forgive me for dampening the ever-popular sport of demonizing the media darlings of the right or left, but our wrath is severely misplaced. The question is not, why does Rush Limbaugh spew hateful lies - the question is, why do so many Americans eagerly accept his blather?
While the right continues to condemn the "liberal media," few if any seek any truth in what that media may be saying. Same with the "right wing echo chamber" - how many liberals seriously ask themselves why conservatives are so attracted to the false assertions of the right wing media?
Until each one of us begins to honestly investigate the weaknesses in our own arguments, and makes a sincere effort to understand the criticism from our opponents, we have no moral ground whatsoever in condemning journalists who, after all, are merely providing the fodder their constituents demand.
That is not to say the media are not complicit; they certainly are. But like individual members of a US Congress that maintains a 10% approval rating and a 93% reelection rate, journalists do not arise out of thin air. If not for the millions of American citizens who tune in on a daily basis and shout, "Hell Yeah!" Rush would be another Youtube sensation trying to reach 1,000 hits.
The thing we like to forget is that those millions of Limbaugh listeners are also American citizens, and their voice matters as much as ours. Until we are willing to listen respectfully, nothing will change.
While the right continues to condemn the "liberal media," few if any seek any truth in what that media may be saying. Same with the "right wing echo chamber" - how many liberals seriously ask themselves why conservatives are so attracted to the false assertions of the right wing media?
Until each one of us begins to honestly investigate the weaknesses in our own arguments, and makes a sincere effort to understand the criticism from our opponents, we have no moral ground whatsoever in condemning journalists who, after all, are merely providing the fodder their constituents demand.
That is not to say the media are not complicit; they certainly are. But like individual members of a US Congress that maintains a 10% approval rating and a 93% reelection rate, journalists do not arise out of thin air. If not for the millions of American citizens who tune in on a daily basis and shout, "Hell Yeah!" Rush would be another Youtube sensation trying to reach 1,000 hits.
The thing we like to forget is that those millions of Limbaugh listeners are also American citizens, and their voice matters as much as ours. Until we are willing to listen respectfully, nothing will change.
It takes a lot of courage to be a good journalist. Not just for going into war zones either. It takes courage to be face to face with a powerful person and ask them questions they will not like. And to report things that are not widely accepted, or are against powerful interests.
It takes courage, and much more. Knowledge, intelligence, a way with words (or pictures). Most journalists are ordinary people, but they are called to a higher standard. Some journalists are especially gifted or unusually brave, and some of these rise to prominence. (Some rise to prominence by other routes, cunning or the luck of being in the right place at the right time; I have little patience for these.)
I have often been hard on journalists when I see they are not reporting facts. It is because I believe they are called to a higher standard. I believe the NYTimes aspires to a higher standard, but the Times failures to reach that standard have had monumental consequences which illustrate the importance of maintaining the highest journalistic standards. (The Iraq war and the reelection of GW Bush may have been consequences of Times reporting errors and omissions, and there have been others.)
The Public Editor may be the most important position at the Times. The present incumbent has been excellent, but her predecessors not so much. Journalism is too important to be unquestioned.
And we need Tim Egan pointing out the fakes from the real (under appreciated) journalists. Thanks.
It takes courage, and much more. Knowledge, intelligence, a way with words (or pictures). Most journalists are ordinary people, but they are called to a higher standard. Some journalists are especially gifted or unusually brave, and some of these rise to prominence. (Some rise to prominence by other routes, cunning or the luck of being in the right place at the right time; I have little patience for these.)
I have often been hard on journalists when I see they are not reporting facts. It is because I believe they are called to a higher standard. I believe the NYTimes aspires to a higher standard, but the Times failures to reach that standard have had monumental consequences which illustrate the importance of maintaining the highest journalistic standards. (The Iraq war and the reelection of GW Bush may have been consequences of Times reporting errors and omissions, and there have been others.)
The Public Editor may be the most important position at the Times. The present incumbent has been excellent, but her predecessors not so much. Journalism is too important to be unquestioned.
And we need Tim Egan pointing out the fakes from the real (under appreciated) journalists. Thanks.
3
good editorial until the nd with your attack on conservative media. you fail to mention the liberal medias attack on all they deem are doubters or not in line. The CNBC Republican debate highlighted the bias of the panel who tried to attack the debaters, asked qustions insultingly without merit or facts, the venom was oozing out of their mouths. Or watch Rchel Maddow who acts like a school girl at her first prom when she interviews Hillary or Bernie, I could go on but you get the point. I am not a fan of Russ or Hannity. Start with your paper, your fellow columnists and try a balanced poiint of view.
1
Sadly, these and other examples of the shoddy depths to which journalism has sunk are, in part, the consequence of its "democratization" via the internet and social media. Even the NY Times has succumbed to the get-it-first rather than get-it-right ethos with such passive headlines as "President said to be considering..." and "Accident reported to have occurred..." When one considers its articles on "manspreading" and what transpires under the water's surface at water polo matches, the phrase "all the news that's fit to print" becomes meaningless.
4
I think it will be interesting to hear Eagan's comments if Ben Carson wins. Then whose brand of partisan is better? The objective, or the objective? If republicans win, you can be sure they will police the so called 'storied press' more effectively than the empty morals coupled in liberal maxims 'objectivity' that we'll all be sitting here wondering what happened to those good ol' days of journalism.
"So, climate change is a hoax, because Limbaugh says so. Raising the minimum wage always causes job losses — as Ben Carson asserted on Tuesday — because that’s what you hear on Fox. Both claims are demonstrably false."
So please explain to us, Mr. Egan, why the only place in the NY Times (or any other mainstream news outlet) where we will read that statement ("Both claims are demonstrably false.") is here in the Opinion section? If they are "demonstrably false" then the job of any legitimate journalist is to demonstrate that fact. But instead, what we will read in the News section is a lot of wishy-washy muck about how these ideas are "controversial" and "opinions differ" and "if in fact Limbaugh and Hannity are stretching the truth, then the Democrats must be doing the same thing somewhere". The so-called profession of journalism has been replaced by stenographers writing down whatever someone says to them, while searching desperately for some false equivalence to "balance" their "report". And yet you wonder why journalists get no respect anymore?
So please explain to us, Mr. Egan, why the only place in the NY Times (or any other mainstream news outlet) where we will read that statement ("Both claims are demonstrably false.") is here in the Opinion section? If they are "demonstrably false" then the job of any legitimate journalist is to demonstrate that fact. But instead, what we will read in the News section is a lot of wishy-washy muck about how these ideas are "controversial" and "opinions differ" and "if in fact Limbaugh and Hannity are stretching the truth, then the Democrats must be doing the same thing somewhere". The so-called profession of journalism has been replaced by stenographers writing down whatever someone says to them, while searching desperately for some false equivalence to "balance" their "report". And yet you wonder why journalists get no respect anymore?
7
The reason you won't see these statements outside of the opinion pages is that no one at the NYT can demonstrate the falsity of the claims. I'm one who believes that AGW is real, but the as any scientist will tell you, the science is never "settled."
On the issue of the minimum wage, even Paul Krugman would agree that too big an increase would result in job losses - think $100/hour. So if an immaterial increase in the minimum wage results in immaterial job losses, that's proof that we can increase the minimum wage without any negative impacts?
On the issue of the minimum wage, even Paul Krugman would agree that too big an increase would result in job losses - think $100/hour. So if an immaterial increase in the minimum wage results in immaterial job losses, that's proof that we can increase the minimum wage without any negative impacts?
I buy Tim’s concern about the viability of a healthy, professionally trained free press allowed latitude to do its job at informing us. But it’s really a broader problem, isn’t it? One only needs to look at our politics, as well, to see a pronounced trend of amateurism in those who practice it, particularly on the right. When one considers the issue of amateurism in the press, it becomes a different challenge than if it were limited to the press and not more widespread. Do we have contempt for a professional press or for professionalism generally?
And the crash of traditional business models has economically disadvantaged many, not just content generators as a distinct phylum. Can we successfully address the issue without successfully addressing the more general problem?
But then a rational spotlight cast on a specific problem quickly degrades to unbalanced attacks on the right, as if Hannity and Limbaugh were the only “gasbags” comprising the “media elite”. No mention made of Ariana Huffington, once a so-so conservative until it became evident that more money could be had batting for the other side, or Rachel Maddow, or Keith Olbermann. For every conservative “gasbag” I can cite a liberal one.
Seems to me that as “gasbags” go, BOTH sides are well-represented. But one doesn’t need to listen to Rush OR to Rachel. And we’re left with the problems of an ad baculum resistance to a free press and an economic assault on it, without any real ideas about what to do about them.
And the crash of traditional business models has economically disadvantaged many, not just content generators as a distinct phylum. Can we successfully address the issue without successfully addressing the more general problem?
But then a rational spotlight cast on a specific problem quickly degrades to unbalanced attacks on the right, as if Hannity and Limbaugh were the only “gasbags” comprising the “media elite”. No mention made of Ariana Huffington, once a so-so conservative until it became evident that more money could be had batting for the other side, or Rachel Maddow, or Keith Olbermann. For every conservative “gasbag” I can cite a liberal one.
Seems to me that as “gasbags” go, BOTH sides are well-represented. But one doesn’t need to listen to Rush OR to Rachel. And we’re left with the problems of an ad baculum resistance to a free press and an economic assault on it, without any real ideas about what to do about them.
2
For every conservative gasbag who makes stuff up and then doubles down when caught on it, there is NO liberal counterpart. Nice try, though.
12
I'm afraid that I have to disagree with Mx Egan on a crucial point. It isn't that Mx Click was wrong in assaulting and summoning "muscle" to take care of Mx Tai. It would have been wrong no matter who was standing here. We all enjoy the rights under the First Amendment, and it shields me from government retaliation for what I say here in an equal way to the protection Mx Egan enjoys.
(but it doesn't shield me from the times' censor)
(but it doesn't shield me from the times' censor)
1
"Mx" Nice touch. It's long past time for the gender identifiers Miss, Mr., Ms., Mrs. to be tossed out with yesterday's newspaper.
The Times is a private company. As such, it has every right to censor your comment.
Just like Trump had every right to throw Ramos out of a private press conference.
Remember?
Just like Trump had every right to throw Ramos out of a private press conference.
Remember?
Thanks Mr. Egan, for takling a report on something I've been stewing about a lot during this age of political crazy! I watched about 1 minute of Limbaugh (on the Rachel Maddow program) the other evening - the man appears insane, and that is what millions are imbibing as "news", "journalism", etc.etc. I hold the Limbaugh and his ilk, and online social media, largely responsible for the political craziness on the right that the country is experiencing right now! Almost makes one question the wisdom of a totally "free press"!
4
Our political conversation is hitting new lows. When a candidate is asked pointed questions he or she can't or won't answer, it tries to shoot the messenger, the reporter. A tough job, that of a journalist trying to do the job of informing the public as best as possible; but being harassed about it is an insult to his/her dignity and humanity. But then again, what can we expect from arrogant, willfully ignorant, condescending and pompous politicians, where double-talk is the currency at work, and immunity is allowed?
Readers might be interested in the thoughts on this column by Dean Baker of blog "Beat the Press".
http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/beating-the-press-with-timothy-...
Baker believes the media outlets, including the NYT, cover important economic issues from an insider perspective.
Perhaps the American people are suspecting this is the case as the media reports, and op-eds, from the view of the wealthy and well connected in economic and military actions.
http://www.cepr.net/blogs/beat-the-press/beating-the-press-with-timothy-...
Baker believes the media outlets, including the NYT, cover important economic issues from an insider perspective.
Perhaps the American people are suspecting this is the case as the media reports, and op-eds, from the view of the wealthy and well connected in economic and military actions.
I think Egan is great and I am a liberal who believes in a strong media and free speech. BUT the mainstream media are whistling in the wind if they think the perceived problems are figments of the right wing imagination. There are serious problems of credibility, not least because the main outlets are controlled by multinationals and journalists know what is acceptable to keep their jobs. The right wing has some valid points, and you ignore it at your--and more importantly our--peril.
3
A democracy needs an educated populace, and this is only possible when the populace has high quality, fact based information. The real reason that Hitler, Mussolini and Stalin could take over was because the fascist parties of the day restricted free speech and journalism and thus inhibited the citizens ability to make sound judgements and decisions. The second phase of the take over was to pump unrelenting propaganda into the public mind that would inoculate them against facts and reason.
Sound familiar?
The only thing that country from falling from its position as a world leader in democracy is the fact that we have two warring propaganda machines which effectively cancel each other out, while causing headaches for the reasonable among us. Of the two, Grand Old Propaganda does the most damage by far, one does not simply say that Fox News is basically the same as MSNBC or that Bill O'Reilly is basically the same as Rachel Maddow. However the leftist propaganda can get out of hand, as we see in the recent spout of political correctness gone wild. Political Correctness should be about being civil, respectful and polite, it isn't about shutting down different views simply because they are different.
Until the two propaganda machines die, it is the job of journalists and reporters to keep them in check, reveal their secrets and their tactics, so that we may inoculate ourselves against the powerful neurotoxin that is propaganda.
Sound familiar?
The only thing that country from falling from its position as a world leader in democracy is the fact that we have two warring propaganda machines which effectively cancel each other out, while causing headaches for the reasonable among us. Of the two, Grand Old Propaganda does the most damage by far, one does not simply say that Fox News is basically the same as MSNBC or that Bill O'Reilly is basically the same as Rachel Maddow. However the leftist propaganda can get out of hand, as we see in the recent spout of political correctness gone wild. Political Correctness should be about being civil, respectful and polite, it isn't about shutting down different views simply because they are different.
Until the two propaganda machines die, it is the job of journalists and reporters to keep them in check, reveal their secrets and their tactics, so that we may inoculate ourselves against the powerful neurotoxin that is propaganda.
1
News is entertainment. It is meant to sell eyeballs to advertisers. Objectivity in its reporting has never been its prime consideration. It is not news that news outlets are readily identifiable by political leanings. The NY Times is not the paper of record for the American Empire. It is the paper of record for a certain liberal, Progressive sect of the American Empire. It exists to inform, yes, but mostly to confirm, their world view. The same is true for the Wall Street Journal, on the other end of the political spectrum. That these things are widely now known, rather than pretentiously concealed, is a good thing.
People are finally beginning to realize that the probity of whatever news they hear must be discounted according to the biases, so far as they are knowable, of the ones delivering the news. There really are times when it is appropriate to at least metaphorically kill the messenger. Skepticism isn't a sickness. It is an attribute of an educated and wise intellect.
People are finally beginning to realize that the probity of whatever news they hear must be discounted according to the biases, so far as they are knowable, of the ones delivering the news. There really are times when it is appropriate to at least metaphorically kill the messenger. Skepticism isn't a sickness. It is an attribute of an educated and wise intellect.
The first thing that needs to be done is to stop calling it "journalism" and start calling it "reporting." Limbaugh sure ain't a reporter, but he can pass muster as a journalist, even though many very nasty, completely accurate, adjectives would have to be attached.
2
Mr. Egan:
In a land where even the media is allowed to offer alternative realities in their coverage and their own "facts" to back them up, what exactly is the news anymore? Any chance to alter this situation has to address the role of money in our "journalism". Advertising has polluted just about every facet of American life. Advertising money all but rules our information age.
If the media doesn't care enough to defend itself, why should anyone care? Why don't they? Is freedom of the press no longer worth defending? Or is it counter-productive, affecting the bottom line? Does any media outlet have an ethical mission statement that they adhere to? The Times public editor calls this "a fine line". It looks more like a chasm to me.
In a land where even the media is allowed to offer alternative realities in their coverage and their own "facts" to back them up, what exactly is the news anymore? Any chance to alter this situation has to address the role of money in our "journalism". Advertising has polluted just about every facet of American life. Advertising money all but rules our information age.
If the media doesn't care enough to defend itself, why should anyone care? Why don't they? Is freedom of the press no longer worth defending? Or is it counter-productive, affecting the bottom line? Does any media outlet have an ethical mission statement that they adhere to? The Times public editor calls this "a fine line". It looks more like a chasm to me.
1
It's about false equivalence. I work on a university campus and see it every day where the complaint of one person--regardless of the ability to verify it and no matter how trivial--is made the equal of problems many times the scope and scale. Some of the complaints have merit, but many just portray a bloated sense of entitlement, or at a minimum a total lack of understanding about when it is appropriate to act on someone's inability to surpress any perceived slight, real or imagined. Make no mistake, I'm not talking about real injustices here, just minor slights--like investigating the cause of a poorly worded sign.
We waste precious time chasing down and finding "solutions" to the source of the offense on a regular basis letting 'big picture' issues go unresolved.
But often it seems that's the way administrators want things anyhow, since many of them can't grasp the big picture or can't get themselves to commit to anything greater than themselves.
We waste precious time chasing down and finding "solutions" to the source of the offense on a regular basis letting 'big picture' issues go unresolved.
But often it seems that's the way administrators want things anyhow, since many of them can't grasp the big picture or can't get themselves to commit to anything greater than themselves.
2
The stakes are NOT "small" for the students at Mizzou!
1
Even in a major news outlet like NYC, the problem is the pure vapidity of local news. These shows have continued their descent from "if it bleeds it leads" to celebrity gossip, viral videos and a constant shilling for the products of their parent companies. If their reporters have degrees in journalism, they must have come from an online diploma mill. Good luck to anyone who wants to gain some insight into the actual workings of the world rather than what the Kardashians were wearing today.
2
News has become a market commodity. I think this occurred over the past 40 years or so, since it became common knowledge that reporters and editors make deals with government officials to not cover certain stories. That was the slippery slope, and it opened the eyes of most folks to a plain fact: the news media are not nearly as independent or objective as they traditionally claimed. The "trust factor" was badly damaged. Nowadays, we also know that monetary interests influence (or even control) what gets reported and what does not. This erosion of trust is why readers & viewers now treat news coverage as a market phenomenon: information (news) is a market commodity, so choose the seller you like best. Some like the NYT best, others like Fox, others like Rush Limbaugh. The genie is out of the bottle. The news media is not alone in this in the USA. Politics, too, has become a marketplace. In fact, I'd argue that's what the USA as a whole has become: a big marketplace where everything is bought and sold, and almost nothing but that marketplace is sacrosanct.
Mr. Egan says, "What is also not true, in the jab thrown by the unctuous Senator Ted Cruz on Tuesday, is that things would be different “if a bunch of people with journalism degrees were coming over and driving down the wages in the press.”
What is true is that legal (H-1B) and illegal immigrants do drive wages and have cost the majority of workers in tech industry their jobs (foreign born workers from low wage countries became the majority in 2004) and provide workers at dangerous low wage jobs where they can not complain about abuse, while they wait in hope the their service in driving wages down, including the 70 or so tech workers at the Times, will be rewarded with green cards and hey can bring their parents to the USA to enjoy the "free pensions" (SSI payments, HUD housing, and Medicare) that are paid for by the middle class wages, not the employers. This is socializing the cost of labor, or billionaires like Zuckerberg, the Times, and Wal-Mart. It's ugly, but it what we can expect from a sold out Congress.
What is true is that legal (H-1B) and illegal immigrants do drive wages and have cost the majority of workers in tech industry their jobs (foreign born workers from low wage countries became the majority in 2004) and provide workers at dangerous low wage jobs where they can not complain about abuse, while they wait in hope the their service in driving wages down, including the 70 or so tech workers at the Times, will be rewarded with green cards and hey can bring their parents to the USA to enjoy the "free pensions" (SSI payments, HUD housing, and Medicare) that are paid for by the middle class wages, not the employers. This is socializing the cost of labor, or billionaires like Zuckerberg, the Times, and Wal-Mart. It's ugly, but it what we can expect from a sold out Congress.
1
Wait, where are all the Bernie-bots to remind us the NYT or the MSM or both are part of the vast conspiracy to be under-impressed (pun intended) by him? Fox and Rush I can live with. It is the new crusaders for truth and justice that really floor me. Attack the messenger when it is not what you want to hear.
Does David's comment have any meaning? Aside from personal resentment?
2
Get the media out of the debates. Bring back the League of Women voters. After watching about the first 10 minutes of the debate, I turned the TV off. The questions were loaded (read titled toward the 1% crowd). The answers were evasive and well rehearsed. There were no follow ups or challenges to the answers that were erroneous or down right wrong.
It was too much to watch. Too painful.
It was too much to watch. Too painful.
27
The League of Women Voters is no longer a non-partisan organization. They sold their souls.
Dianna - I had exactly the same experience!
1
Agree: "Get the media out of the debates. Bring back the League of Women voters." Excellent idea!
1
An unfettered, free media is essential to our democracy. Even though our media has been beaten down and accused of being liberal elites, this doesn't seem true to me.
When the media still gives any credence to climate change deniers, it's obvious they are trying too hard to report both "sides" of the issue, which for some reason has been conscripted by the Republican party as a political issue ... even when 99 out of 100 scientists believe climate change to be real (and caused by humankind). There shouldn't be any reporting on the climate change deniers, except to point out their stubbornness and the damage they are doing by keeping our country and world from responding to the changes occurring daily.
Sometimes unbiased reporting involves ignoring the fringe theories and focusing on what's real.
When the media still gives any credence to climate change deniers, it's obvious they are trying too hard to report both "sides" of the issue, which for some reason has been conscripted by the Republican party as a political issue ... even when 99 out of 100 scientists believe climate change to be real (and caused by humankind). There shouldn't be any reporting on the climate change deniers, except to point out their stubbornness and the damage they are doing by keeping our country and world from responding to the changes occurring daily.
Sometimes unbiased reporting involves ignoring the fringe theories and focusing on what's real.
8
I think your notion of not reporting ideas that don't agree with you may be a large part of the problem.
The driving force in news media today is entertainment. Those who cite the yellow journalism of the past to excuse what is happening are ignoring the impact this trend has had in the age of social media where anyone can say anything. Truth is not a requirement, but it ought to be for real journalists.
There is also the trend of under-resourcing investigative journalism. Apparently, we can't afford local reporting even in densely populated urban centers. In the rural area where I live, each community had a paper, probably a weekly, that reported gossip, but also a smattering of local news. No more. In the recent elections, it was very hard to even find the names of candidates, much less anything about their positions.
Opinions are cheaper and can be equally entertaining. Those who might have been journalists find fortune, if not fame, in the world of public relations.
Yes, there are a few people who risk their lives and do the hard work of reporting important stories, but they seem to be a dying breed. If you can't make a living, you tend to seek other occupations. Too bad.
There is also the trend of under-resourcing investigative journalism. Apparently, we can't afford local reporting even in densely populated urban centers. In the rural area where I live, each community had a paper, probably a weekly, that reported gossip, but also a smattering of local news. No more. In the recent elections, it was very hard to even find the names of candidates, much less anything about their positions.
Opinions are cheaper and can be equally entertaining. Those who might have been journalists find fortune, if not fame, in the world of public relations.
Yes, there are a few people who risk their lives and do the hard work of reporting important stories, but they seem to be a dying breed. If you can't make a living, you tend to seek other occupations. Too bad.
5
Mr. Egan attacks Fox news for being partisan; it is indeed, but isn't MSNBC just as partisan? Rush Limbaugh is a right wing gasbag, and Lawrence O'Donnell is an angry left wing gasbag. The once storied Democratic party, the party that gave us John Kennedy, offers up a choice between an elderly communist, and 70 year old woman who seems incapable of telling the truth. There are problems on both sides of the aisle.
2
Lawrence O'Donnell isn't "left wing", he's middle-of-the-road and you've been too brainwashed to see it.
1
Perhaps there are problems on both sides, but the level of lies and vitriol spewed by Limbaugh is not match for anything on the the left. The left for the most part sticks to the facts, where the RW Right creates their own reality. This is really a false narrative that "there are problems on both sides of the aisle." What RW media has done to this country is unbelievable and to it's own party as evidenced by the Republican presidential candidates who have no grasp on reality. Egan is right.
Dan - You just illustrated the "equivalency problem" of the Press.
There is absolutely no equivalency between Limbaugh and O'Donnell! Really!
There is absolutely no equivalency between Limbaugh and O'Donnell! Really!
The issue is that news reporting is skewed to achieve optimal readership/viewship. Clickbait. What stories will draw eyeballs? That's the bottom line.
4
But it goes to a more troubling trend — the diminishment of a healthy, professionally trained free press.
For instance, the recent NYT article in which a University of Missouri professor claimed she had repeatedly been called the N-word by fellow faculty members. It seems to me a healthy, professionally trained reporter would have demanded that she name names to back up her highly dubious assertion.
For instance, the recent NYT article in which a University of Missouri professor claimed she had repeatedly been called the N-word by fellow faculty members. It seems to me a healthy, professionally trained reporter would have demanded that she name names to back up her highly dubious assertion.
3
Irony requires a sense of humor. The only humor from the Republicans is this: If you elect us, the joke is on you.
7
"She should take a long timeout for some remedial reading"
What Ms. Click needs to do is take a time out from being a divisive, self hating, brainwashed liberal. You could see it in her face (I played the video over and over) just how entirely out of touch and out-of-wack she is. Frankly, she is in over her head with life in general. She holds the same traits of many women I know who would just rather be home having a family, but no, no, no, no....
Anyway, this whole example just further illustrates how the last two years (2014 and 2015) were perhaps the peak moments for liberals and Democrats. They used up most of their political capital almost in a state of capitulation, and seeing as Democrats have absolutely zero future in this country, (hey, it's not my opinion, it's been written, even here on the NY Times).
The good news is based on many of the comments I've read in recent days, I have a little hope in me that many people are sick and tired of these whinny baby boomer liberals that thankfully, are just dying off. Most people are actually pretty rational and know that virtually every single thing from Ferguson to Baltimore, to this Missouri debacle is a fabricated lie festered by a media who that has a singular goal (and thats not for the betterment of society). Racism does exist, but not nearly at the level depicted in this publication and other liberal media outlets. Ms. Click is just a brainwashed byproduct of this. Perhaps even un-American. Good riddance...
What Ms. Click needs to do is take a time out from being a divisive, self hating, brainwashed liberal. You could see it in her face (I played the video over and over) just how entirely out of touch and out-of-wack she is. Frankly, she is in over her head with life in general. She holds the same traits of many women I know who would just rather be home having a family, but no, no, no, no....
Anyway, this whole example just further illustrates how the last two years (2014 and 2015) were perhaps the peak moments for liberals and Democrats. They used up most of their political capital almost in a state of capitulation, and seeing as Democrats have absolutely zero future in this country, (hey, it's not my opinion, it's been written, even here on the NY Times).
The good news is based on many of the comments I've read in recent days, I have a little hope in me that many people are sick and tired of these whinny baby boomer liberals that thankfully, are just dying off. Most people are actually pretty rational and know that virtually every single thing from Ferguson to Baltimore, to this Missouri debacle is a fabricated lie festered by a media who that has a singular goal (and thats not for the betterment of society). Racism does exist, but not nearly at the level depicted in this publication and other liberal media outlets. Ms. Click is just a brainwashed byproduct of this. Perhaps even un-American. Good riddance...
3
Wow, I didn't know that mind readers and clairvoyants were so common today. We really could have used you during the Terry Schiavo case.
1
When a journalists work is tainted by strong partisanship, it is no different than political propaganda.
Since an individual has no interest in political propaganda, that tainted journalist is valueless.
Since an individual has no interest in political propaganda, that tainted journalist is valueless.
3
But your point-of-view is that any reporter questioning your team is de facto partisan and any criticism is an attack. That's clear every time any one questions your worldview.
1
My main problem with the media: what ever happened to the follow-up question? Candidates, especially those on the fringe of sanity like Trump, get away with saying the most outrageous things that the media merely reports. What are they teaching in journalism schools these days? Laziness!
9
Marathon woman.
You nailed it.
Journalist's are either intellectually lazy, timid, or perhaps worse, instructed to avoid Dan Rather-like follow-up questions in a world where the media is driven by revenue, and none are willing to alienate and perhaps lose, one half of their viewers in a Country sharply decided in half.
You nailed it.
Journalist's are either intellectually lazy, timid, or perhaps worse, instructed to avoid Dan Rather-like follow-up questions in a world where the media is driven by revenue, and none are willing to alienate and perhaps lose, one half of their viewers in a Country sharply decided in half.
I have spent more than 40 years in journalism. My sprint toward poverty is nearly complete.
7
Oh let's give Rupert Murdoch a little credit here as well. Not for the specific travesty of Fox News, but for the larger and more insidious British penchant for clearly targeting and commercializing the news product. Unfortunately, for lots of local outlets the appeal of these single-voice, advocacy channels guts the audience base that once supported more balanced and diversified reporting. Fox and Limbaugh are merely the symptoms, Murdoch's business model is the disease ... and the internet literally has turned the virus deadly.
7
Jason - speaking of Murdoch!! I just read he bought the company that owns National Geographic! So another journalistic icon has hit the dust!
Wow Mr. Egan, I guess you haven't noticed, cannot perceive any journalistic shortcomings, and do not read the readers letters in the Public Editor column. I'm all for the Times going after the right wing so called news organizations. But it won't, except in the opinion columns. Just as it has not the courage to print much of the critical truth in the news pages but relegates it to the opinion pages leaving it to its columnist who more often then not print more pertinent informative facts than the news writers so busy quoting agenda driven drivel spouted in press releases and photo ops.
What we need, are desperately lacking is a self critical first rate American free press and the Times glide path is taking it further and further away as it yields to the falseness taking over American culture at every level and across the board. Poor us.
As much as US journalist want to deny it they have largely lost any ability to see what the trade has become. Two or three muckraking pieces a year exposing soft targets is not great journalism even if it does get you a Pulitzer. Having a few columnist speak truth to power while the news section is so compromised it gets bent into a pretzel trying to report on important events without angering anybody is nothing to be proud of. False equivalency and simply avoiding, not printing important information is not journalism. If you are not muckraking in this political and business climate you are failing.
What we need, are desperately lacking is a self critical first rate American free press and the Times glide path is taking it further and further away as it yields to the falseness taking over American culture at every level and across the board. Poor us.
As much as US journalist want to deny it they have largely lost any ability to see what the trade has become. Two or three muckraking pieces a year exposing soft targets is not great journalism even if it does get you a Pulitzer. Having a few columnist speak truth to power while the news section is so compromised it gets bent into a pretzel trying to report on important events without angering anybody is nothing to be proud of. False equivalency and simply avoiding, not printing important information is not journalism. If you are not muckraking in this political and business climate you are failing.
7
So you are saying that if a media outlet takes a conservative viewpoint, it is not press, nor should it be free.
I hope your viewpoint is not widely shared, for this country's future.
I hope your viewpoint is not widely shared, for this country's future.
Heard during lunch with aging relatives: "The economy is wrecked because of that senator, that one, Dodge Frank and his regulations." Fox News was deemed the only trustworthy source, supplemented by talk radio. Obamacare was also tossed around in word storms. I quietly chewed 100 times per bitty bite. I still love them, despite being on opposite sides in the Civil War.
10
Our local Dunkin donuts and deli places have foxnews channel on throughout their work day. People who visit these places get an ear full. Headache.
3
Too bad no one will ask the manager to change the channel. Or can be bothered to take his custom to, say, Tim Hortons. Oh, the Hume/Hannity!
Mr. Eagan missed the point that Sarah Palin majored in Sports Journalism at the University of Idaho. The Economics involved in Sports is in no way close to the Economics required to run a Government. I have often wondered if she ever even took an Econ 101 course in her College Days. (Besides the fact that the University of Idaho falls far short when it comes to those schools with great
reputations when it comes to the Study of Journalism. (IE: Northwestern, and Missouri to name just 2).
reputations when it comes to the Study of Journalism. (IE: Northwestern, and Missouri to name just 2).
2
If both the radical left and radical right hate the "mainstream media's" guts, they are truly doing God's work and are on His side
2
There is no "radical left" in the United States. FYI.
2
Bobby, both left and right hate Hitler, Stalin, and the New York Yankees, too.
One has to wonder if Egan realizes what a hypocritical joke he is? The fact is he is just the flip side of the coin of Rush Limbaugh, though a far less successful flip side.
The fact is that the "progressive" extreme interpretation of "climate change" is a hoax, - not supported by a majority of scientists. The $15 minimum is also a joke would accomplish little to nothing in raising the middle class and simply making it harder for young folk to get entry level jobs.
The fact is that the "progressive" extreme interpretation of "climate change" is a hoax, - not supported by a majority of scientists. The $15 minimum is also a joke would accomplish little to nothing in raising the middle class and simply making it harder for young folk to get entry level jobs.
1
One has to wonder how long we'll have to read comments from folks with their heads stuck in the sand.
1
There seem to be two kinds of politicians: those who take liberty with facts and evidence and those that completely disregard it. When oil prices were high and a 5 dollar bill was considered a gift certificate for a galleon of gas, Senator Mitch McConnell kept reminding us how the "energy industry" required subsidies to "keep prices down" for us consumers. And then, we have Fox news.
The Free Press is an easy target for politicos on both sides of the aisle. Here, another right-on target assessment by Mr. Egan, the subtext reveals that it takes real dedication to become a journalist. Awaiting graduation are bad wages, diminishing employment opportunities and the vile and ire of the politicos of different stripes. From my perspective, the GOP are the biggest offenders and detractors of the Free Press. They've got the most money and, hey! We believe the rich always know what's going on. Why? Because they're rich, stupid!
The truth may make us free but it seems in today's journalism industry, it will also make you unemployed.
The Free Press is an easy target for politicos on both sides of the aisle. Here, another right-on target assessment by Mr. Egan, the subtext reveals that it takes real dedication to become a journalist. Awaiting graduation are bad wages, diminishing employment opportunities and the vile and ire of the politicos of different stripes. From my perspective, the GOP are the biggest offenders and detractors of the Free Press. They've got the most money and, hey! We believe the rich always know what's going on. Why? Because they're rich, stupid!
The truth may make us free but it seems in today's journalism industry, it will also make you unemployed.
3
If they're so awful, why did you call them a Grand Old Party just now?
Speaking of journalism, here is some bad news: You've been pwned.
Speaking of journalism, here is some bad news: You've been pwned.
pwned?
The GOP is not grand. It's greedy.
The GOP is not grand. It's greedy.
Then spell it out, art. Otherwise the reader will default to "Grand Old Party."
If that's too much to type, stick with a single capital R.
If that's too much to type, stick with a single capital R.
Most people working in the news business are liberal. Many got into the business after attending elite mostly liberal colleges while seeing themselves more as advocates than reporters, which is how much of the public has come to sees them as well. What's surprising about that?
What is amazing is that so few right-wing people on radio and TV like Rush Limbaugh have been able to have such an outsized effect on the reputation of the major liberal newspapers and media properties, which suggests that there was a great deal of low hanging fruit waiting to be whacked. Like hiim or hate him, he and his like are a huge presence.
This extends to more than news. One wonders if the falloff in network TV viewing has to do with its content. As of now, most of the longest running shows deal with drama in medicine and policing. Scripted comedies and "reality" shows are mostly pretty crude. While the occasional laugh at a ribald joke can be fun for TV viewers, leaving them to swim in a cloaca maxima becomes tiresome and leads them to look for alternatives.
Now that the cost of entry has dropped so much and shows can be streamed over the net, look for a whole alternative universe on the entertainment side as well.
What is amazing is that so few right-wing people on radio and TV like Rush Limbaugh have been able to have such an outsized effect on the reputation of the major liberal newspapers and media properties, which suggests that there was a great deal of low hanging fruit waiting to be whacked. Like hiim or hate him, he and his like are a huge presence.
This extends to more than news. One wonders if the falloff in network TV viewing has to do with its content. As of now, most of the longest running shows deal with drama in medicine and policing. Scripted comedies and "reality" shows are mostly pretty crude. While the occasional laugh at a ribald joke can be fun for TV viewers, leaving them to swim in a cloaca maxima becomes tiresome and leads them to look for alternatives.
Now that the cost of entry has dropped so much and shows can be streamed over the net, look for a whole alternative universe on the entertainment side as well.
1
The right-wing political strategy concerning the press is brilliant. They say whatever they want, no matter how false and despite all facts to the contrary and when the media corrects them, they claim the media is biased.
161
ColtSinclair: I concur. A little bit of Bible Study rhetoric. The mechanics of perpetuating unsubstantiated claims in a convincing way can become a very useful transferable skill.
This is exactly what Joseph Goebbels did in Germany when he was Propaganda Minister for Hitler.
Question: did the Nazi mindset win World War II some 70 years later?
Question: did the Nazi mindset win World War II some 70 years later?
So it seems that the G.O.P. candidates are more leftist than Pablo Iglesias of Spain's Podemos and Nico Maduro of the chavista Venezuela. Animal Farm and George Orwell
"Where's the money Lebowski?"
As we allowed more and more money into politics, our politicians allowed more and more media conglomeration. When you allow large corporations to have monopoly (or near) control of large swaths of the country, particularly large urban areas, you're going to eventually get the propaganda like press the US now mostly has.
In 2001 the FCC basically gave up on fighting distortion in the news. In 2003 the Florida court of appeals agreed that FOX need not tell the truth in their "news". Who was FCC chairman back then? Michael Powell, now head of the cable lobby NCTA, fighting against net neutrality.
Just follow the money and you'll find why our once free press disappeared.
As we allowed more and more money into politics, our politicians allowed more and more media conglomeration. When you allow large corporations to have monopoly (or near) control of large swaths of the country, particularly large urban areas, you're going to eventually get the propaganda like press the US now mostly has.
In 2001 the FCC basically gave up on fighting distortion in the news. In 2003 the Florida court of appeals agreed that FOX need not tell the truth in their "news". Who was FCC chairman back then? Michael Powell, now head of the cable lobby NCTA, fighting against net neutrality.
Just follow the money and you'll find why our once free press disappeared.
5
Really? Really? All the media elites, liars, and gasbags are right wing?? I think not.
2
No one said "all." That's in your head, in your head.
1
Prove it.
2
Why is Melissa Click still a professor at the University of Missouri?
The call for "muscle" to stop a reporter from doing his job is more than sufficient reason for her to lose her job.
The call for "muscle" to stop a reporter from doing his job is more than sufficient reason for her to lose her job.
5
The result of 24/7 "news" outlets is that we end up with networks more focused on making news than in reporting it. Opinions become "facts" which are then reported as "news."
1
Not always correct, but I'm glad I have the New York Times every morning with my coffee.
1
Two takeaways from this. One: we need a free and impartial press more than ever. Two: these days, as Melissa Click learned to her regret, you are never not on camera. Everything you say can and will be used against you.
2
Why doesn't the mainstream media write about Rupert Murdoch? He is responsible for a huge amount of mis information and propaganda in many countries including Fox News here but honestly you very rarely read about him. He has just bought National Geographic too. You can talk about the rise of dysfunctional democracy and skewed right wing media but somehow the people who are responsible are never personally challenged.
3
The fascist news is dominated by an immigrant kangaroo carpetbagger. Why is Murdoch allowed to exist on our soil? Deport him!
4
This column should be required reading.
2
That's an ugly little film clip. Cudos to Tim Tai for standing his ground.
4
But take this perspective into account the next time you hear somebody attack the “media elites.”
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You're a member of the elite white media, Mr. Egan. Not the povery-level daily practitioners of the trade.
I am an avid reader, and recall you humblebragging once to being in the Top One Percent of the nation, based on your income (work and investment income included.)
You don't tell the whole story here about the "journalism" professor either. She is really in the school of communications, not to be confused with the formerly top-ranked journalism school at Mizzou.
Don't get your shoes dirty reporting the story that you are presenting here, and heaven knows: don't let this campus movement keep you off the trails, or in the Pacific Northwest great outdoors where you have retired...
One day, you'll be reading, and the people writing here will not be retired white men pontificating on actions from a distance, but "unknown" bylines, not interested in promoting their own names and bylines, but in pushing the story itself forward... (or rather: simply following it along its daily course, but reporting right alongside, every step of the way. You are too far removed from these stories yourself, Mr. Egan, no matter how sympathetic you appear to be...)
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You're a member of the elite white media, Mr. Egan. Not the povery-level daily practitioners of the trade.
I am an avid reader, and recall you humblebragging once to being in the Top One Percent of the nation, based on your income (work and investment income included.)
You don't tell the whole story here about the "journalism" professor either. She is really in the school of communications, not to be confused with the formerly top-ranked journalism school at Mizzou.
Don't get your shoes dirty reporting the story that you are presenting here, and heaven knows: don't let this campus movement keep you off the trails, or in the Pacific Northwest great outdoors where you have retired...
One day, you'll be reading, and the people writing here will not be retired white men pontificating on actions from a distance, but "unknown" bylines, not interested in promoting their own names and bylines, but in pushing the story itself forward... (or rather: simply following it along its daily course, but reporting right alongside, every step of the way. You are too far removed from these stories yourself, Mr. Egan, no matter how sympathetic you appear to be...)
1
There is some fine reporting out there, but some of the media seems to adopted the "both sides do it" meme, and that's just wrong. Give me more fine articles about corrupt people, the craziness of the GOP regarding climate change, and give us all the details on Exxon (I want to see some perp walks there). Let's see some more fine, unbiased reporting. Don't be what Stephen Colbert called "stenographers". Don't be like Chuck Todd, who said if he barks at anyone (meaning: asking tough questions) no one will want to come on his show. Avoid those DC cocktail parties with the Very Serious People, and tell me you might lose some important sources. I'm a former reporter, and I say do it. Face it, they're going to hate you no matter what you do.
9
In other words, you want articles that give you good cheer though seeing misery of people you dislike. I imagine you would not care for articles on corruption in labor unions, nonprofits, and the Democratic Party.
As journalism has lost its credibility as a news source due to its strong partisanship, its value has eroded.
When "Michael Brown" is described as "an unarmed Black man" millions of times by the media to promote its political agenda, rather than as "an unarmed Black man who assaulted a police officer after robbing a store", the liberal bias of the media is highlighted.
Without credibility, journalism has no purpose.
When "Michael Brown" is described as "an unarmed Black man" millions of times by the media to promote its political agenda, rather than as "an unarmed Black man who assaulted a police officer after robbing a store", the liberal bias of the media is highlighted.
Without credibility, journalism has no purpose.
2
Two more names for you, Mr. Egan: Dan Rather (and his lying producer) and Brian Williams. And let's not forget the gas bags on MSNBC (and yes, I watch them), and the fact that ABC, NBC, and CBS news are all run by liberal democrats. I won't even bother with the vast left-wing web outlets funded by ultra-leftist billionaires. Your piece is laughable in its total bias, not to mention the NYT opinion section and NYTEB. You don't get a pass because you mention Melissa Click and low pay for would-be journalists. It is clear who you think the bad guys are. But your dem/lib readers sure love it...just read the comments. I won't give the right wingers a break either. Let's be crystal clear: all this garbage flows both ways, and equally fast.
1
"I won't even bother with the vast left-wing web outlets funded by ultra-leftist billionaires. "
Oh, don't be silly. Bother away. You know you want to.
Oh, don't be silly. Bother away. You know you want to.
1
Hey it's very "American" to be loud and obnoxious!
2
Granted the right wing has done great damage to the truth and to our democracy but when you people in the mainstream media have gone off the rails by buying into right wing operatives' smears and lies you have done same thing. Have you forgotten Whitewater which cost taxpayers millions and led to impeachment of a President we the people had twice elected? At least that didn't lead to the deaths of untold thousands of people the way your willingness to be used to validate Cheney and Bush's WMD lies has done.
5
If you are a REAL reporter, I should not know your positions. I know your position on Rush, I know your position on Climate Change, I know your position on wages. I therefore can not trust your writing on these issues. Most reporting has become editoral in content and not facts. The second problem with reporters is the coping of each other work with no fact checking.
2
When Reporters are no more than "Repeaters" of corporate pres releases and then argue over what was said in response to what someone else said with no record checking I lose faith in them.
Taking a stand for accuracy or to back science over any desired "truth" may make it seem that someone is taking an obvious stand but does not mean they are not to be trusted.
Journalists ideally will fact check news makers statements as well as their own and point out inaccuracies and bold faced lies.
As a former NRA member I sometimes found it difficult to listen to colleagues during my 30 years in academia but had to leave the NRA due to facts on USA gun use and the gun manufacturers re-direction of the organization.
Both political parties are owned by power elites propped up with piles of ill-gotten cash from the uber-elite. Sad state to be in when our "Fourth Estate" is owned by businesses supposedly regulated and monitored by the government.
Taking a stand for accuracy or to back science over any desired "truth" may make it seem that someone is taking an obvious stand but does not mean they are not to be trusted.
Journalists ideally will fact check news makers statements as well as their own and point out inaccuracies and bold faced lies.
As a former NRA member I sometimes found it difficult to listen to colleagues during my 30 years in academia but had to leave the NRA due to facts on USA gun use and the gun manufacturers re-direction of the organization.
Both political parties are owned by power elites propped up with piles of ill-gotten cash from the uber-elite. Sad state to be in when our "Fourth Estate" is owned by businesses supposedly regulated and monitored by the government.
Sorry, but I thought this piece appeared on The Opinion Pages. If a reader doesn’t understand an author's opinion on the subject-matter by the end of an article, it isn't effectively written. Another threat to journalism is the audience's inability to read critically.
3
FYI jeff from allentown, this is the Op-Ed page and Tim Egan is opining, not reporting.
4
I can't help but see a connection between the cuts to newspapers that resulted in the reduction in investigative reporting and the fact that Exxon got away with misleading the American public for decades. Not to spread a conspiracy theory… but… is it possible the owners of major media outlets who cut spending on newsrooms to increase profits might be beholden to one of the major sponsors of their enterprise?
3
I have usually found that when one is being attacked by many people, not just those with a vested interest, that it is a good indication that you are doing something wrong. If the press was impartial and respected, most of these attacks would be ignored by the public, the fact that a large portion of the public agrees with the attacks, is a strong indicator that the press has lost its way. I would urge the press to step back and take a hard look at their existing practices and then rededicate themselves to honest, unbiased (as in neither left nor right) reporting.
3
The story of Ms. Click is the story of what happens when politics trumps academic and professional principles.
We must always fight injustice and wrongs. But academic and professional principles always instill -- or should instill -- a certain distance that transcends the conflict. This is why a doctor in a war zone will treat an enemy soldier; the principles of being a doctor, at that moment, transcends the political fight, however just it may be.
Ms. Click demonstrated, when push comes to shove, she would rather join the fray, than to practice her profession. In doing so, she failed to teach perhaps the most important lesson of what it means to be an academic or a professional. We fight; but our principles also transcend the fight, and indeed are what keep struggles within the terms of civilized norms.
These norms are what separates civilized struggle from barbaric struggle. I hope these lessons are being taught in classrooms today, and Ms. Click's failure serves as exhibit A of the direction none us must ever go down. Even students, too, must be reminded they have obligations as they struggle. Civilization works this way, and it progresses this way.
We must always fight injustice and wrongs. But academic and professional principles always instill -- or should instill -- a certain distance that transcends the conflict. This is why a doctor in a war zone will treat an enemy soldier; the principles of being a doctor, at that moment, transcends the political fight, however just it may be.
Ms. Click demonstrated, when push comes to shove, she would rather join the fray, than to practice her profession. In doing so, she failed to teach perhaps the most important lesson of what it means to be an academic or a professional. We fight; but our principles also transcend the fight, and indeed are what keep struggles within the terms of civilized norms.
These norms are what separates civilized struggle from barbaric struggle. I hope these lessons are being taught in classrooms today, and Ms. Click's failure serves as exhibit A of the direction none us must ever go down. Even students, too, must be reminded they have obligations as they struggle. Civilization works this way, and it progresses this way.
7
The dim bulb politicians always go after the press when their hair brained ideas are not acceptable to the public at large. The "press" where I live has virtually disappeared because the paper has such low standards. The typical day in the life of the paper is religion articles on about 3 pages, sports, vintage comics, obits and a tiny mention of the corrupt state government near the back page behind the obits. The Press? Nowhere in sight.
7
Oh, if only liberals were as good at beating conservatives in elections as they are at complaining about them. If they were, they would see how people like Melissa Click, boosters of political correctness on college campus, and Blacks Lives Matter activists hurt their own cause. Their exaggeration of racism and campus sexual assault and their illiberal ways of solving these problems are alienating white voters and allowing Republicans to control the country without winning the Presidency.
Both Democratic candidates said nothing about the suppression of speech on campus, out of fear of alienating the race baiters on the Left. When I find myself agreeing with the entire clown car of Republican candidates for President about a bedrock principle of liberalism like freedom of speech, and hear nothing from Democrats and only excuses and denial from others on the left something is seriously out of whack.
Liberals are in dire need of a reality check and should be looking at themselves in the mirror. Their self-righteous attitude blinds them to the fact that they have lost the House, the Senate, and most state governments and the best they can hope for in the 2016 election is a continuation of the status quo of gridlock and obstruction. It is time for them to stop making excuses and see that they are the problem.
Maybe some of these out of work idealist young journalists should start running for office and help Democrats find a way to win back the white working class.
Both Democratic candidates said nothing about the suppression of speech on campus, out of fear of alienating the race baiters on the Left. When I find myself agreeing with the entire clown car of Republican candidates for President about a bedrock principle of liberalism like freedom of speech, and hear nothing from Democrats and only excuses and denial from others on the left something is seriously out of whack.
Liberals are in dire need of a reality check and should be looking at themselves in the mirror. Their self-righteous attitude blinds them to the fact that they have lost the House, the Senate, and most state governments and the best they can hope for in the 2016 election is a continuation of the status quo of gridlock and obstruction. It is time for them to stop making excuses and see that they are the problem.
Maybe some of these out of work idealist young journalists should start running for office and help Democrats find a way to win back the white working class.
4
@Benjamin:
Why all the GOP gibberish about Melissa Click, when George W. Bush imposed free speech zones? Why the double standard?
And who are you to decide that student protest group is over-reacting? Are you on the UM campus? Are you a non-white? Were you a female on the Yale campus when a fraternity was waving signs and shouting "No means yes! Yes means anal!" to an indifferent campus authority who looked the other way until enough complains came roaring in? I would wager no; as such, it is incredible when whites try to play down others' protests. Apparently, all non-whites should just shut up about their troublesome nonsense. Chilling.
And how do you know any of these instances are alienating white voters, when there is no published data to support such an obscure conclusion. Honestly, you are making all kinds of causal links with no basis in facts. Useless.
Tell you what: let's ungerrymander all voting districts - all of them - and see how the votes go. Deal?
Why all the GOP gibberish about Melissa Click, when George W. Bush imposed free speech zones? Why the double standard?
And who are you to decide that student protest group is over-reacting? Are you on the UM campus? Are you a non-white? Were you a female on the Yale campus when a fraternity was waving signs and shouting "No means yes! Yes means anal!" to an indifferent campus authority who looked the other way until enough complains came roaring in? I would wager no; as such, it is incredible when whites try to play down others' protests. Apparently, all non-whites should just shut up about their troublesome nonsense. Chilling.
And how do you know any of these instances are alienating white voters, when there is no published data to support such an obscure conclusion. Honestly, you are making all kinds of causal links with no basis in facts. Useless.
Tell you what: let's ungerrymander all voting districts - all of them - and see how the votes go. Deal?
@CWS : I am sorry you don't feel I have a right to my opinion. I guess, like the students, that you think only you should have a right to speak. No one is saying you can't protest. No one is demanding teachers and administrators resign or speakers not be allowed to speak on campus except people like you. You are accusing me and others of the things liberals are actually doing. You just overreacted to an opinion you didn't like and insulted me by calling me useless instead of acting civilly and making a reasoned argument, also acting incredible self-righteous I might add.
Seventy percent of white male voters voted for Republicans in the 2014 election. Thomas Edsall published a column yesterday citing statistics that showed a 32% drop in conservative and moderate white voters supporting the Democratic party.
These are not casual links. You are wearing blinders.
Seventy percent of white male voters voted for Republicans in the 2014 election. Thomas Edsall published a column yesterday citing statistics that showed a 32% drop in conservative and moderate white voters supporting the Democratic party.
These are not casual links. You are wearing blinders.
Two points missing in this otherwise good article. First, the spin-down of journalism began years ago when universities/colleges let public relations courses and concepts overtake the core business of journalism as a critical communication tool. Second, and related to this point, is the allowance of focused investigative journalism to be considered in the realm of "criminal behavior" instead of a key element in letting the public know the truth. Sadly, the profession of journalism has been harmed to its very core and, with it, a key component of free speech and transparency is severely compromised. Hopefully this can be reversed somehow, but at this rate getting low-paid reporters to dig down to get to the truth then putting it out there for all to see is becoming a very unlikely possibility. A sad situation indeed.
10
Tim, this was a great argument in support of greater respect for the craft and profession of journalism... until you reminded us that Sarah Palin has a journalism degree. On the other hand, Palin provides a stark reminder that mere training in the field does not imbue the practitioner with ethics, good judgment, or other intangibles essential to making it an activity beneficial to civil society at large.
2
Well, Mr. Egan, perhaps you should take a closer look at your employer if you truly lament the decline in the quality of news reporting and the corresponding decline in wages. The two usually go hand in hand.
As for examples of media bias, what about your employer who has taken a very public stand against teachers unions which it vilifies and a very favorable view of the privatization of public education on highly questionable evidence?
As for examples of media bias, what about your employer who has taken a very public stand against teachers unions which it vilifies and a very favorable view of the privatization of public education on highly questionable evidence?
3
What is a "courtesy appointment" to a college teaching position? It sounds like something that needs rethinking.
And I wonder if journalism schools are teaching anything about the issues Mr. Egan discusses. About how to distinguish between the "twisted world of partisan media" and real journalism. And how to report objectively on topics that one may have strong opinions about. I think Timothy Egan know the difference but I wonder if colleges and journalism programs that rely on people like Professor Click do.
And I wonder if journalism schools are teaching anything about the issues Mr. Egan discusses. About how to distinguish between the "twisted world of partisan media" and real journalism. And how to report objectively on topics that one may have strong opinions about. I think Timothy Egan know the difference but I wonder if colleges and journalism programs that rely on people like Professor Click do.
3
I have tremendous respect for the sometimes dangerous work of journalists. I have tremendous respect for the sometimes dangerous work of the police. But I have to admit that when both are wronged and they call out all their brethren to remind us of the importance of their losses, that I think of miners and loggers and fishermen, whose jobs are far more dangerous and who suffer the consequences with quiet dignity.
One glaring fact that you neglect to mention, Mr. Egan, is that journalists rarely question in print the questionable statements elicited by candidates or most others. Equal weight is given to lies and to truth. Fact checking seems only to occur after a debate, no research is done by a reporter. Is it laziness? Often times only some of the facts are given, for example recently in the NY Times regarding Sen. Rubio's comments that welders make more than philosophers, only starting salaries of both were reported, neglecting the fact that philosophers end up making 3 to 4 times more on average. Another example is an article on the student unrest at the University of Missouri in which no background, no reasons why students would protest was included in the news article, the fact that the president had ignored egregious acts of prejudice that had been brought to his attention.
Or look at headlines in the NY Times which are often misleading, one yesterday indicating Hillary Clinton was persuading more people than Bernie Sanders and leading in a poll while in the body of the article it stated that 84% of respondents didn't trust her. Bias?
Journalists often don't seem to be doing the job that the public requires to be actually informed to reality. I always thought that was their job, to ask questions, to report facts, to call people out for misinformation. How do you see your job?
Or look at headlines in the NY Times which are often misleading, one yesterday indicating Hillary Clinton was persuading more people than Bernie Sanders and leading in a poll while in the body of the article it stated that 84% of respondents didn't trust her. Bias?
Journalists often don't seem to be doing the job that the public requires to be actually informed to reality. I always thought that was their job, to ask questions, to report facts, to call people out for misinformation. How do you see your job?
1
After I read the Times at breakfast & listen to NPR as I get dressed for work, once in the car I listen to conservative "talk radio" on the local FOX radio station. It is like entering another world entirely. They cover stories that are not even mentioned or are barely mentioned in my usual news. It's "reporters" offer their opinions on everything, without any facts or sources to substantiate it. They also repeat the same stories over & over & over again until I can almost repeat them verbatim. And the outright lies still shock me. Yet the "real 'mericans" lap this up & have since King Ronnie was on the throne. We're doomed.
4
I don't watch Fox News, and refuse to listen to Sean Hannity, even when it is the only talk program on the radio while I'm driving in rural America. Don't even talk to me about country music stations.
But the less crazy, less selfish, less sensational, yet equally biased and equally pervasive leftist news reporting is built on hopeless idealism that also finds careful fact-checking a hindrance.
Objectivity and integrity -- there seem to be few willing to fly that flag, and obviously very few willing to pay someone a living wage to do it. It's an important loss for America.
But the less crazy, less selfish, less sensational, yet equally biased and equally pervasive leftist news reporting is built on hopeless idealism that also finds careful fact-checking a hindrance.
Objectivity and integrity -- there seem to be few willing to fly that flag, and obviously very few willing to pay someone a living wage to do it. It's an important loss for America.
Where is there "leftist news" is the United States? Where?
2
Rupert Murdoch has almost single-handedly undermined the integrity of journalism around the world. FOX and right-wing hate radio with their faux news, intentional misinformation and hate-spewing personalities, have the fingerprint of Murdoch all over them.
Free, mainstream press is a necessity for a democracy to function and flourish; faux press is a poison pill. For that reason, the legitimate media must call out Murdoch outlets and his spawn.
Mainstream press can and does make mistakes, for which they are called out. Judith Miller did a tremendous disservice to the NYT, its readers and our nation. Ultimately, the NYT is held responsible and ultimately, citizens must be vigilant in questioning the "news" presented.
Real journalists don't get the respect they truly deserve, but then neither do school teachers and many other professions we depend upon to keep us informed, healthy and safe.
Free, mainstream press is a necessity for a democracy to function and flourish; faux press is a poison pill. For that reason, the legitimate media must call out Murdoch outlets and his spawn.
Mainstream press can and does make mistakes, for which they are called out. Judith Miller did a tremendous disservice to the NYT, its readers and our nation. Ultimately, the NYT is held responsible and ultimately, citizens must be vigilant in questioning the "news" presented.
Real journalists don't get the respect they truly deserve, but then neither do school teachers and many other professions we depend upon to keep us informed, healthy and safe.
5
Thanks for drawing attention to this Tim. The "media elite" for years has been the owners. All large networks and media outlets are owned by the very wealthy and of course this effects how and what happens in those media. As in other areas of work, this corporatization since 1980 has made it very difficult to innovate, with occasional openings - in TV the now shot-down laws creating public access are a good historical illustration - somehow Comcast/Time Warner et al were incredibly threatened by a few people doing things differently and killed most of the nation´s public access. Consider the FCC. The digital spectrum offers new opportunities for independent TV but is snapped up by the biggies, they put up huge barriers to entry. PBS has been censored out of relevance since Reagan.
The internet is an opportunity for new independent voices. We have to use it before they get it all - they (and the biggies FB, Google etc are part of the "they") use their power to create the message that serves them. Ask FB or Google about corruption in the H1-B visas for example - hey they are all for it! It lines their zillionaire pockets at the expense of US workers.
Many people who want to do journalism just give up. I wish they wouldn´t. You do learn alot working in higher end TV and publications, but its the independent voices that we need.
The internet is an opportunity for new independent voices. We have to use it before they get it all - they (and the biggies FB, Google etc are part of the "they") use their power to create the message that serves them. Ask FB or Google about corruption in the H1-B visas for example - hey they are all for it! It lines their zillionaire pockets at the expense of US workers.
Many people who want to do journalism just give up. I wish they wouldn´t. You do learn alot working in higher end TV and publications, but its the independent voices that we need.
3
Little doubt were the First Amendment's free press stricture put to a popular vote today, it would fail miserably.
1
Bravo, Mr. Egan. It's worth noting, however, that one would be hard pressed to find a nonpartisan media outlet in many a small town -- especially in the American South (as in central Florida where I reside).
3
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the Commission's view—honest, equitable, and balanced.
Ronald Regan's FCC eliminated the Doctrine in 1987, thereby allowing the public airwaves to be violently polluted with propaganda, right-wing hate radio and fake news.
The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine allowed for the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Faux News channel, Rush Limbaugh's hate radio and the entire rainbow of right-wing misinformation.
It allowed for the complete destruction of the concept of an informed electorate and crystallized the right-wing dream of a serially misinformed electorate.
That's how Ronald Reagan and his merry band of nihilists destroyed America and its collective IQ.
RIP, America.
Ronald Regan's FCC eliminated the Doctrine in 1987, thereby allowing the public airwaves to be violently polluted with propaganda, right-wing hate radio and fake news.
The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine allowed for the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Faux News channel, Rush Limbaugh's hate radio and the entire rainbow of right-wing misinformation.
It allowed for the complete destruction of the concept of an informed electorate and crystallized the right-wing dream of a serially misinformed electorate.
That's how Ronald Reagan and his merry band of nihilists destroyed America and its collective IQ.
RIP, America.
16
Its interesting. I don't turn on the television news. I cut my cable. I do, however get unavoidable exposure at restaurants (why we can't eat in peace these days is beyond me.) The thing I have noticed is that its always about celebrities or the candidates for an election thats a year away. I know that more important things are happening because I read about it. It is as if CNN and FOX are run by people who have a fifteen -year- old's world view. I get trapped watching these channels at my in-laws house and its people yelling at the screen on the financial channel. It reminds me of wrestling. We are in real trouble right now. I hope that as the next generation also cuts the cable things might change a bit.
7
Sadly, a lot of what you say is true. Republicans have built a journalism wing which is strong and well funded. Fox News hires pretty blond women who spout propaganda that keeps old guys infatuated as they look at their dresses that show shapely legs for all to see. Rush Limbaugh is pure unadulterated hatred that keeps many uneducated whites stirred up and convinced that the only solution is revolution against the current leadership. How to combat this? I don't know, but the legitimate press has an obligation to present news in a way that is objective and balanced. Printing and broadcasting only negative stories is not going to get it done.
3
The most insidious form of press censorship is the myriad small instances of self-censorship journalists may practice, for fear of being accused of liberal bias for calling a lie by a conservative a lie. The GOP candidates are shoveling baloney in buckets on immigration, taxes, Planned Parenthood, and they are fueling the Hate Hilary fever with wild claims of criminality. Yet seldom do I see a candidate called out in person for these ludicrous misrepresentations of fact when they are being interviewed. Nobody says, "But that is provably false" even when everyone know that it is. Hey, since political correctness has been canceled, is it OK to just call them liars now? Or do we just sit there with our hands in our laps while they call everyone left of Mussolini stupid, incompetent communist, whatever.
36
Excellent letter. I've wondered the same things myself. I, too, thought being a responsible journalist meant calling people out on falsehoods--on the spot, during an interview. That rarely happens, and so lies and craziness just get repeated and reinforced. Journalists--especially broadcast journalists--need to do their jobs.
1
In Russia, dissident journalists are slaughtered. In the US, they are made too poor to be able to work properly.
13
The GOP has successfully staked out its place in history. Their era of distortions, lies and the denial of science will be known as the Age of the Unenlightened.
12
The article starts right--the actions of communications professor Click were at a minimum foolish and wrong and possibly strayed into criminality. But as moderate readers know, the NYT and other mainstream media often seem to be Democratic Party organs--the notion they are unbiased is long gone. Look at the never ending pieces on charter schools--are they perfect? Of course not. But how do they perform vs district schools and do they offer a much, much better option for underserved minority communities? You would never know from the NYT. Same with minimum wage. The nonpartisan CBO estimated significant--500,000--job losses from a minimum wage increase. They might be right; they might be wrong--but you won't read much about that here. Such views don't conform to liberal dogma. So maybe some of the scorn Egan complains about is earned. The other half of the country isn't wrong about everything.
3
Charter schools have a decidedly mixed record. Some are good, some are terrible. And almost all find ways to exclude students who might fail. The minimum-wage prognostication depends on the size of the increase, doesn't it?
6
The minimum wages impact does depend on the size of the increase (the CBO estimate was for an increase to $10.10). But prognostication--at least as conveyed by the mainstream media--avoids discussion of these trade offs as if they don't exist.
1
"Almost all find ways to exclude students who might fail" sounds a little like an assumption rather than established fact. But the point is that the NYT runs many column inches on five families whose misbehaving children might (or might not) have been encouraged to find a better match. The Times is seemingly uncritical of every AFT position without any serious look at whether hundreds of thousands of kids are better served by charter schools. Why is that?
1
The Fairness Doctrine was a policy of the United States Federal Communications Commission (FCC), introduced in 1949, that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was—in the Commission's view—honest, equitable, and balanced.
Ronald Regan's FCC eliminated the Doctrine in 1987, thereby allowing the public airwaves to be violently polluted with propaganda, right-wing hate radio and fake news.
The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine allowed for the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Faux News channel, Rush Limbaugh's hate radio and the entire rainbow of right-wing misinformation.
It allowed for the complete destruction of the concept of honest news and an informed electorate and crystallized the right-wing dream of a serially misinformed and propagandized electorate.
That's how Ronald Reagan and his merry band of nihilists destroyed America and its collective IQ.
That's how you get half of America denying science, evolution, basic economics, contraception and basic reality while repeating Republican fantasies, fictions and phoniness as America races back to the Gilded Age.
When Americans demand that the 'government keep its damn hands off my Medicare'.....you know that the champions of right-wing Fake News have won.
Game Over.
RIP, America.
Ronald Regan's FCC eliminated the Doctrine in 1987, thereby allowing the public airwaves to be violently polluted with propaganda, right-wing hate radio and fake news.
The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine allowed for the rise of Rupert Murdoch's Faux News channel, Rush Limbaugh's hate radio and the entire rainbow of right-wing misinformation.
It allowed for the complete destruction of the concept of honest news and an informed electorate and crystallized the right-wing dream of a serially misinformed and propagandized electorate.
That's how Ronald Reagan and his merry band of nihilists destroyed America and its collective IQ.
That's how you get half of America denying science, evolution, basic economics, contraception and basic reality while repeating Republican fantasies, fictions and phoniness as America races back to the Gilded Age.
When Americans demand that the 'government keep its damn hands off my Medicare'.....you know that the champions of right-wing Fake News have won.
Game Over.
RIP, America.
274
I wish I could pile on the recommends for Socretes of Verona NJ's comment about the Fairness Doctrine. Its reinstatement should be a major campaign issue. The candidates should be required to take stands on reinstatement. The elimination of the Fairness Doctrine under Reagan is one of the pillars of the suppression of democracy in America.
10
It's a good point. But when you are cut-and-pasting from Wikipedia, you should say so.
1
You bring up an important, possibly the most important fact. The elimination of The Fairness Doctrine. It is past time to bring it back. How about it folks? Let's all write our Congresspeople and our Senators and demand it. Boy would that feel good if we were successful. A new day would dawn.
4
Here's my take, Tim. BTW, I have a journalism degree from Michigan State University, earned in the dark ages before computers. I think journalists have no one to blame but themselves for the public's lack of faith in the media. It began with 9-11, when journalists jumped on the WMD train, giddy about "embedding" itself on a military campaign it should have challenged if least not questioned, escalated with the media's full embrace of "You lie!" Tea Party politics, reporting the Obama Birther smear campaign as legitimate, and continued with the infotainment movement, in which repeated stories about the Kardashians, the female student accused of murder in Italy, etc. etc. masqueraded as news on prime time TV, while real news about the economy, and laws designed to kill unions, deprive women of their rights and minority voters of their right to vote were trivialized or ignored. The media is supposed to be balanced, but that balance has gone way out of whack, on Fox News and MSNBC. All we get now is partisan interpretation. The old saying is "A poor workman blames his tools." Why is the media not blaming itself for how low it has fallen?
89
Although I can't cite specifics, the decline was long before 9/11. In my junior high newspaper class, ca. 1960, I learned about the 5 w's. More recent graduates of colleges seem to nave not learned what I did so long ago. I often finish a story with basic "W" questions unanswered.
2
Boo, everything you say is true. You were speaking of TV mainly I think. If the media had ignored all the pointless infotainment, drama and falsity of the things you mentioned and had spent most of the time reporting actual facts about the economy, civil rights, climate change etc....
Would anyone have watched?
Would anyone have watched?
2
It's open season on anything, ever since comment writing on the Internet has proliferated.
Journalists notice it happens to journalists. Singers notice it happens to singers. Politicians notice it happens to politicians. Ralph Waldo Emerson notices it happens to Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Literary and intellectual connection exists.)
Article author: please rest assured, that the commenters who chew out journalists will get their just desserts. You see, commenters chew each other out too.
There is nothing sacred in this world, now more than ever.
The journalism professor who chewed out the journalism student got chewed out. It would have hardly happened without the Internet.
It's an all-out global thermonuclear chew-out arena, the Internet is. Gone are the days when the Internet was primarily a venue for exchanging cute cat pictures.
Journalists notice it happens to journalists. Singers notice it happens to singers. Politicians notice it happens to politicians. Ralph Waldo Emerson notices it happens to Ralph Waldo Emerson. (Literary and intellectual connection exists.)
Article author: please rest assured, that the commenters who chew out journalists will get their just desserts. You see, commenters chew each other out too.
There is nothing sacred in this world, now more than ever.
The journalism professor who chewed out the journalism student got chewed out. It would have hardly happened without the Internet.
It's an all-out global thermonuclear chew-out arena, the Internet is. Gone are the days when the Internet was primarily a venue for exchanging cute cat pictures.
7
I'm pretty happy with C-Span for an overall mix of reporting and opinion. It's then left to me to evaluate what's true and what isn't. Also, I enjoy hearing interviews between a neutral moderator and a journalist talking about a given topic. You do get some crazies calling in to make their comments, but hey, free speech.
5
An example is the GOP's rebellion against "gotcha " questions during debates.But Liberals such as me complain about even the mainstream media at times ,occasionally with good reason.Early during the campaign my gripe was all the coverage given Trump, while the surging Sanders was getting very little.That's improved,but who gets the coverage seems mainly driven by their standing in the polls,which is a faulty criteria.
11
Too many liberals are too willing to take up the Republican branding statement "GOP."
It's not a value-neutral abbreviation.
So tell me:
What's G about this OP of yours?
It's not a value-neutral abbreviation.
So tell me:
What's G about this OP of yours?
1
Unfortunately, with the decline of the number of newspapers and the consolidation of what remains, we no longer get a well-though array of opinions from differing points of view. Since the founding, newspapers were partisan in that they had a unique perspective and could do battle in the public sphere on the strength or weakness of their ideas. We now have all opinions galvanized into two streams, both corporate, therefore not really addressing the realities of the mass of Americans. There was a time when newspapers had a Labor Beat section which discussed working people. How many of those exist today? We get a narrow slice of news, according to what the "owners" want to put forth, and we hear little real analysis of policy and the elected people who dish out the policy. It's all "shock and awe," a horserace, and never serves up the meat. My two best examples are how someone like Paul Ryan, whose libertarian policy designs the would hurt the mass of Americans, keeps getting treated with kid's gloves in a veritable lovefest by the corporate media all while ignoring what his draconian economic policies and their effects they would have on the populace. We get no hard get analysis by the press. The second is how the corporate media has presented the TPP, which would eviscerate our sovereignty. No hard hitting analysis there. It's all PR Fluff n' Stuff.
1
These Republican pretenders to the throne do not want to be queried on the ridiculous statements that they have made. Thus they blame the "media." They have much support among the public as too many people no longer read or listen to analysis that is counter to what they believe. It's a sad state of affairs.
3
Our society has changed so much, with so many diversions pulling our attentions this way and that, that its difficult to find well written hard news articles based on the facts as the reporters find them. Our attention span seems so much shorter than it was, say, 30 or 40 years ago. And worse, we now do not wish to venture too far from what makes us comfortable. Hence, there are millions of people who only listen to Rush Limbaugh, or watch the Daily Show. Making matters worse is the probable goal of many journalism students. Many of them, I imagine, have notions of becoming media "stars" and don't have the real drive or committment to report the truth, or take enjoyment in writing or doing the careful research required to do it right.
2
There are longterm ramifications for the low pay of both jounalists and college faculty/instructors and it is a reflection of our shortsighted national values. What will the future hold as the quality of both higher education and journalism fall? An educated and informed electorate is the bedrock of a functioning democracy.
6
Another over credentialed and underpaid profession is social work. That is because we value human beings and their welfare so little. It, too, is demeaned by the right constantly. If you support ethics, the truth, and the dignity of all people (which all three professions do or should), you are fair game for the GOP smear campaigners.
1
Our system of government cannot function without public participation. The people call the shots with their vote. Policy decisions rest with the people.
In order to be able to make informed decisions, the public must have access to accurate information about goings on in the world. The public then uses that information to speak out in the public square (which I'm dong now by writing this comment) and voting. My ability to speak out on this forum allows me an opportunity to affect the thinking of others. This process of gathering information, speaking out and then voting is the foundation of our system of government.
By attacking legitimate journalism at every turn, the core of what makes American great is being attacked. These assaults are in effect, acts of treason. They do not attack government directly, but they attack the components that allow government to work. The effect is the same. Liberty is lost. It is being lost to ignorance and hate, all fueled by corrupt media for the sole purpose to make a buck. Thank you FOX news for leading a campaign to ruin America for profit.
In order to be able to make informed decisions, the public must have access to accurate information about goings on in the world. The public then uses that information to speak out in the public square (which I'm dong now by writing this comment) and voting. My ability to speak out on this forum allows me an opportunity to affect the thinking of others. This process of gathering information, speaking out and then voting is the foundation of our system of government.
By attacking legitimate journalism at every turn, the core of what makes American great is being attacked. These assaults are in effect, acts of treason. They do not attack government directly, but they attack the components that allow government to work. The effect is the same. Liberty is lost. It is being lost to ignorance and hate, all fueled by corrupt media for the sole purpose to make a buck. Thank you FOX news for leading a campaign to ruin America for profit.
21
Good journalist inform. The most recent GOP debate included candidates voicing support for a return to the gold standard and opposition to an increase in the minimum wage. Their statements were largely ignored by the media.
22
The GOP array of presidential candidates are wimps. Little military experience despite the militaristic bombast, exaggerators of the history to enhance the narrative and unwilling to correct misstatements without sarcasm. All I want to know, those of you who like these guys and one dissembling woman, anyone you'd follow into battle. If you followed Trump, you'd find yourself wanting to either shoot him for his foolhardiness or get yourself killed. How about the little Rubio? Is he a Napoleon or just a well spoken broke guy, who probably has unreported income from the use of the party credit card? Then there's Cruz. Seemingly courageous if trying to humiliate opponents but really shallow. Anyone who asks a tough question is a villain to these wimps. So rather than having the strength to just answer the question and level with the electorate, they play the victim.
16
We recognize and honor great journalism because it stands way above the rest. It has long been so. We enjoy the Daily Show, but satire has long been an effective skewer of the powerful. Ask Nero. Or look at the court jester, whose job was really to defuse criticism of the powerful by making that criticism seem absurd and the stuff of fools.
Where we are today is beyond regrettable. But what can we do? The Murdoch Ministry owns influential media across the world, in Australia, Israel, UK, and USA. They circulate self-referential stories, quoting "reliable" or "respected" sources in London or wherever, and they cater for fearful know-nothings. And here we give their lies constitutional protection.
Where we are today is beyond regrettable. But what can we do? The Murdoch Ministry owns influential media across the world, in Australia, Israel, UK, and USA. They circulate self-referential stories, quoting "reliable" or "respected" sources in London or wherever, and they cater for fearful know-nothings. And here we give their lies constitutional protection.
9
If you kill a free press, you kill democracy. Just study history.
The recent trend in GOP candidates lambasting the media for basic fact checking of some of their Wilder claims and auto biographical information is very alarming. In fact this highly anti-Communist crowd should be absolutely ashamed of themselves-for acting like communist. They are simply replicating what happens in governments where truth seeking is outlawed.
Why shouldn't a candidates bio and position statements be thoroughly vetted ? The arrogance of Dr. Ben Carson who seems to think the country should just accept everything he says lock stock and barrel may be indicative of his medical background but it doesn't make it right if he's running for the highest office in the land..
Blaming the press for exposing the reality of exaggerations and lies lies, is a time honored practice but doesn't make it right. I agree with the author that one of the reasons these GOP candidates sound so completely stupid is that they are simply getting their source material from one sided media entities that love the sound of their own voices.
Repeating ally it over and over does not make it fact no matter what a candidate says. God help this country if we go back on our basic freedoms, which are based on an unencumbered Press and freedom of speech.
The recent trend in GOP candidates lambasting the media for basic fact checking of some of their Wilder claims and auto biographical information is very alarming. In fact this highly anti-Communist crowd should be absolutely ashamed of themselves-for acting like communist. They are simply replicating what happens in governments where truth seeking is outlawed.
Why shouldn't a candidates bio and position statements be thoroughly vetted ? The arrogance of Dr. Ben Carson who seems to think the country should just accept everything he says lock stock and barrel may be indicative of his medical background but it doesn't make it right if he's running for the highest office in the land..
Blaming the press for exposing the reality of exaggerations and lies lies, is a time honored practice but doesn't make it right. I agree with the author that one of the reasons these GOP candidates sound so completely stupid is that they are simply getting their source material from one sided media entities that love the sound of their own voices.
Repeating ally it over and over does not make it fact no matter what a candidate says. God help this country if we go back on our basic freedoms, which are based on an unencumbered Press and freedom of speech.
42
It is obvious to any rational person that Ben Carson's stories don't hold up.
But what about Elizabeth Warren's stories about native american blood? Not a shred of evidence, but apparently she gets a free pass on the left.
And so does Hillary Clinton with her outright lie about "bullets over Bosnia".
But what about Elizabeth Warren's stories about native american blood? Not a shred of evidence, but apparently she gets a free pass on the left.
And so does Hillary Clinton with her outright lie about "bullets over Bosnia".
1
CR-Comparing warren to Carson is absurd and changing the subject, something Repubs love to do. If you can't win the argument change the subject. She is NOT running for president! And truth be told Warren was raked over the coals by the press, leading to the despicable moniker of "Liawatha". yet none ever proved that she lied about her heritage. This was nothing more than one more witch hunt to take down a popular Democrat who is working for the protection of the lower and middle class. Many of us are told through family history that we have Native American blood. Is this so difficult to believe when many of us have history that goes back several generations and lived amongst Native American communities? Did the two races never intermarry? Where is your outrage over Scott Brown's totally fabricated alter life where he was just a struggling regular Joe like the rest of us, driving around in his beat up show horse pick-up truck in his $400 dollar farmer Brown barn jacket, living in his humble $700,000 McMansion, and summering at his humble lake home on the exclusive, expensive Winnipesuakee in NH.
Ben Carson is seriously deranged. He suffers delusions of grandeur, believing God works through him. This is indicative of a serious mental disorder. Every time he opens his mouth he utters more lies and insanities. He is dangerous, as is Cruz, Rubio, Trump and the rest of the demagogues on the stage. Fiorina sees videos only she can see. None should have access to the nuclear codes.
Ben Carson is seriously deranged. He suffers delusions of grandeur, believing God works through him. This is indicative of a serious mental disorder. Every time he opens his mouth he utters more lies and insanities. He is dangerous, as is Cruz, Rubio, Trump and the rest of the demagogues on the stage. Fiorina sees videos only she can see. None should have access to the nuclear codes.
9
Unfortunately we have too few I F Stones these days, and those few write unappreciated blogs. Too many reporters (low paid, fearing for their careers, and relying on friendly contacts) are afraid of offending their sources or have their stories censored or redirected by editors. Too many are generalists, leaving them unable to develop enough of a knowledge base to see how they are being manipulated or lied to. We need more organizations like ProPublica, and more funding for them, so that costly important stories can be researched and written. The network news need to spend less time on feature stories and more on background stories on trends, politics, organizations, firms, lobbyists, industries, policies, etc. with more links in their online publications to enable citizens to understand terms and issues with easy clicks of a mouse. It's an uphill struggle to get the news out and to entice readers to learn. That's why reporters are paid so much (sarcasm here, Sheldon Cooper).
7
News is a business. It needs to make money to survive. If a news outlet isn't making profits every three months, someone like Rupert Murdoch will buy ti out.
That leaves our journalism industry in the same quandary that other businesses face. Locally we lost all of our low end retail when Walmart came in. We lost all of our drugstores to CVS and Walgreens. Local hardware and home improvement? Home Depot.
Businesses consolidate to own the market and push cheap inferior products. Internet aggregators are the Walmart of news. TV news is the Home depot of news. It is plentiful and cheap and not really all that good.
Real journalism has become the boutique industry, costing more, and providing quality, and under fire financially because the volume isn't there.
The problem is that cheap sheets and shelving don't impact democracy, but cheap journalism does.
That leaves our journalism industry in the same quandary that other businesses face. Locally we lost all of our low end retail when Walmart came in. We lost all of our drugstores to CVS and Walgreens. Local hardware and home improvement? Home Depot.
Businesses consolidate to own the market and push cheap inferior products. Internet aggregators are the Walmart of news. TV news is the Home depot of news. It is plentiful and cheap and not really all that good.
Real journalism has become the boutique industry, costing more, and providing quality, and under fire financially because the volume isn't there.
The problem is that cheap sheets and shelving don't impact democracy, but cheap journalism does.
91
We took a very destructive turn when the FCC granted Murdoch a broadcast license. Canada, wisely, did not.
10
Thank you So much, bless you for writing about the press that has played a definite role in shaping a distorted view of reality in America and has fan divisive forces like never before. Who listens to the gasbags, the same folks who are flocking Trump rallies? It's a very curious phenomenon. The press has the power and the duty to bring all folks together as one country, one nation, instead the press has been most unpatriotic. Through the past eight years, instead of coming together during a difficult time of recession, two wars, growing uncertainty in the Arab world and Beyond, all that the press has succeeded in doing, is creating Discontent among Americans. Instead of celebrating the 1st African American President, they have done everything in their power to oppose, obstruct, distort, all in the name of free press.
26
Tim, what many fail to realize is that perception all to easily becomes reality doesn't it. When those who own the channels of information and the means to stuff it with propaganda that benefits their pocketbooks you get modern America in 2015. We are in a war, a battle for the minds of a distracted electorate like never before. Over 40% of America really is ignorant of the facts but more importantly, the ignorance reinforces the status quo for those who profit from it. The war has to be taken to those who are controlling this in the backgrounds. You can start by noting who writes Rush's large checks? and then please note who hired him? who hired Roger at FOX? Time to shine the light of truth on those that would bury it in the garbage of history. Our nation's future needs a 4th estate not only to protect us from the abuse of government from time to time, but also from the soulless, selfish people leading the oligarchy that wishes to enslave the people of America for a few more pieces of silver,
51
The anger expressed by many responders over the shoddy quality of the journalism practiced by Fox News and the right wing commentariat is entirely justified. Still, a little perspective may be of use. The notion that American journalism has declined in recent years from the high standard set by an earlier generation of reporters is only partially true.
Throughout the 19th century, and well into the 20th, most newspapers made no pretense of aspiring to objectivity. The editors identified openly with a political party or faction, and they often tailored news reporting to reflect their loyalties. A later generation aspired to more professional standards, but partisanship never ceased entirely to distort the presentation of the news.
This is not intended to absolve the current practitioners of yellow journalism, but it is important to remember that they have always played a role in the profession. They are like shoddy merchandise that competes with quality goods. Our goal should be to encourage the professional journalists, whether they write for newspapers or blog on the internet, without forgetting that partisan hacks, like cockroaches, will never go extinct.
Throughout the 19th century, and well into the 20th, most newspapers made no pretense of aspiring to objectivity. The editors identified openly with a political party or faction, and they often tailored news reporting to reflect their loyalties. A later generation aspired to more professional standards, but partisanship never ceased entirely to distort the presentation of the news.
This is not intended to absolve the current practitioners of yellow journalism, but it is important to remember that they have always played a role in the profession. They are like shoddy merchandise that competes with quality goods. Our goal should be to encourage the professional journalists, whether they write for newspapers or blog on the internet, without forgetting that partisan hacks, like cockroaches, will never go extinct.
50
The best defense against the "cockroaches" is an educated citizenry. We don't have one.
2
Great point: this type of behavior goes back at least to Washington's presidency when Jefferson used a Philadelphia based paper as cover to anonymously attack Washington and Hamilton with all manner of wild assertions.
9
You're safe then
It seems that much of the general public lost (or simply lacks) the ability to see that all humans have skewed perspectives. It is one thing to read a source and recognize that one reads a left-wing (or leaning) source or one on the right. It is another to read that source believing that one is reading THE truth simply because it echoes one's own personal beliefs.
In our internet world it has become far easier to live in an echo chamber where one reads and hears only comfortable views matching personal opinions. The validity of sources is often suspect. When I read the Tea Party blogs, I am often struck with assertions that something (e.g., that climate change is a hoax) is a "well known fact." To back up this assertion, the writer will often give any number of web links, but they are all right-wing web sites, which often quote the same source (or each other) so that what seems like half-dozen references really comes back to just one person making an assertion.
Distrust in journalists is a natural part of this system because we divide that world into what I believe (THE truth or facts) and everything else, which is deemed to be "false." There is no room for nuance, honest difference of opinion, or the idea that one can learn from an interesting different angle on a story. There is only my truth and your lies - any journalist who does not echo my truth is a low-life liar unworthy of respect.
In our internet world it has become far easier to live in an echo chamber where one reads and hears only comfortable views matching personal opinions. The validity of sources is often suspect. When I read the Tea Party blogs, I am often struck with assertions that something (e.g., that climate change is a hoax) is a "well known fact." To back up this assertion, the writer will often give any number of web links, but they are all right-wing web sites, which often quote the same source (or each other) so that what seems like half-dozen references really comes back to just one person making an assertion.
Distrust in journalists is a natural part of this system because we divide that world into what I believe (THE truth or facts) and everything else, which is deemed to be "false." There is no room for nuance, honest difference of opinion, or the idea that one can learn from an interesting different angle on a story. There is only my truth and your lies - any journalist who does not echo my truth is a low-life liar unworthy of respect.
61
Facts, science, math and evidence are to be sneered at and hooted
down. They are the avatars of ignorance and intolerance.
They exercise a Heckler's Veto over the truth. They are the vicars
of venom.
All are masters of the "mushroom treatment." Keep em in the dark
and smother em with horse manure.
As Brandeis noted, the sunlight of disclosure is the mpst powerful
of disinfectants.
Lying is official GOP policy. We don't need no stinking facts,
science, math, or evidence.
As Casey Stengel used to say "you could look it up."
down. They are the avatars of ignorance and intolerance.
They exercise a Heckler's Veto over the truth. They are the vicars
of venom.
All are masters of the "mushroom treatment." Keep em in the dark
and smother em with horse manure.
As Brandeis noted, the sunlight of disclosure is the mpst powerful
of disinfectants.
Lying is official GOP policy. We don't need no stinking facts,
science, math, or evidence.
As Casey Stengel used to say "you could look it up."
25
"Lying is GOP policy."
Obama: You can keep your health plan.
Hillary: We came under sniper fire when flying into Bosnia.
Obama: You can keep your health plan.
Hillary: We came under sniper fire when flying into Bosnia.
Before asking for the public's respect, journalists should think about their own treatment of private individuals involved in breaking news. We've all seen reporters shoving microphones in the faces of people who have been devastated by some tragedy, ringing doorbells, camping out on lawns. Hundreds of reporters camped out in Newtown Connecticut for months.
What is gained by having hundreds (or thousands) of reporters covering the same event -- all trying to interview individuals? People aren't stupid, they see that this type of reporting is designed to turn news into cash for media outlets.
I know the photographer involved in this incident was a student photographer - I'm sure he was hoping for a great photo he could sell or include in his portfolio. Maybe he got it.
What is gained by having hundreds (or thousands) of reporters covering the same event -- all trying to interview individuals? People aren't stupid, they see that this type of reporting is designed to turn news into cash for media outlets.
I know the photographer involved in this incident was a student photographer - I'm sure he was hoping for a great photo he could sell or include in his portfolio. Maybe he got it.
7
I know the photographer involved in this incident was a student photographer - I'm sure he was hoping for a great photo he could sell or include in his portfolio. Maybe he got it.
=============
Actually he was working as a stringer for ESPN
=============
Actually he was working as a stringer for ESPN
1
The irony is that the NYTimes editors allows truisms like "public education is broken" inform the slant of "straight" news articles just as much as Limbaugh and Fox News. I have bristled at the canards fed to the readership all during the Bloomberg administration and now must endure the latent criticism staining articles on the very same pages concerning the de Blasio mayorship which has taken steps to undo the damage of reform. As far as the Times is concerned, Bloomberg could do no harm and de Blasio can do no good. Were the truth really given the readership!
35
Mr. Zajac, I am a 10th and 12th generation Yankee WASP, a 6th generation college graduate and 5th generation holder of a graduate degree. I can assure you that public education is broken in America, outside of a few wealthy suburbs where well-educated parents have control over the school board. Our country is becoming a cesspool of ignorance and superstition, and our better-educated competitors will eat our lunch before the end of this century.
2
"For some time now, it’s been open season on this beaten-down trade, from the left and the right."
You hit the nail on the head, Lawrence. This sentence could have appeared in an article about the teaching profession. The "reformers" you mention are more and more often accountants either looking to trim costs, or make money for someone.
You hit the nail on the head, Lawrence. This sentence could have appeared in an article about the teaching profession. The "reformers" you mention are more and more often accountants either looking to trim costs, or make money for someone.
1
The NYT is supposed to verify verify and verify again before they post any breaking news. Yet they too get swayed by sensational headlines, trying to draw attention of a distracted audience. None of the college age kids we know read the NYT as their news source. They have their own social media, news outlets and now even Facebook is offering them streaming news.
2
Yellow journalism has been around since the beginning of democracy, so the hope at least is that citizens will educate themselves and develop a minimal command of the issues. That might have been possible in the old agrarian America, but to sift through a powerful deluge of misinformation, spiced with the latest behavioral insights about subtle methods of persuasion, is a bridge too far for most. Yet you must give people credit; a steady diet of propaganda eventually becomes hollow, and willing followers can become wholly disenchanted once the veil drops. I trust, optimistically, that this will someday happen with respect to the working class and the Republican party.
29
The key is to make politics "boring" again. In other words, get the money out of politics. Three ways: (1) public financing of campaigns only; (2) term limits for congressmen and women; (3) more stringent regulation on lobbying. This will ensure that only people who really care about their country, and not just self-absorbed zealots in search of titles/money/fame, are running for office. And if there is no incentive to hyperinflate information or misinform, the media will have no incentive to propagandize, and they would in turn be forced to inform the populace objectively on issues. This may, in turn, be a positive force for the electorate too, as they will be forced to ingest real, useful information. But I realize that what I'm saying is really pie-in-the-sky, and I'm now starting to sound like a republican presidential contender making promises I couldn't possibly keep or ever intend to keep during a stump speech. My apologies for the digression.
13
I think Ms Click bears no resemblance to a journalist and the irony of her marginal position on the faculty is worth a brief mention, especially when there is great video.
But the real irony in the world of "journalism" can be seen round the clock daily on the "fair and balanced" Fox News channel. Anchors and reporters provide breathtaking accounts of stories that prove to be utterly false on a daily basis, like no-go zones in France and the disappearance of restaurants in $15 an hour Seattle.
It's an embarrassing statement about America that millions of viewers are drawn to this clown show every day.
But the real irony in the world of "journalism" can be seen round the clock daily on the "fair and balanced" Fox News channel. Anchors and reporters provide breathtaking accounts of stories that prove to be utterly false on a daily basis, like no-go zones in France and the disappearance of restaurants in $15 an hour Seattle.
It's an embarrassing statement about America that millions of viewers are drawn to this clown show every day.
221
MSNBC viewers have about the same educational level as Fox viewers. Both groups are easily influenced by the propaganda that each one sees.
1
To me, many who cite diminishing trust in the media as harmful have it backward: the fact that we read or hear things in the media that we think is wrong or nonsensical is actually empirical evidence of a healthy and free society.
Indeed, trust in the media is exactly the opposite of what we want. If I trusted the media, that would mean that it is providing me with only a constricted view of news and events.
I'm sure Timothy Egan understands this and may even agree; but his complaining about certain quarters of the media, like Fox News Channel of course, runs counter.
Mr. Egan should embrace Fox News, as Limbaugh and Hannity should embrace the NYT's and NPR. Nothing wrong with criticizing quality of content per se. But the concept that bad or foolish media is harmful is wrongheaded, or at least a moot point in the debate regarding the wonderful freedom of speech and press that we are privileged with in our society.
Indeed, trust in the media is exactly the opposite of what we want. If I trusted the media, that would mean that it is providing me with only a constricted view of news and events.
I'm sure Timothy Egan understands this and may even agree; but his complaining about certain quarters of the media, like Fox News Channel of course, runs counter.
Mr. Egan should embrace Fox News, as Limbaugh and Hannity should embrace the NYT's and NPR. Nothing wrong with criticizing quality of content per se. But the concept that bad or foolish media is harmful is wrongheaded, or at least a moot point in the debate regarding the wonderful freedom of speech and press that we are privileged with in our society.
2
If you think that "bad or foolish media is harmful is wrongheaded" then you must think that what is happening in the Republican party--a direct result, much of it, of the daily diet of Fox News and hate radio--is simply the wonderful result of "our wonderful freedom". And I suppose you are fine with the nation facing a prospect of an idiot in the White House. You are of course entitle to your opinion. I am not so sanguine.
107
John, were we a nation of philosophers trained to detect logical fallacies and out right lies, you might have a point. However, we couldn't be further from that ideal. When American high school students could not locate - wait for it - the Pacific ocean and thought that NYC was in the middle of the country in response to an international survey conducted by a highly regarded organization (National Geographic? Can't recall) a few years ago, I knew our level of general knowledge was seriously flawed. (BTW, Sweden did the best. We scored just above the lowest one, Mexico.)
So, if we can't find the largest body of water in the world on a map, how can we be expected to detect media lies and distortions without a vibrant press to do the heavy lifting for us?
So, if we can't find the largest body of water in the world on a map, how can we be expected to detect media lies and distortions without a vibrant press to do the heavy lifting for us?
18
Neither is Melissa Click so sanguine. She sees freedom of speech as a danger; hence her, if I may use the term, "fascist" behavior.
And yes, I would much sooner have an idiot in the White House than to have our free speech monitored or policed simply per some peoples biases, be they liberal or conservative.
That is far more dangerous than the "daily diet of Fox News and hate radio", i.e.: the expression of a point of view disagreed with, that some supposedly open minded and thoughtful people seem to find so intolerable.
And yes, I would much sooner have an idiot in the White House than to have our free speech monitored or policed simply per some peoples biases, be they liberal or conservative.
That is far more dangerous than the "daily diet of Fox News and hate radio", i.e.: the expression of a point of view disagreed with, that some supposedly open minded and thoughtful people seem to find so intolerable.
1
The press has been dumbed down considerably in recent years. This has helped it to lose of much of its intellectual support, while the internet caters to the anti-intellectuals who were more easily ignored in pre-internet days. The mainstream press needs to rediscover a commitment to quality analysis, careful writing, and incisive investigative reporting. In a race to the bottom against the blogosphere jungle it cannot prevail without throwing away the respect it earned over many prior decades.
33
The GOP and its propaganda machine, Fox news, has no use for impartial journalists who report pesky facts. They want shills, advocates and ouliers willing to repeat and amplify false claims to satisfy the hunger of the angry, misinformed conservative mob. Thus, the echo chamber.
81
Sadly, we get what we deserve. The media is shameless and incompetent; there is no downside - ask Rush or Sean - to being hysterical or cynical. Ask Republicans like Gomert and Imhofe and Jindal. Ask Scalia and Thomas. those at the highest echelons of truth-seeking, when was the last time they came to an unfiltered decision. But we don't demand integrity anymore, nor do we value education (Rubio: we need more welders than philosophers) or knowledge or skills. A society which makes the Kardashians and Duck Dynasties and Olsteens and Bieber rich beyond imagining is hardly going to demand much of a free press. We all lose. We are all losers.
288
I am no fan of the jurisprudence of Justices Scalia, Thomas, or Alito. But I really object to your grouping them with demonstrable rabble rousers like Limbaugh and Hannity. They are all three brilliant men who earnestly try to make the wisest possible decisions, and often succeed. If Republican politicians maintained anything like the rationality and public interest perspective of these justices, we would all be a lot better off.
3
Well, if the red blooded, macho, swaggering, acme of Americanos, Rush Limbaugh said it, it must be true.
Only liberal, progressive, pinko panty waists would dare challenge his right, nay, his duty to limn the parameters of acceptable Americanism.
When he lectures us on the need for perpetual war it is merely his rock ribbed patriotism speaking.
Meanwhile, in the real world,
The chicken hawk warmonger got himself exempted from the Viet Nam draft for a cyst in his nether region.
He was an addict who, in quite a show of bravado, sent his cleaning lady to score his dope.
He was caught entering the US carrying Viagra, with his doctors name on the bottle, instead of his own, to cover up another shortcoming.
In other words, he is the pluperfect paladin of current republicanism, a cowardly blowhard, preaching hate, xenophobia, racism and perpetual war. All in the name of mom, apple pie and christian family values.
Only liberal, progressive, pinko panty waists would dare challenge his right, nay, his duty to limn the parameters of acceptable Americanism.
When he lectures us on the need for perpetual war it is merely his rock ribbed patriotism speaking.
Meanwhile, in the real world,
The chicken hawk warmonger got himself exempted from the Viet Nam draft for a cyst in his nether region.
He was an addict who, in quite a show of bravado, sent his cleaning lady to score his dope.
He was caught entering the US carrying Viagra, with his doctors name on the bottle, instead of his own, to cover up another shortcoming.
In other words, he is the pluperfect paladin of current republicanism, a cowardly blowhard, preaching hate, xenophobia, racism and perpetual war. All in the name of mom, apple pie and christian family values.
385
If the popularity of Rush is an indicator, we are saps.
1
When the balloon goes up, LImbaugh will have occasion to regret the existence of rope, not to mention the 2nd amendment.
1
Thank you, a wonderful summation.
4
Whether they know it or not, the Press had a great day at CNBC's debate, with GOP'er charlatans reacting in astonishment at being asked questions pointing out various inconsistencies, lies, and grade school logic/math failures in their positions.
The charlatans acted as GOP'ers perennially react, (as surely as the swallows returning to Capistrano) blaming the press for exposing candidates' fakery and for asking real questions instead of just being set pieces in GOPers' year-long snake oil medicine show which has precious little to do with actual presidential politics/primaries, and everything to do with sucking the air out of the media cycle/flooding the press with fact-free GOP'er dogma leading up to an election year - which the media buys into because ' ratings '.
A primary object of having so many GOP'ers on stage is being able to intimidate any Press who step out of line/won't go along with GOP'er kabuki dressed up as seriousness - which is why the candidates, after the CNBC debate, wanted to make sure their year long effort at inserting fact free propaganda into voters' minds isn't hampered going forward, trying to ensure future moderators are fact-free GOP'ers themselves, etc.
The Press should guard against facilitating such efforts, which NBC failed to do by not cross-promoting MSNBC's debate night in S.C. with Rachel Maddow and Democrats the same way NBC had the CNBC debate the week before, much less NBC's promoting of Trump's SNL appearance - NBC must do better.
The charlatans acted as GOP'ers perennially react, (as surely as the swallows returning to Capistrano) blaming the press for exposing candidates' fakery and for asking real questions instead of just being set pieces in GOPers' year-long snake oil medicine show which has precious little to do with actual presidential politics/primaries, and everything to do with sucking the air out of the media cycle/flooding the press with fact-free GOP'er dogma leading up to an election year - which the media buys into because ' ratings '.
A primary object of having so many GOP'ers on stage is being able to intimidate any Press who step out of line/won't go along with GOP'er kabuki dressed up as seriousness - which is why the candidates, after the CNBC debate, wanted to make sure their year long effort at inserting fact free propaganda into voters' minds isn't hampered going forward, trying to ensure future moderators are fact-free GOP'ers themselves, etc.
The Press should guard against facilitating such efforts, which NBC failed to do by not cross-promoting MSNBC's debate night in S.C. with Rachel Maddow and Democrats the same way NBC had the CNBC debate the week before, much less NBC's promoting of Trump's SNL appearance - NBC must do better.
123
At least Republicans have debates.
Democrats have hardly any - too afraid Madame Hillary will get embarrassed somehow
Democrats have hardly any - too afraid Madame Hillary will get embarrassed somehow
3
Tim, this is a photo I made when you were in Hamilton, Montana on your book promotion tour. You are a credit to the profession. A free press is what a free society needs to stay free. As a lifelong democrat here in Republican Montana I feel out of place. Cheers and Keep up the good work.