Debate, and discuss, just dont Bore me.
Long Time Passing
Published on December 16, 2010 By Dr Guy In Politics

With apologies to Joan Baez, I wonder if there are any journalists left?  Well, perhaps one or two like Bill Sammon.  He is chief of apparently the last news organization in the country (could be the world, my experience does not stretch that far).  And he is being pilloried for being a GOOD journalist.

Now if you are a liberal, you might as well stop reading right here.  Because you sure will not understand the rest of this.

It seems that Media Matters is outraged, SHOCKED, and mad that Bill Sammons told his reporters to be  - biased?  No. Slanted? No. One sided? No.  So what?

Skeptical!  Yes, he wants his reporters to ask questions and not accept statements (most of us know them as "talking points") blindly when reporting on climate warming (change, anthropogenic, disruption - insert favorite propaganda term here).  And for that he is being condemned!  Next they will call for his hanging (oops! Several have already done so).

for the liberals, this is of course sacrilege.  One must always accept the spoutings of liberals as GOSPEL never to be questioned.  So they hate Fox NEWS.  Why?  Fox alone among the networks does not do that (they do not accept any thing as Gospel from conservatives either).  But since they are not blindly liberal, they must be evil and conservative!

Alas, the ignorance of liberals has bastardized another institution.  For indeed, Fox is behaving exactly as a responsible JOURNALISTIC organization is supposed to act.  And so they must be destroyed less the propaganda of the left not get out.

Where have all the Journalists gone?  Killed by liberal intolerants.


Comments
on Dec 17, 2010

I like Jamie Dupree.  He is a Washington correspondent.  I started a fan page for him on Facebook.  He's that good.

on Dec 17, 2010

I will have to look into him.  I have never heard of him.

on Dec 17, 2010

He mostly does radio...http://wsbradio.com/dupree/.. 

but he usually has a GREAT back and forth with Neal Boortz....tho I find Neal annoying.....

on Dec 20, 2010

Tova7
He mostly does radio...http://wsbradio.com/dupree/.. 

but he usually has a GREAT back and forth with Neal Boortz....tho I find Neal annoying.....

I use to listen to Neal back when I was surfing radio stations on the web (before our local ones came on board).  I found Neal to be a bit dry at times (he was in competition with Glenn Beck, so I usually listened to Beck - he was funny).

I will check out the site.  Thanks for the link!

on Dec 21, 2010

Yeah, journalists should be skeptical of any official statements. I totally agree.

And viewers/readers should be skeptical of official statements, too, especially if journalists repeat them without checking.

Fact-checking is important but, sadly, time consuming. Which is why we need competent, responsible and unbiased journalists to do the fact-checking for us. Journalists you can trust. Journalists that aren't under the yoke of special interests.

But how do you know which journalists tell a story as close to the truth as possible? Well, you can only find that out in hindsight and orient yourself on their track record.

So, which journalists or news institutions reported objectively and truthfully on past topics before the rest caught on?

Who reported on the new orleans levees before katrina broke them?
Who reported a realistic picture of iraq before the usa invaded? 
Were there journalists that warned of the banking/mortgage/whatever crisis before it happened?

those are the journalists to look out for.

on Dec 21, 2010

So, which journalists or news institutions reported objectively and truthfully on past topics before the rest caught on?

Who reported on the new orleans levees before katrina broke them?

Who reported a realistic picture of iraq before the usa invaded?

Were there journalists that warned of the banking/mortgage/whatever crisis before it happened?

those are the journalists to look out for.

Good advice. 

on Dec 23, 2010

People don't want to listen to objective journalism but w/e matches their own point of view.  They want the media to (mostly) make them feel good or right.

 

Personally I blame this all on a natural byproduct of having the facts muddied to the point where the populace just doesn't care anymore in response.  So they choose the next best thing, hearing what you want to hear.

on Dec 29, 2010

True factual journalism has been replaced by opinion reporting. It's a disgrace, and even Fox News is guilty of it as well. I don't think there are any major news outlets left who stick to factual journalism these days.

I agree 100% that any decent journalist should ask questions and check facts before accepting any statement as being true, and at the same time they should report it when statements are proven to be false. That is journalism. Anything less is just entertainment.

on Jan 03, 2011

RogueCaptain
People don't want to listen to objective journalism but w/e matches their own point of view.  They want the media to (mostly) make them feel good or right.

 

Personally I blame this all on a natural byproduct of having the facts muddied to the point where the populace just doesn't care anymore in response.  So they choose the next best thing, hearing what you want to hear.

Tough love is telling those you care for they are wrong. The fact that they cannot do their job does not show any compassion or caring, or integrity.  It does show stupidity.

on Jan 03, 2011

MasonM
True factual journalism has been replaced by opinion reporting. It's a disgrace, and even Fox News is guilty of it as well. I don't think there are any major news outlets left who stick to factual journalism these days.

I agree 100% that any decent journalist should ask questions and check facts before accepting any statement as being true, and at the same time they should report it when statements are proven to be false. That is journalism. Anything less is just entertainment.

I think most people (myself included at times) think that just because a station is billed as a news station, they must have news 24x7. Most of the news stations are opinion, not news.  I do not look to Hannity or Olbermann to give me news.  But I do expect it when the news hour (a couple of hours out of 24) comes on.  Sadly my expectations are mostly unmet.

on Jan 04, 2011

Dr Guy
Quoting MasonM, reply 8True factual journalism has been replaced by opinion reporting. It's a disgrace, and even Fox News is guilty of it as well. I don't think there are any major news outlets left who stick to factual journalism these days.

I agree 100% that any decent journalist should ask questions and check facts before accepting any statement as being true, and at the same time they should report it when statements are proven to be false. That is journalism. Anything less is just entertainment.

I think most people (myself included at times) think that just because a station is billed as a news station, they must have news 24x7. Most of the news stations are opinion, not news.  I do not look to Hannity or Olbermann to give me news.  But I do expect it when the news hour (a couple of hours out of 24) comes on.  Sadly my expectations are mostly unmet.

Strange, I find myself agreeing with you.

The whole 24/7 news concept is flawed, especially in internet times. What happens if there's nothing 'newsworthy' to report? Networks push something insignificant to national importance and get caught up in the hunt for the story like a dog doing tricks to get a bone. I mean, 'Balloon Boy' drowned out everything else.

And despite having 24 hours a day for reporting 'news', those networks don't seem to have the time to research their stories before they report them ... which is why the Yes-Men have a permanent field day with the press.

And coupling news with opinion-TV on a so-called news network is at the very least questionable. It leads to intellectual incest. Can best be seen on Fox News, where pundits in an opinion-show make some general or baseless comments, which are then reported as "news" by the following news-show. I'm not sure to what extent other TV stations do the same, but it's highly noticable on the fox shows.

And that's not journalism.

on Jan 04, 2011

The whole 24/7 news concept is flawed, especially in internet times.

You have to remember that CNN started before the Internet was Commercial, and Fox before it was a hit.  So like the old Print media, the 24x7 news media is a dying breed.  Now CNN HLN may be a way to go as it just repeats and repeats and is there for anyone who wants a quick fix on news, but the other stations kind of predate the Internet.  I do not watch any of the news shows - but I do visit their web sites daily.

And coupling news with opinion-TV on a so-called news network is at the very least questionable. It leads to intellectual incest. Can best be seen on Fox News, where pundits in an opinion-show make some general or baseless comments, which are then reported as "news" by the following news-show. I'm not sure to what extent other TV stations do the same, but it's highly noticable on the fox shows.

As stated above, I do not watch the networks, so have not seen that which you are referring to (news reporting on commentators views).  If indeed the case, it does get to the "incestuous" relationship you mention.  And is stupid to boot.  What Hannity thinks of an issue is not relevant to news.  It is relevant to commentary.  The 2 should be kept separate.  However, reporting what Hannity (or Obermann, Matthews, Beck, et. al.) think of an issue is not the same as opining on the issue (and rarely news - most already know what they think).  That does not make it necessarily wrong - just a waste of time.