Objective Journalism: Michael Gerson Defends a Profession That No Longer Exists
by John NolteYesterday, Washington Post columnist and former Bush II speechwriter Michael Gerson played a long slow violin solo over the death of the mainstream media. There’s nothing new in his piece. Dazed with panic as the circle of financial ruin closes in, we’ve heard this song many times before from our ink-stained dinosaurs. And true to form, Gerson can’t break the mold. It’s all there, the rose-colored glasses, denial, and a heaping helping of rationalization.
Once again, from that familiar MSM perch where one can look down their nose at the great unwashed who just don’t understand the magnificent tradition of journalism they’re about to lose, Gerson blames We the People for no longer wanting to pay for our news and choosing partisan sources “that reinforce and exaggerate … political predispositions.”
How absurd.
A non-partisan, unbiased news media simply doesn’t exist anymore. All that remains of this once somewhat respectable profession are two kinds of media: those who lie about their agenda and those who don’t – and Mr. Gerson’s employer is one of the liars. Whether it’s Glenn Beck, Arianna Huffington, National Review or MSNBC, tell me your biases upfront and we can at least start a dialogue from an honest foundation. On the other hand, the Washington Post, New York Times, Newsweek, Time, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and the like, have spent years making jerks out of us – lying to our faces. We knew this, there just wasn’t any alternative. But now that there is, their time is just about up.
Gerson doesn’t seem to want to face this truth – I don’t mean the truth that Big Media’s dying, that’s undeniable — but the truth that the death of this profession was a suicide. Does Gerson’s waxing of the nostalgic here sound like the MSM we’ve all grown to know and loathe:
I don’t believe that journalistic objectivity is a fraud. I was a journalist for a time, at a once-great, now-diminished newsmagazine. I’ve seen good men and women work according to a set of professional standards I respect — standards that serve the public. Professional journalism is not like the buggy-whip industry, outdated by economic progress, to be mourned but not missed. This profession has a social value that is currently not reflected in its market value.
What profession could he possibly be talking about? Certainly not the same profession who set out to destroy Clarence Thomas, circled the wagons to save President Clinton, summoned all their resources to lose the war in Iraq, told us more about the background of an unemployed plumber than our current President, dragged Sarah Palin’s family through the mud, and on this very day refuse to investigate three of the biggest stories of the year (if not the decade): ACORN, CzarGate and ClimateGate.
And yet in the face of all this, Gerson writes of we bloggers:
And the whole system is based on a kind of intellectual theft. Internet aggregators (who link to news they don’t produce) and bloggers would have little to collect or comment upon without the costly enterprise of newsgathering and investigative reporting. The old-media dinosaurs remain the basis for the entire media food chain.
Foul on the play. That might have been true a few years ago, but since the whole of the MSM put their blinders on and jumped in the tank for President Bows-A –Lot, it’s been the MSM following the lead of the Internet and cable news. Time and again, like Sergeant “I know nothing!” Schultz, they’ve been caught off guard and found guilty of their own kind of “intellectual theft” as they grudgingly report on Dan Rather’s forged documents, Van Jones’ resignation, the Tea Party movement, and the latest ACORN developments.
The shift towards online investigative journalism has only begun and look at the impact already. And maybe, just maybe, had our ink-stained dinosaurs picked up on and owned these stories they might have, I don’t know, sold more ink?
Blaming the death of Big Media on cable news and the Internet is ridiculous. Blaming everyday Americans who have simply grown tired of paying for the privilege of being lied to is insulting.
When there was no competition, hiding behind objectivity while openly playing press agent for leftist causes and politicians was simply the whoring out of credibility. But now that alternatives exist it’s a kamikaze mission – a Big Media suicide.
May they rest in Hell.
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Quite frankly, I'd rather get my news from a Conservative Partisan source that told me the truth, than a Liberal Partisan source that told me what "they" wanted me to believe.
Amen,John.The curtain is coming down on the sham that is MSM.
"Blaming the death of Big Media on cable news and the Internet is ridiculous. Blaming everyday Americans who have simply grown tired of paying for the privilege of being lied to is insulting.
When there was no competition, hiding behind objectivity while openly playing press agent for leftist causes and politicians was simply the whoring out of credibility. But now that alternatives exist it’s a kamikaze mission – a Big Media suicide."
The above can"t be said enough…thanks John.
Thirty years ago, in college, I wanted to be a journalist … a reporter … and after taking classes realized I didn't have the chops for it. I wanted to report a story, not push a microphone in someone's face and get a soundbite that I could later twist to my liking. It was a sad, sorry day for me when I grew up and realized the media was not all I thought it was.
John,
I couldn't agree with you more on your final words.
Sorry elites, you have lost a large part of your captive audience and consequently your bully pulpit to spew your partisan and revisionist views. More and more of the "unwashed" are thinking and developing opinions for themselves. Take heart, you still have your liberal audience and the useful idiots who worship false gods and who otherwise could give a shit.
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1968: CBS News which began at 6:30 PM EST, and NBC News which began at 7:00 PM EST, both carried Congressional testimony of a Navy Admiral on Viet Nam. The editing had him giving different answers to the same question.
As a callow youth, I was shocked and expected what appeared to be deliberate editing to feature in the next day's news programs and in the papers.
Not a peep. Thus began my life-long skepticism of what I hear and read from the MSM. When I got to VN a couple of years later and watched the media rock stars show up in their Brooks Brothers safari suits with their entourages of film crews, and assorted other gun barers, and witnessed their "reporting," my skepticism turned toward the scornful.
Events since have produced nothing to disabuse me of those sentiments.
The MSM has no one but itself to blame for its diminishing demographics. The entire industry, save for those honest enough to put their agenda up front, is a calamity and a huge professional fraud making a mockery of our First Amendment.
I hope their 401-k's are invested solely in their companies' stock.
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The media has been dead for years, the insiders just are starting to notice and like the good little Liberals they are, pass the blame for their demise onto others rather than themselves.
Why do you think the MSM are pushing an anti-capitalist administration on us? Capitalist competitors are killing them. They need the strong arm of the fascists in power to restrict the new flow of information through legislation, freedom of the press be damned. The death of newspapers/news magazines and network news will leave a void of opportunity for those willing to satisfy The People's desire for truth instead of washed, filtered, tweaked and adjusted dissemination of the proper approved message.
"Gerson writes of we bloggers" Bloggers? Bloggers? The weak comical rants from us are blogs.
Michael Gerson. Investigative journalism are two words you should not use together in a sentence. Read and then re-read what Nolte perfectly summarizes. He managed to get it all in few words so you can go back to playing the martyr.
MARTYR. Have you no shame? The final images of your suicide mission (although I have plenty more from over the last 20 years of your shamelessness): that chick Katie playing 'sorority back-stabbing' with a moose hunter from Alaska and some quasi-local news anchor staring down his eye glasses at said moose hunter asking questions that have no legitimate answers. "Bush Doctrine?" And of course the cherry on the sundae….Rev. Wright.
The MSM began to die in the 1970’s. It’s first injuries were when large corporations with their own PR and media departments began to fight back when they were slandered. When 60 Minutes did the Illinois Power and Light story and interviewed a high school math teacher under the label of Nuclear Energy Expert, they had the tools to go back after them. The jig was up then, but the greed, and egoism of the MSM would not allow them to fix their failures and reform themselves. We started to have them call themselves National Newspapers, even though they were basically glorified local papers, and everyone who read them recognized this to be true, but had no way to confirm their opinions with others.
In the 80’s we had Reagan, who had the communications ability to talk over the media. The MSM was again exposed to all who would see as a bunch of corrupt, biased liars. Stories that would have normally beat down a First Lady (like Nancy Reagan and the White House china) were diffused through means that weakened the grip on American Thought. They wanted to crush her, but when she told the people how at a 200 person state dinner, the White House would have 4 different settings because there weren’t enough dishes to cover a standard state dinner, the people began to see the media in a new light. Again, they didn’t take this chance to reform.
In the 90’s, The Drudgereport nailed the coffin shut on the image of the NYT or WP as “national newspapers” and Time/Newsweek as valid sources of information. It was the Drudgereport that broke the Lewinsky story even though Newsweek had the entire story, but chose to spike it. (Anyone believe that the learned editors at NW would chose to spike a Republican presidential scandal?) STILL, the MSM didn’t learn their lesson, only to have it rammed home to them by FoxNews.
The story of the fall of the MSM is like the story of the old lady and flood. The flood is coming, the cops go by and tell her to leave, but she won’t. The flood comes to her house, and a boat comes by to take her to safety, but she won’t leave. The flood forces her to the rooftop. A helicopter comes to her and still she won’t leave. She drowns in the flood. She goes to heaven and asks God why he didn’t protect her. God answers “What about the cop, the boat and the helicopter?”
The MSM has had plenty of time to reform Journalism (politically, and most importantly, economically.) At each turn of the card, they refused to change. So like the poker player who goes all in on a Queen High hand, they are going to go bust.
Won’t be missing them any time soon.
Gee could it possibly be we don't want to pay for news because there are no journalists left. Only self opinionated blobs of yes men and girls trying to protect themselves from joining the ranks of the unemployable. Notice they did nothing to stop the take over of the country when and while they had the chance. could be its to late now!
Great post, Professor! And, if they chose to diversify their 401's, there's a better than 50% chance they opted for one of the great imposter's carbon offset or green tv or other save the polar bear falsehood companies! Another LOSING PROPOSITION!!!!!!!
Agree…may they all enjoy their stay in the lake of fire!
Who knows, maybe one of these days they will actually acknowledge those of us who have never before participated in public protests but are ALIVE & WELL & SPEAKING OUT NOW! Charlie Gibson didn't know about the ACORN videos, the president wasn't 'aware' 'didn't follow' the ACORN situation where the US GOVERNMENT $$$$ were being withheld from the organization he bragged of being a part of most of his adult life! There's the Evan Thomas 'almost a god' quote – and now we are supposed to swallow this bit of 'wonder' as to why they are dying???!!!!!
The president could go to the Mall to speak to the homosexual community but he just 'couldn't see' the hundreds of thousands of ordinary, everyday Joe & Jane Americans gathered on the Mall in September.
We are so tired of being lied to and having OUR hard-earned tax dollars going to promote a liberal progressive agenda and we will no longer be the Silent Majority…hear us roar, Mr. President!!
"May they rest in Hell."
I couldn't agree more. They are the enemy. They have harbored and provided succor to the destroyers from within. They can go to hell. Burn them down with the rest.
Rub their faces in it, John.
John, you hit the nail on the head. MSM, or better yet, LSM ( Lame Stream Media) have no one to blame but themselves. They've been caught up in their own self-importance and unreplaceability. Sorry LSM..it doesn't work that way any more. You either report AND print the truth or you suffer the consequences, which in this case is called bankruptcy. Us dumbies who actually work for a living can uncover and "report" on your lies quicker than you can make them up. You're finding out that all your selfserving liberal beliefs don't get the bills paid. I'm sure you're all hoping for a Govt. bailout for the LSM and if it happens it will be further proof your whoring profession has been accurately identified.
And furthermore:
Let's hope your 401k's and other pension plans are dependent on the financial success of whichever news media you've been working for…and I use the word "working" loosely. And I hope you choke to death on the unemployment checks you'll draw because they are paid for by the same hard working people you've been lying to for many years. How's that HOPEY, CHANGEY thing working for you now?? And who will you vote for in 2010 & 2012.
Even though it is right in front of their faces, and clear as day, the Main stream media Just don't get why they are already dead. Furthermore they can't even see it is the face in the mirror to blame. They somehow think is we the people, the dumb and ignorant who refuse to buy into their agenda driven, head in the sand journalistic methods.
Let them die the slow death they deserve……Others out there are willing to investigate and report the facts, based on wherever the investigation leads.
Don't forget the softball questions that were asked of then-presidential candidate Obama compared to the very hardball questions asked of then-VICE-presidential candidate Palin.
Look at this folks. Talk about Lame Stream Media NOT reporting a story:
http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/1731...
The party crashers at the White House? They knew Barry for FIVE YEARS, going back to when he was a Senator.
I've said for two days there was more to the story then met the eye………..
The Old Leftist Media is dying and there's nothing they can do about it. CHANGE OR DIE!!! LOL!!!
great article…..agree 100%. I never watch MSM newscasts any longer, I grew tired of the tabloid news, and their reading the lates WH press release word for word……never any true investigative or analytical journalism on left wingers in Congress or the WH. Where is the detailed analysis on the total combined union spending behind BHO 08 election? and a comparison to combined lobbyists behind McCain??? Who has benefited most from BHO election?? Unions — AFL-CIO, SEIU, AFT, NEA, WCFW, — for teachers, autoworkers, healthcare professionals, government employees, etc etc. but, nothing in MSM because their fear to tell the truth. They would prefer to make fun of Palin, ask her about her daughter's premarital sex or why she chose not to abort her youngest…..but, no…..nothing on socialism taking over America. Nothing on ACORN corruption. Nothing on SEIU attacking a black man. Nothing on most stimulus dollars went to repay with pork the friends that got BHO elected…..not to create jobs. Where is the indepth reporting???? Thanks to Brietbart and Drudge, we now know.
I agree with a commenter above – there is nothing leftist fundamentalists love more than a captive audience. The legacy media behemoth will go down with a giant roar if they sense we are no longer tending to their care and feeding. I, for one, will never forget how they have shown how they despise us. Their sense of entitlement is why they are comfortable with pushing a socialist agenda: !. They believe they will always exist above the radical agenda they want to impose on us. 2. Socialism will grant them power and continue our role as a captive audience.
Therefore, we cannot rest in thinking that Old Journalism will die a natural death. There is a mighty war ahead for a free press and a free internet. Watch and wait for them to try to limit both to preserve their power.
I agree with a commenter above – there is nothing leftist fundamentalists love more than a captive audience. The legacy media behemoth will go down with a giant roar if they sense we are no longer tending to their care and feeding. I, for one, will never forget how they have shown how they despise us. Their sense of entitlement is why they are comfortable with pushing a socialist agenda: !. They believe they will always exist above the radical agenda they want to impose on us. 2. Socialism will grant them power and continue our role as a captive audience.
Whether it's big media, bloggers, partisan media, or the tooth fairy, someone needs to come up with a model that makes money – that's the bottom line. Gerson and company can lament the fall of big journalism all they want, to survive it has to profit. I say the same to all the Internet wunderkinds who think mom and pop with a blog will do the same work a paper does at covering the local council or the police beat. Not everyone can get a money man and blog away, it has to make cash, and right now nobody has a way to do that – and make enough of it – to sustain a vigilant media.
Boo Hoo. The MSM can never put the toothpaste back in the tube. Their monopoly is gone along with their trashed integrity. We can all fact check their sorry asses now, the poorly vetted stories, the biases and the omissions. The relationship has changed forever. Oh, and, Craigslist was a big factor in killing their overpriced classifieds. That was one of the first nails in their coffin. Can't repeal that either.
The public isn't satisfied with reading their journalism products passively anymore. We are way beyond that and demand a two-way interactive relationship. There is nothing more frustrating when reading a fact challenged or biased article than not having comments enabled which so many of these dinosaurs still won't.
I have worked on and off in journalism for twenty years and I am continually startled by the fact that professional journalists are the most ill-informed and gullible people you are ever likely to meet.
Ill-informed: they know nothing. Few of them have much education, especially in technical, fact-heavy topics like the sciences. Nor do they stay abreast of the news. They're getting their own news from reading Huffington Post and reading wire service stories just like everyone else. Nor do they put much effort into finding out the facts about stories they report on — most features, science and business news stories are just rewritten press releases (and sometimes not even rewritten). When they do investigate, their work is riddled with errors. Have you ever seen a news story about some subject you have personal knowledge about? Count the mistakes of fact; there will be plenty. Now keep in mind that there are just as many mistakes in every OTHER story.
Gullible: because they are ignorant, they love to adopt a pose of hard-boiled skepticism. Only it isn't skepticism, it's simply unquestioning trust of anyone who claims secret knowledge. Journalists are forever falling for trailer-park perpetual-motion machine promoters, science cures invented by a mom from household ingredients, and stoner conspiracy theory crackpots.
Bloggers are, frankly and unconditionally, an improvement. Most of them have real life experience, they often have technical training or advanced degrees in serious academic disciplines, they are honest about things they don't know — and are willing to do the research to learn about new things. The decline of Big Media and the rise of the blogosphere has already made the public better-informed than any time in history.
That last sentence – my sentiments exactly.
I haven't watched MSM for ages. But every once in a while, I turn it on just to see what they DON'T report. Don't know whether to laugh or cry. They think the public is stupid. Well, here's a wake up call for ya. This citizen is smart enough to turn the channel.
I agree totally, and cannot watch nor read MSM. It’s really too bad the ADVERTISERS in these papers and public tv chanels-don’t pull their ADS! As that is a huge source of income for these trash papers/tv news. I won’t be lied to and will NOT WATCH NOR READ TRASH! And, I am NOT enticed by the circulars or the coupons. Even my 80 year old parents won’t BUY the trash! Young people won’t either-not even if they TRY TO START CHARGING for online access! Unfortunately-I am afraid that our joke of a president will bail themout with taxpayermonies-but WHO in their RIGHT MIND will read government news?
One tabloid has actually been more honest than any of the lamestream media, for at least twenty years: the National Enquirer. Apart from the three-headed dogs and alien abductions, they are more honest, more serious about investigative journalism, and decidedly nonpartisan. John Edwards, anyone? Celebutard stories told honestly, if anyone really cares? On science and especially medicine they are a better source than any of the Times rags (again apart from the 3-headed dogs…)
I don't subscribe to it, I'm just sayin'…
funny how have the MSM try spinning their lies. they would'nt know the truth if it was the final thread to save their lives.
On second thought, except the part about resting…
Liberal propaganda doesn't sell like it used to.
People don't seem to like being lectured to constantly by a bunch of smug, dishonest America haters.
yahoo news pulls that crap all the time. they'll run some ridiculously skewed AP story and when you click on the comments button it just records your 'vote' as having read the story. "ooh, we can't have the unwashed masses weighing in on this POS- we'll look like d-bags! but we'll be sure to allow comments on the story about the new panda cub at the Beijing zoo…"
The Morning Advocate newspaper of Baton Rouge was once a great paper, known for fantastic investigative journalism – mixed it up with politicians, union bosses and everything in between. It has been a leftist shill for a decade and more, and now my three brothers and their entire families have long sinced cancelled subscriptions we had in the family for generations. All gone. And countless more – all for what? To promote Left-ISM – wanton, run of the mill fraud and village-idiot rank stupidity. It must be great to be a leftist : so very brave – and so very stupid.
i'd add that having a degree in journalism is much the same as teachers who only have education degrees. they might know 'journalism' or 'teaching', but not jacksh!t about anything they're reporting on or teaching about.
in a perfect world, anybody reporting on global warming, etc., should first be required to have experience in the relevant sciences. in education, i want a math teacher with a degree in MATH, with much less emphasis on 'pedagogical arts'…
The Minneapolis paper Star & Tribune which has been called the Red Star for decades will delete any comments that do not fit what they want you to see. Case in point was when kennedy died and there were over 700+ comments with 90+% unfavorable about kennedy. No glossing over him like the news story was doing.
The censor tried to keep up but was overwhelmed and it looked like they gave up. The next day the negative comments were ALL gone! I see this time and time again at news sites.
It has always seemed to me that most of the print media just prints press releases. Broadcast news does pretty much the same thing. Who needs em?
I wonder if Gerson actually believes what he wrote. I don't see how he can…but who knows? Self deluison seems to be part of the human psyche.
I always knew the big three were biased, but it came to a head for me when I was watching the "Today Show" and the lovely Ann Curry was interviewing one of the "Million Mom March" organizers. As expected, the interview was nothing but fluff, but the kicker was at the end when Ann leaned over and touched the guest on the arm and said something like "Good luck today, we're pulling for you".
Good piece John.
The guy was a Bush speechwriter. Enough said.
WoW, John.
It read like it flowed from your fingertips.
—– Forwarded Message —–
From:
To: "Chris Fusco" <cfusco@suntimes.com>, "jchase" <jchase@tribune.com>, "jskass" <jskass@tribune.com>, "rolmstead" <rolmstead@dailyherald.com>
Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 5:58:40 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Fwd: Mail Delivery Problem-Carol Marin
Gentleman,
It appears as though, Carol Marin has made a decision that she no longer wants any information about Dr. Ronald Michael and his pals.
This does not bode well for the state of journalism in Chicago. As many of us know, Dr. Michael is a close friend of Tony Rezko. One of my sources informed me that Dr. Michael's family met Tony in Lebanon, before he came to the U.S. to live with the Michael family. This story gets better everyday, so you can imagine my dismay that a veteran like Carol Marin would want to be excluded.
Anyone else want out of their responsibility as a journalist?
xxxxxxxxxx
(—) ——–
—– Forwarded Message —–
From: "Mail Delivery Subsystem" <MAILER-DAEMON@AOL.com>
To:
Sent: Sunday, August 16, 2009 5:08:37 PM GMT -08:00 US/Canada Pacific
Subject: Mail Delivery Problem
Your mail to the following recipients could not be delivered because they are not accepting mail from ——————net:
carolmarin
Thanks for your service Prof!!
"I hope their 401-k's are invested solely in their companies' stock." Me too!!!
The Internet probably hastened the demise of the BM (Big Media, pun intended), but the patient was dying sick by the time the Internet became the force it is. How many of us believed what we saw on the nightly news? How many of us were horrified to learn we'd been treated like mushrooms all those times/years? I remember exactly when I realized the propaganda media were merely mouthpieces for the Dem Party. Jimmy Carter was president. Still,now and then their one note, singing with the choir, propaganda got to me. I voted for Jimmy Carter in 1980 knowing full well he was an incompetent boob because I believed the media telling me Ronald Reagan was going to blow up the world and destroy civil and women's rights. I CANNOT BELIEVE I FELL FOR IT EVEN NOW! When Reagan was elected, did not blow up the world, I turned the media off. I subscribed to the WSJ for my information, finding the editorial page was the only place even there you wouldn't get "the party line" fed to you by the shovelful. Then Talk Radio, the Internet not only pulled back the curtain but shredded it so it could not be rehung. The media died of a self inflicted gunshot wound to the head.
I for one will never forget it either. It WAS startling that 0beyme got the softballs, and a women with more experience in governing, but not at the top of the ticket was grilled. I didn't mind that Sarah was questioned as she was, however the light treatment they gave to both 0bumba and Biden is nothing short of scandalous, IMHO.
Along those same lines, I attended a conference in the early eighties in which the "object" of a "Sixty Minutes" inquiry gave a talk on what really happened and how "Sixty Minutes" had edited and skewed the reportage. At the time, there was no Internet, no Talk Radio, no way for the victim to get his side of the story out save for speaking at this meeting (and, I suppose, others). Still, how many people saw that "Sixty Minutes" episode versus how many professionals listened to his side of the story in conferences? Fast forward to 2004 and Dan Rather's "expose'" on George Bush's National Guard records. Within an hour, the Pajamas media had exposed the lie. That said, there are still scores of people who get their news from "mainstream" media who are totally clueless. I have a friend, a smart, savvy guy who works in the computer industry who, until last week when I told him, had not heard of the pirated emails regarding Global Warming. I can only surmise there's been a news blackout of this damaging information. This guy didn't believe me, but when he finds out I was telling the truth, you can count one more nail in the media's coffin.
In the forties, the Left took over the bureaucracy. (Wallace, Roosevelt's VP prior to Truman was a "fellow traveler" if not a downright Communist. He was dumped in favor of Truman when his political ideology got out.)
In the sixties, the Lefties took over the media (who'd been fellow travelers but attempted to report the facts).
In the seventies, the Lefties graduated from grad. school and with Ph.D's in hand marched into Academe.
By 1980, the Left had all but one branch of government (two of the three allowed for in the Constitution: Legislative and Judicial) and all three UNELECTED branches (Bureaucracy, Media (Propaganda) and Education (Brainwashing). Only the presidency eluded them.
Now they have it all and without firing a bullet: Bureaucracy, Media, Education, Legislative, Judicial and Executive. That they were so patient and capable is fascinating intellectually. (The Second Amendment, of course, forced the patience on them. Unlike their Russian counterparts, American peasants shoot back).
And what a mess they're making. Just like Old Joe Stalin and his Rusky Bolsheviks. Communism/Socialism works great on paper — just not so great in reality.
[...] link: Big Government » Blog Archive » Objective Journalism: Michael Gerson Defends a Profession That No … [...]
Modern journalism held forth it's dagger, plunged it in to it's own gut and yanked the blade sideways the day Walter "Closet Commie" Cronkite decided, on his own mind you, that Vietnam was lost.
He called it a *commentary* but it colored his and CBS's and the rest of the mainstreamers world views.
May he rot in hell.
Shorter Gerson: the inability of the mainstream media to sustain an audience came about because our audience became less interest in objectivity. It had absolutely nothing to do with our tendency to lie to them, and then call them names when they discover it. Nope.
Awesome commentary by Mr Nolte as usual. The MSM has chosen to sham us at every turn, and have made no effort to conceal the fact that their loyalties lie with the mob in control of our government at the moment, and not with we the people, that keep them afloat. The majority of us want the truth from them, and for them to report on the things that truly matter in our lives, such as healthcare, climategate, socialists & marxists in the White House, cap and tax, one world government etc., so forth and so on, ad nauseum. If they can't feature that, then the sooner they go belly up the better!
Professor, my what a memory you have.
They may be developing opinions. "Thinking," not so much.
I told my daughter the other day that it would be FAR preferable if she aspired to be anything other than a vet (she's wanted to be a vet since she was little) than make the choice for the legal profession, and NOT journalism. Journalists have become the new low because of what the MSM has done. I would much rather she at least learn what the law is, than be a gossiper who pretends that what she writes is law.
That’s a shame. If I recall correctly, there was an excerpt eloquently defending the war in Iraq from his book Heroic Conservatism published as an article in (of all things) Newsweek. Of course, he also went after the critics of Bush’s immigration bill. His brand of conservatism seems a bit wishy-washy.
Well said.
For me, it was the coverage of the Iraq War. Every network and newspaper seemed intent on telling me how badly Bush was messing things up. I finally had to go to the Internet and find milblogs to get the truth. Once I realized that the MSM had been lying to me, I felt like an idiot for trusting them all those years.
Now, I have the ability to get my news from sources that I trust (and not sources that I am told to trust).
Very little mainstream media news, is news. Watch unfolding stories. Someone comes to a half baked conclusion and that becomes the story. Everything after that is opinion on the original conclusion, until a new conclusion is reached restarting the opinion process. They don't need blogger opinions, the idiots holding the mikes and their duplicitous writers have plenty of opinions themnselves.
Very well said John. I'm not sure if the old model of journalism is dead, it simply hasn't been practiced for so long that no one knows whether it could work anymore. Some of us working on the second half century still like to have the thing in our hands. There just isn't anything in it that justifies the expense. Cost-cutting has lead to wire-service reporting, and that can gotten anywhere.
The Gerald Walpin case is a perfect example. Public servant with long and distinguished record fired from politically sensitive position, with at least "procedural" irregularities. Could it be more sinister? Who in MSM bothered to look? Report now sure makes it look that way. I'd venture to say that WaPo might have sold some copies if they had done some legwork, and published it. But if they don't care about their country, why should the public care about their product? That's what they don't get.
Is that idiot Nick Coleman, the butt of the Powerline bloggers much deserved ridicule, still there?
What profession could he possibly be talking about? Certainly not the same profession who set out to destroy Clarence Thomas, circled the wagons to save President Clinton, summoned all their resources to lose the war in Iraq, told us more about the background of an unemployed plumber than our current President, dragged Sarah Palin’s family through the mud, and on this very day refuse to investigate three of the biggest stories of the year (if not the decade): ACORN, CzarGate and ClimateGate.
Sir you are bananas.
The 1982 CBS documentary "Uncounted Enemy". Man, I close my eyes and see myself 27 years ago opening my TV Guide to read how CBS ignored evidence and twisted facts to support an agenda they had before they began investigating – i.e., Westmoreland lied about the size of the Viet Cong. I also remember none of the other media echoing TV Guide's courage. I remember Westmoreland begging for a live interview with Wallace on '60 Minutes' to clear his name and Wallace literally laughing into the screen saying that 'of course that couldn't happen'. I remember Westmoreland losing his lawsuit because the media stonewalled and refused to release documents.
And now the media whines that I've 'left' them. Bull! In 1982 they drove me away. The only reason those jerks didn't recognize it back then was because I had nowhere else to go. Now I do. Face it, media – you're harvesting the bitter weed you sowed with your own hands.
I have a concern. When Big media was a viable force it was also the provider of the fodder for the local papers. The local papers would in turn feed back to the wire services who would feed Big Media. All politics is local but I have to wonder how many of the readers here ever pick up a local paper. In my market there is not much point what was a seven day a week paper is now three and two of those days there is little more meat to the paper then Obituaries. There is no city beat reporter so no locale news other then that which is crafted and submited by local political machines. The efficiencyof sites like this one, delivering the content most desired (national issues) erodes the ability of local press to exist. This same dynamic could move media looking for efficient models to move beyond nation to international news ie the so far less then successful CNN. and the BBC.
The larger the audience served by a provider the less important personel liberty issues become. What may need to be developed is a delivery system of this content through a AP type arrangement this website could cease to exist as a direct consumer provider or at least a free one and opperate as a window from within multiple local content provider. This model would incourage additional revenue streams from local advertisers car dealers, local retailers and the like, and begin to rebuild the local market the home town papers served. The local web news here is amaturish and lacking anything other then AP wire stories. I know this is not a full answer and rather sophmorish in its analyisis. But we have to keep local information sources viable or we all lose.
My spouse worked in the MSM for over 20 years. Last year they laid him off, clearing the newsroom of the ONLY outspoken, conservative, Christian. In the area the paper serves they have in the last 18 years alienated a majority of the community. Their bottom line is shrinking and their reputation is in shreds.
One of the first things my husband said after his lay-off was “At least I’m not sleeping with the enemy any more.” He tried for over 20 yrs to get people to understand that they couldn’t afford to let their bias’ get in the way of the truth. They needed to pay attention to the internet and to the people who actually purchase their product. All for nought. Everything he told them has come true with a vengeance.
He has a job he loves now and they are drowning in red ink. I have to admit I am somewhat bitter, but it couldn’t happen to nicer folks.
Nick Coleman had accepted a buyout and was no longer writing for the Star Tribune newspaper. I just did a search on his name at the newspaper site http://www.startribune.com/ and see he has 2 recent articles. May be freelance now. He thinks the democrats are not left wing enough.
Hey, Substance McGravitas,
Trolls aren’t welcome here.
And if you think Obama and Palin were both treated the same by the MSM, then you’re either an imbecile or you smoke too much pot.
Which is it?
In 1984 this local broadcast reporter ventured to London, England to cover events surrounding the 40th anniversary of D-Day and work out of the ABC Radio Network studio. Before President Reagan arrived I took a trip to Brussels and met a group of Irish guys on holiday from South London. I returned to London with a nice story about how these men longed for freedom of opportunity expressed by Mr. Reagan.
At ABC News the executive producer of Peter Jennings segment of World News Tonight got wind of my story, trashed it and my reputation on the network level. I was told that only negative stories about President Reagan would be acceptable to ABC News.
When I returned to my local station in the heartland, my news director told me he had recieved a major complaint about my reporting from ABC Radio News HQ in NY. Funny that ABC News Middle East Expert Bob Zelnick heard all of my stories from his office adjacent to the studio and thought they were great and should be aired on the network. What surprised me more was that the American public accepted watching a Canadian socialist interpret America’s news for the next couple of decades.
After leaving the media I created and sold a business that allowed me to live in Aspen, Co for 6 years. I haven’t worked in 8+ years and still miss the media, especially the part about telling the truth better.
Without the lessons I learned in political correctness from those journalists I worked with from Oxford, Cambridge and Columbia I would never have realized such success. The common sense derived has sustained me to this day.
Wake Up america and do yourselves a favor! ignore the lame stream media! they are bias and refuse to report what is really happening. ignore tham and stop replying to anything they say. Once they understnad that we the poepl will no long accept what they call journalism they will go,out of business and we can live a better life without their proganda and lies to support thier liberal agenda which includes the destruction of this great nation so they can mad eto feel important before the new Obama dictatorship takes them all out and shoots them! Ignore the lame stream media they notas relavent as the dinosours were!
I posted the following at Town Hall. I'm no seer however a country and a society without a solid journalistic community committed to a pursuit of truth all across the cultural spectrum, is headed toward stormy seas, in fact we are in them right now do to exactly those facts, No challenges. Bill Safire saw this coming a long time ago, no one listened. The Wolf has arrived at the door.
What would Bill Safire Think
BILL SAFIRE: Would likely agree with the following " At its best, the profession of journalism has involved a spirit of public service and adventure — reporting from a bomber during a raid in World War II, or exposing the suffering of Sudan or Appalachia, or rushing to the site of 9/11 moments after the buildings fell."
It seems to me Bill Safire on multiple occasions warned his colleagues and indeed all of us about the deterioration he saw creeping into journalism. I base that statement on my readings of his many columns over many years and having seen him on television on a number of occasions. Please if you have more information on his take on this topic please share.
There is a Wolf at the American journalistic door and it needs to be scared away by the unvarnished truth buttressed by facts. Punditry by and of itself is not bad, but it will not sustain a public in rational thoughtful discourse for any length of time.
Over the many years and particularly in the last decade Bill Safire often talked about journalists and journalism and where he saw it heading. to poorly paraphrase "We journalists bring only one thing to a society, our credibility as observers discussing the passing scene, if we lose that, or sell it for any reason then we have no expectation that anyone will listen to us and we ought to sit down and be quiet and listen to others.
Today our country appears divided on several issues, we have all the punditry we can handle, what we so desperately need and do not have is a ferociously aggressive journalism community challenging an all to arrogant political class all across the political spectrum. I wonder what corner the next Bill Safire will appear from. I hope he or she arrives soon. thanks
I read my city's newspaper for the local news, the ads and features. National and state news . . . I get from multiple sources on the internet.
Well said John. Gerson is an obvious idiot if he can not realize what has happened here. It's so simple it's pathetic. Start reporting ALL news and your ratings will SKYROCKET! People will turn to you for there information.
But na, they choose to do whatever is best for Berry our 1st Kenyan President and watch there media outlet die a slow death.
You said it best, may they rest in hell.
And, like good little libs, want to rush into the arms of "non-profit" government protection.
And if you think Obama and Palin were both treated the same by the MSM, then you’re either an imbecile or you smoke too much pot.
Which is it?
Option three. I agree that she wasn’t treated the same: Sarah Palin’s a laughable idiot. That she has champions is good news for anyone who wants the Republican party to fail, as I do.
I believe the biggest ERROR was the absence of a complete vetting of 'the one' by ALL! Why, when John McCain produced all birth, medical, school records did not SOMEONE demand the same from Obama?
Guilty are BOTH parties in Congress, the DNC, the RNC, the 'formerly known as' mainstream print & television media, the courts who continue to deny due process of finding out just who he is, the FBI and who else did I forget? What a travesty of justice!
Of course, our senator, John Kerry, is right there willing to set up a bailout for his hometown groupie, the Boston Globe. We discontinued our subscription years ago…it gave you a severe case of heartburn to read their liberal 'spin' on every aspect of the news.
Now THAT's some truth!! Good one, John.
Darwin would be so proud. The blotted, outdated monster unable to feed it's own hunger must pass away, becoming fossil fuel for the sleeker and more efficient. Survival of the fittest. No wonder the Big media hates capitalism so much.
Its all a cycle, LATE the perverts take over. Maybe Watergate made them dreamers, so the wrong people entered the profession. They just wanted to live the dream of two journalists at the right place at the right time. I saw the movie recently; the case could have been given some more "experienced journalists.” Then faded away, because White House pressure was too big. No need for White House pressure now. The press gives cover for ACORN and Obama. It makes you sick; still you know it’s the end of a cycle. As in the market it will fix everything. It’s really only in sports, where drugs are not an issue, where you cannot fake it. That’s why sports star are well paid, they really make you feel something, when they do great things and you cant fake it. What do main stream media make you feel, except when James O'Keefe, Hannah Giles and Andrew Breitbart came on Fox NEWS. Finally!!!!!
If that's your best shot it lacks both substance and gravitas. The first rule of inserting oneself into a comment thread is to have the brains to chose a name one can match up to their witty and thought provoking content. Your crack at that was pathetic.
So, who's the laughable idiot?
The first rule of inserting oneself into a comment thread is to have the brains to chose a name
Well, I can spell, and that’s something.
But really: go on an defend Nolte’s laundry list as something rational outside websites for maniacs.
It was long, long ago. LBJ was going to end the Vietnam War, Goldwater was going to blow us up. First time in my life I sent money to a campaign, voted for LBJ, had to stop Goldwater (who, truthfully, I knew nothing about). Then LBJ escalated the war & brought us more disasters of welfare, and I said to myself–whoa down, what just happened here? I began to question my life-long Dem party. It took a while for me to be objective on my own, but now, I do not have a party affiliation and I feel so much more in charge. I read the LA Times religiously for decades, now it's only good to line the birdcage and wrap fish.
I refuse to pay for propaganda or support media that censors content based on ideological agenda…nothing like p—ing off your paying customers to ruin financial projections.
Salahis: "Hello. We're here for the party. The Salahis."
Doorman: "I'm sorry, but you're not on the list."
Salahis: "There must be some mistake. We've known Barack for years. Please mention our name to him and I'm sure he'll let us in."
Doorman (returning): "Come on in – he welcomes you with open arms, and greets you in the name of Allah."
Bye.
The Star Tribune of Mpls recently hired staff to delete posts that were not tottally left leaning. I used to read and or buy this paper-but NO more! I believe everyone has a right to their own opinion-but when this left leaning trash did this-I won’t even read their trash online. I believe there parent company is the McKlatchey Company out of California. Guess, I’m too conservative. The Pioneer Press, of St Paul isn’t that far behind the trib. Won’t buy, pick up or read the trash! Won’t watch chanel 4(WCCO), chanel 5, chanel 9(FOX)(they are affilated with FOX news but don’t really bring up any of the real issues), chanel 11 public news either. And, when I hear the “joke president” is going to be addressing the country-I say “thanks for the warning!” I don’t turn on my tv.
When you alienate your customers they will go away.
And why would I want to buy a newspaper today, when I read all of the stories online yesterday.
Hey MSM people, get over yourselves your on the way out. Do what the rest of us do, when things change find a new job.
I agree with almost everyone above. I worked for the print media all my life. My father worked for the print media. The BIG print media. He was the managing editor. He was fired because he wouldn't bow to the corruption they required. I lasted a long time, but I was also fired for standing up against the lies they wanted to tell. I'd say the death of the print media happened a long time ago. When t;hey stopped reporting and started slanting everything to a particular worldview. There isn't anyone left in the print media who will stand up for the truth. May they rest in hell, as stated above.
KenC
The brown-nosed press is not welcome in my home. Anything which stinks of the Obamanation – nope.
When relatives give us a few urinals of enlightenment, I find myself often commenting, in pen, on the cover. The hiddeous photos of BHO, H.Clinton, Gore, et al, have become visions, equated with hatred, evil; of reprobate traitors.
I have found that printed trade jounals, which are pushing "Go Green" on every other page, have become intolerable – cancelled with prejudice (and comment.)
Online, I can flush the junk, with the click of an 'X' and a click on the unsubscribe link.
The MSM best wake up, like Conservative America has done (mostly because MSM left us uninformed, as we went about our lives, working for our decaying livings, until America has nearly gone down the drain), or down-size into oblivion.
[...] Objective Journalism: Michael Gerson Defends A Profession That No Longer Exists [...]
(sound of needle being placed on record)
DING, DONG! THE WITCH IS DEAD, THE WITCH IS DEAD, THE WITCH IS DEAD!
DING, DONG! THE WICKED OLD WITCH IS DEAD!!
Personally, I refer to it as the "TSM" –
Turd Stream Media
What Gerson is lamenting is the loss of MSM's power to control what gets reported. And for sure he is lamenting the fact that people now have the power to point out the lack of integrity, logic, or facts in what he writes.
What is inexplicable to me is that they keep ignoring the First Rule of Holes: Stop Digging.
My guess is that Gerson didn't want to do a column about Climategate, and this is what he came up with.
Regarding the NY Times/WaPo/USA Today/NBC/ABC/CBS – I spit in disgust in their general direction, and since November 4th 2008 have selectively read my news from trusted sources on the internet.
The day that the NY Times and WaPo shuts down will be a day I celebrate.
Let's look at print journalisim. I am an old man. As far back as I can remember, newspapers were owned by people who had a lot of money and bought a newspaper (or a chain of newspapers) to reinforce a particular point of view on politics, socieital norms, etc. Some of these newspapers were liberal, some were conservative and so forth. Now we have bloggers, and to be a blogger one does not have to be wealthy. But it seems to me that no one becomes a blogger unless they have a point of view which they wish to put forth.
So really, what's the difference? I think the only difference is that aside from the investment of time, it doen't cost anything to be a blogger. And on the other side of the equation, readers find it easy to deal with an compter and save the money of buying a newspaper or magazine.
My wife was looking over my shoulder as I wrote the above, and said to me, "I thought there was integrity in the old MSM jouralism." To which I replied, "Maybe in the sports section."
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