Guest guest Posted February 22, 2005 Report Share Posted February 22, 2005 http://forum.truthout.org/blog/story/2005/2/22/82236/6314 " The Major Press is Under Attack " By WilliamPitt, Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 08:22:36 AM EST :: Media :: Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, was the keynote speaker at Columbia University's Blue Pencil Dinner on Friday night. In his talk, he made it abundantly clear that the flagship of American journalism doesn't think much of the rise of the alternative media: === On the state of print journalism in America today, Bill Keller, executive editor of The New York Times, said, " This is not a time when editors swear off alcohol. " Keller was the keynote speaker at Friday night's Blue Pencil Dinner, an annual Spectator fund-raiser held in Low Rotunda. The event served both as a chance for Spectator staffers to learn about journalism from insiders and for alumni to reconnect with the paper. Keller's speech focused on the struggle of print journalism to maintain its relevance in the face of constant cable news updates, increased blogging, and failures in credibility. He noted that, according to a recent opinion poll, the public's trust in journalists is at its lowest point in decades. He attributed this in part to the increasingly polarized nature of the American public, who look to the press for support of their viewpoints. " At the moment, " he said, " the major press is under attack from ideologues on the right and left. " Keller also sees " blogging, " or online writing that blurs news and commentary, as a mixed blessing. While he celebrated the blogger's ability to uncover breaking news, he noted that a blog's inherent bias might be detrimental to the reader. " A blog is still a view of the world through a pinhole, " he said, noting that it can sometimes fall as low as being a " one man circle jerk. " The rest. === These comments on bloggers come, of course, in the wake of the Gannon/Guckert/Whomever scandal. Mainstream journalists are, to put it mildly, deeply freaked that bloggers so thoroughly deconstructed the mythology of 'Gannon the Journalist' in so short a time. If it can happen to him, well... The Plaid Adder, writer for DemocraticUnderground, has come up with a few simple rules for Gannon-like reporters out there. Keep to this set of guidelines, and you'll never be exposed: === Are you a right-wing shill? Do you worry that one day you're going to open your mail and find out that the Revolutionary Army of Liberal Death Bloggers has sent YOU the Black Spot? Learn how to protect yourself against these unprovoked and scurrilous partisan attacks by adopting the Plaid Adder's... FIVE WAYS TO PROTECT YOUR PRECIOUS PSEUDONYMOUS PRIVACY FROM PRURIENT PROGRESSIVE PEEPING-TOMS 1. Don't 'hide in plain sight.' If you hide in plain sight, people are gonna find you. I'm just sayin'. 2. Avoid appearing on television. Once images of you making an ass of yourself have been beamed into millions of homes across the nation, you've opened the door to a world of hurt. In our culture, people who make asses of themselves on television are considered 'celebrities,' and during the time which their 'celebrity' lasts, such people cannot even go to the bathroom without having some idiot post about it at www.15minutesofflush.com. 3. If you are gay yourself, try not to publish gay-baiting articles with your name on them. Some gay people enjoy gay-baiting, especially if they're closeted hypocritical bastards who vainly believe that they will escape persecution as long as they give enough head to the men who do the persecuting. But most gay people feel differently about this, and take particular joy in exposing those people. Many of these people are also practiced in administering withering sarcastic remarks, and are highly skilled and efficient gossipmongers. 4. If you happen to be a professional prostitute, then launching a website to advertise your services is probably a sound business idea. However, in that case, triple-dog daring your inquisitive opponents to 'bring it on' is NOT a sound business idea. 5. Don't--and I can't stress this enough--don't post naked pictures of yourself all over the world wide web. Sure, you're excited. Sure, you want the business. Sure, you really love the way that shot of you splayed artistically across the hood of a sand-covered Humvee captures the subtle shading of your firm, pert buttocks. Sure, you want your friends, lovers, clients, bosses, former teachers, mother, aunts and uncles, and minister to be able to appreciate the sculptural beauty of your taut, muscular form. But do you really want 90-year-old toothless crones in Albania discussing the size of your genitalia over their morning coffee? Next time, maybe you should just spring for a photo album. Good luck, shills of America, The Plaid Adder === By the way, the American Prospect is preparing a large Gannongate story. Coming soon... Display: " The Major Press is Under Attack " --------------------------- Did no one at the dinner posit the possibility that they can yet redeem themselves with a more rigorous adherence to the truth, coupled with honest and vigorous investigative reporting? The fact that more people go online to find out what is going on is not the fault of those who bring infomation to the eyes of the public. A bit of soul searching is is required here. by ADNK on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 11:11:56 AM EST --------------------------- Healthy Eating Part of that is of course is not wasting our time with OJ/Menendez/Stewart/Peterson type stories that are really not news outside their own area but that are cheap to cover. Real journalism is expensive and p****s people off. by geoduck on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 11:34:51 AM EST [ Parent ] --------------------------- Truth ? GOP is building a case to outlaw the truth, as it is very disruptive and a threat to the homeland security work. Congress might soon find a way to make truth illegal across the line, not just in Karl Rove's spot action campaigns " Authority that can make us deny our feelings can make us do anything " N. Svendsen by gingiskahn (carl) on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 11:55:29 AM EST www.feelingdictionary.com [ Parent ] --------------------------- Self Inflicted It really pains me to say this but I don't have much sympathy for the NYT and other mainstream journalists. There are some that are trying to do a good job but the American Press/Media/Entertainment/Business has lost, no, strike that, has thrown away it's credibility with both hands. Printing government and corporate publicity as " news " should never have happened. Using the news to publicize the other shows on your network and products of your parent company should never have happened. Pushing the Bush Air Guard story out last fall without checking the sources should never have happened. Allowing themselves to be " embedded " during the war should never have happened. Good journalists said so at the time but the corporate suits that run the news overruled them. For the Executive Editor of the NYT to bemoan the fact that the mainstream press is under attack from all sides sounds a lot like how GM and Chrysler complained about Japanese cars in the 1970s. If the American press had done a better job in the last 10-15 years then they would be trusted now. As it is when I want to find out what is going on in the world I check the BBC, CBC, Haaratz anda few trusted blogs like this one and WarBlogging.com. I even go to the web for weather forecasts now. by geoduck on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 11:20:54 AM EST --------------------------- Very good post Too bad you weren't at the dinner to give a response speech. I have been a newspaper reporter. I have studied journalism in academic settings. What has happened to mainstream journalism was warned about. They have no one to blame but themselves. by Hissyspit on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 01:12:40 PM EST [ Parent ] --------------------------- Blogs A wise man once said that in order to become a success, we should " find a need and fill it " . This is what the bloggers have done. The media have only themselves to blame. While they concentrated on 30-second soundbites by politicians and commentary by political hacks, interspersed with " entertainment news " , the people were looking for more than one side to questions and found it on the intenet. A better job by the " mainstream media " would have prevented the necessity for the weblogs to " fill the need " . by Mumzee on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:01:29 PM EST --------------------------- The Media SHOULD be uncomfortable! Prior to the summer of 2002, I gave the mainstream media one big pass. I was unenlightened and ignorant enough to think that outlets like CNN actually did good, in-depth objective reporting. I woke up when I realized I needed to educate myself in order to support my suspicions about the adminstration's build up and ultimate invasion of Iraq. Since then, my disappointment with the mainstream media (and Congressional Democrats) has known no bounds. Thank God for alternative and international press. Rather than bemoan the rise of bloggers and the alternative sources of information, the media ought to think about doing it's job better. by WLC45 (wordzandmusic) on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:02:12 PM EST http://progressivepulpit.blogspot.com/ --------------------------- Attacking the press I've been hearing a bit about the biased and polarized blogesphere. The liar is calling out Liar. No one is completely without a bias. The question isn't 'bias,' rather it is 'bias' to what. The MSM is biased to its owners, its providers - Corporate America. The " truth " isn't in the MSM's agenda. If it were Global Warming would be the headline everyday. The picture of the children protesting in Iraq would be another lead story. The fact the Brazilian government protected the Amazon, instead of the story that focused on its issuing licenses to loggers without mention of the protections, would have been the story in NY Times. But the " agenda " in the MSM is to keep and protect the property for those who have it and someone like Brazil's Silva doesn't fit the status quo - so stories will be presented in ways to make him look bad. These are only a few (sloppy on my part, sorry) examples of the last fews days of reporting in the American press. For links about Peace activism - and a cool website: http://www.bigpicturesmallworld.com/winningpeace.html by megdlan on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:02:43 PM EST --------------------------- TURF WARS I understand the focus everyone is giving to JEFF GANNON (or whoever he really is) but what I dont understand is why there isnt a equal amount of investigations and internet scrutiney of BOBBY EBERLE, the man who oiginally sent Gannon to 'cover' the WHite House, the man who OWNS GOPUSA and TALON NEWS? by KnotIookin on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:05:44 PM EST --------------------------- Major attack on mainstream media I have a book that is out of print now but I found a copy some years ago and it is called CITIZEN MURDOCH by Thomas Kiernan Now it foretold what we see in the media today, it was written during the late 70's last published 86' another great book to find out about how this world got into this condition with the media is a book called CITIZEN COORS an American Dynasty, by DAN BAUM This book will show how the Coors family wiggled their hate for the American way of life into the mainstream media and foundations of hate aimed at all liberals and those who do not believe in the FINAL SOLUTION GOOD READING and you won't believe the info on AIRPLANES and MURDOCH.. seems he had control over the AIRBUS 300 one of the planes that went into the WTC! I advise all to read these two books and then you can sit back and say... Hunting of only American Democratic Presidents... and blackmail too! " In no instance have . . . the churches been guardians of the liberties of the people. " James Madison " by chilipot (chilipot42002) on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:30:18 PM EST http://www.linkthing.com/ostrich/index.html --------------------------- RoveBush & Co. death-to-the-press squad As an investigative reporter in the days following Woodward and Bernstein, my heart breaks when I see the travesty that has taken over from the mainstream press. White House access is more important than journalistic integrity. Sucking up replaces looking it up. If we didn't have independent media (e.g. bloggers and folks like IndyMedia) we'd be nothing more than mushrooms. RoveBush couldn't be more pleased that the former icons of public information and discourse are in disgrace. The lack of reliable public information serves their purposes well. Democracy dies when the demos is uninformed or, worse, misinformed. While we get our information from whatever sources we can find to trust, we must continue to hold the mass media's feet to the fire. I wanted to use this for my sig, but it's too long. Worth taking to heart, though. " Without linguistic honor there can be no community, there can be no ethic, there can be no love, there can be no creative vision, there can be no peace, and there can be no relationship. " -- Paula Gunn Allen: Words & Language by Peaceful (another.autodidact//at//choicemail1.com) on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:31:57 PM EST --------------------------- US mass media I have to admit that I blasted the L.A. Times, normally considered a pretty good paper, for not covering stories vitally important, in my opinion, in letters to the editor. And then I discovered the story on the front page the next day. I had picked up the story on (CNN) Netscape and not finding it covered in the morning newspaper believed that it had been omitted, when the reality was that the printed medium simply could not keep up with the Web. On the other hand, this pretty good newspaper has systematically omitted or underreported or sluffed off with a shallow or slanted AP report or the like news of matters of grave important, from my perspective: the damage caused by genetically engineered organisms and industrial farming techniques, the threat of increasing consolidation of the media, the looming shadow of peak oil and other fossil fuel shortfall problems, the voting fraud involved in the national elections of 2000, 2001, 2004 to name a few. Whether the paper has done better during the year since I stopped taking it in disgust, I couldn't say. I know my local Scripps-Howard Republicanesque outlet has not. Margaret by margaret (Ventura, California) on Tue Feb 22nd, 2005 at 12:42:28 PM EST " The Major Press is Under Attack " © : t r u t h o u t 2005 | t r u t h o u t | issues | environment | labor | women | health | voter rights | multimedia | donate | contact | | create account | faq | search Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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