Beat the Press
By dcmediagirl on March 20, 2008 at 4:08 PM in Media, Torture
It is an unfortunate fact of life that politicians are necessary to have democracy. The alternative is a Ruler For Life, a Dear Leader, a thuggish junta or a combination of the above, where rule of law is synonymous with brute strength. If you don’t believe me, put up a map of the world, close your eyes and stick out a finger. Chances are it’ll point to some hideous banana republic/kleptocracy run by a butchering lunatic, where justice is whatever he says it is. And that’s no good.
It’s also a sad fact that one must have journalists in order to have a free press. Define journalists as you will. The alternative is to have lackeys churning out press releases and printing them under a headline. We call that propaganda. Try the finger test again. Many countries’ press operations function this way. Run a story the Dear Leader or Generalissimo doesn’t like and see what happens.
What’s truly reprehensible is when journalists working in a country where freedom of the press is enshrined in the Bill of Rights choose to act like sheep, to act like stenographers with amnesia or enablers and toadies instead of hard-charging analytical truth tellers.
It’s easy to chortle cynically at such observations, but I have worked in American media environments most of my life, where I have seen proud networks and news organizations piss away their credibility in their quest for the almighty dollar and ratings point. A few years ago I started working for an organization that produces programming that beams into countries where journalists are arrested, beaten, tortured and “disappeared” with distressing frequency. Those who end up arrested, detained and killed are obviously the ones who stand up and say “fuck you”, not the toadies and lackeys.
This is a very roundabout way of saying that as someone who takes my profession and ideas like democracy and fairness seriously, I so wish that my fellow journalists would do the same. Why don’t they? Are they overpaid? Living in Cloud Cookooland? Hopelessly compromised? Have they lost their way? Are they stupid? Corrupt? Biased? What is it? Why would someone go into a thankless profession like journalism only to wallow in cynicism and retch up tomfoolery and lies?
This is not a crisis of conscience. I have nothing to apologize for or be ashamed of. I simply don’t understand others who claim to work in the same field as I do. And since I’m at a loss I invite your comments and observations.
Once $299.98, now yours for $149.99.
+ ALL 
Maybe its all become so SUBJECTIVE..and less Objective..and the Sensual sells..
Everyone wants to be an Expert ..But this is a good subject for discussion,…Thanks..
BTW I’m the last one to talk about editing but I thing your lead Line should say
..”THAT POLITICIANS” and Not “IN POLITICIANS..”
Look forward to other Comments on this topic..
It started when Paley found out that he could run a quiz show and make more money than See It Now as well as take one hell of a lot less heat.
Halberstam has a great chapter on the decline of journalism in War In A Time Of Peace.
In too many cases, yes. Too much to lose by doing your job.
In many cases, it became a quest for self glorifiation, a natural outgrowth of the Madonna generation, even for the older guys. Why do they write, why do they report, if not to advocate for those left unprotected or abused by those in power?
I grew up in Chicago, reading Royko, a reporter who felt it an honor to needle men like Daley. It helped keep the corruption in check, at the very least.
IMO, the true journalistic tradition still exists in Chicago, mostly, but not many other places, it seems. The Chicago reporters, as well as the English, were on to Obama from the start, and did not compromise for their own selfish benefit.
Great journalism takes courage.
Draw your own conclusions.
True words eloquently written. Great stuff as always Media Girl.
Let’s all remember that McClatchy’s reporters did their jobs during the run up to the Iraq War. They deserve a huge amount of respect. Bill Moyer’s did an excellent job examining the role of the media during this time and interviewed Warren Strobel, Jonathan Landay, and John Walcott of McClatchy (formerly Knight Ridder). This is the best summary of how our press operates that I have seen:
http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/btw/watch.html
I prefer to read McClatchy’s Washington Bureau reports on foreign affairs because I know that these guys have the guts to go against the mainstream the way the Washington Post did during Watergate.
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/
I remember thinking it was strange to hear people in the media say that no one knew there was a problem with the intelligence during this time, until I realized that I read a McClatchy paper.
I find it disgusting that all the journalists seem to care about today in Hillary’s 11,000 page diary was “What was she doing during the Monica Lewinsky episode?” It’s juvenile, rude and disrespectful, but what did I expect really?
Taylor Marshall, however, restored my faith in humanity when she reported these excerpts of Senator Clinton’s diary:
China
· Sept. 5, 1995: HRC traveled to Beijing and spoke out for women’s rights and human rights despite efforts by the Chinese government to discourage her visit and pull the plug on her speech.
Macedonia
· May 14, 1999: Hillary traveled to the Balkans while the NATO-led air war against the former Yugoslavia was still under way as part of a broader U.S. effort that led to the reopening of the border with the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, permitting thousands of Kosovar refugees to flee to safety. She met separately with Prime Minister Georgievski and President Gligorov, accompanied by U.S. Ambassador to Macedonia Christopher Hill, to emphasize America’s support for the stability and security of Macedonia.
Northern Ireland
· Nov. 30 – Dec. 1, 1995; Oct. 31, 1997; Sept. 2 – 3, 1998; May 12 – 13, 1999; Dec. 12 – 13, 2000. Hillary traveled to Northern Ireland five times as First Lady and gave what Northern Irish leader and Nobel Laureate John Hume recently described as “decisive support” to the peace process in Northern Ireland. She focused especially on encouraging the emergence of women in the political process. In addition, Hillary’s work at the grass roots and behind-the-scenes helped cultivate the conditions necessary for the peace to take hold and last.
Africa
· March 17, 1997: HRC traveled to Senegal and met with Senegalese President Abdou Diouf. As she recounts in Living History, Hillary lobbied President Diouf to support legislation banning female genital mutilation and lent assistance to a grassroots campaign against the practice. Soon after that meeting, a law banning the practice was passed. [Living History, p. 400-01].
· March 27, 1997: Hillary also traveled to Tanzania and met with President Benjamin Mkapa. As she recounts in Living History, Hillary encouraged the president to eliminate laws that limited women from owning and inheriting property, restrictions that not only were unfair but hobbled the economic potential of half the country’s population. In 1999, Tanzania passed the Land Law Act and the Village Act, repealing and replacing the laws that had previously discriminated against women. [Living History, p. 403]
· March 23 – April 2, 1998: After her 1997 trip to Africa, Hillary lobbied President Clinton to go to Africa. They traveled to Ghana, Uganda, Rwanda, South Africa, Botswana, and Senegal.
Now THAT’S reporting…
DCMediaGirl, You are not alone in Whoville.
“Beat the Press” is an interesting title. Being paid for a job does not mean one will do the work required of that position.
Both my parents wrote for a living, and from a young age my Dad impressed upon me what it meant to be impartial and accruate. I got an A+ for re-wording an encyclopedia entry in 6th grade, to wit my Dad tore me a new one…yes I put a lot of effort in transcribing, but not “doing the homework”…(Never Again)
The Ego works in mysterious ways…personal gratification takes presidentce over objectivity.
After puzzling over your artical for most of the afternoon, I am left with only more questions.
1) The shield law?
2) When did this sort of intentionally shallow reporting start occurring?
3) What impact has the Internet had on this “insular” form of reporting, which is more akin to the game of ‘telephone’. There is an on going discussion in k-12 about the anti-social aspects of integrating technology in education. I can’t help but wonder if there is a parallel in the MSM.
4) Corporate ownership of all aspects of media/communication infrastructure and sustaining a newsroom operation vs profit as it relates to the profession of journalism.
5) Social interactions of reporter and source. The QT / Judith Miller syndrome..
6) What effect has “embedding” had and what is the role of US Government when The NYT sits on stories for over a year when it involves violations of the US Constitution..
7) Sys-ops in the MSM and “talking points” including the manipulation of public opinion, the echochamber wax effect which causes “deafness”. (Tim Russet ala Rove)
The media, TV especially, has not even attempted to appear impartial during this campaign.
Their support of Obama has been blatant, unashamed, and continuous, sometimes four pundits at once doing a commercial, selling him.
Let’s not forget who this media is - largest corporations in the world - GE, Disney, Viacom. Weapons manufacturers, polluters of environment, etc. Advertisers are insurance companies, pharmaceuticals. Do these companies want universal affordable health insurance, peace instead of war, regulation of big business, taxing the rich?
Hmmm - guess not.
They clearly find Hillary a threat. Also Edwards who they ended by pretending he didn’t exist, even when his poll numbers showed him winning.
One big question is why are they supporting Obama. I used to think it was because they could control him, since he is so anxious to be friends with Repubs.
I still think that’s part of it but mainly they plan to devour him if he is nominee, getting four more Bush years.
There is no democracy with this media.
Something serious needs to be done.
Any ideas anyone?
True, hillarysmygirl, that is reporting. Thank you for that information. It certainly answers the question of whether her years in the WH gave her foreign policy experience.
That is why I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for media to report this. Doesn’t support their narrative of First lady doesn’t count as experience.
Other people have to get this out there.
MSM will continue to talk about the blue dress.
Don’t let dcmediagirl’s post roll into the archives without this truly great cartoon from the Washington Post.
It says it all.
Ann Telnaes was counting sheep last night and…
What a great place this is.
My thoughts align with yours SpeakTruth.
While we do have an effect on elections, policy and laws in our country, we are but one component of a much bigger picture.
I routinely remind myself that we (human society as a whole) are in the middle of the implementation part of the “Information Revolution” brought upon by the ubiquitous Internet.
(Do you feel confused at times by the speed at which information is traveling? Or is that just me?)
It is not that we don’t want to pay attention or follow up, it is that all this information is being implemented rather than delivered.
Why is the whole of MSM supporting Obama? It is almost unnerving, is it not?
That others follow does not surprise me such, such as Richardson. The sheep will follow the farmer’s bell in hopes of being fed.
Is this not the same behavior we saw when they rammed Bush through two elections?
Why?
I mentioned this somewhere else. I’m not sure if anyone else caught Morning Joe on Bill Maher recently. Maher asked him about the media all of a sudden scrutinizing Obama.
Morning Joe (Evening Dick I hear he is called in some intimate circles ..snick) said that they have to be very careful about what they say. He added that they are talked to and warned behind the scenes.
No one picked up on this. Not that we didn’t know but it is a conversation we should be having. And when a so-called anchor of a major news outlet complains of such tactics, why are we not concerned?
There is no such thing as “free press” anymore. It is corporate press. It is as if they outsourced the “journalists” jobs to hired hands.
The question remains really, what are we going to do about it?
What we thought were “progressives” turned out to be “corporatist” (naming no names like Kos or HuffPo) who wind up inextricably in bed with their paycheck and no where to turn but hypocrisy. Such is success in America today.
Real change and not the slogan Obama wears like a cloak and dagger, will not be televised.
Perhaps (dare I dream?) that we here and the growing minority voice reverberating through America today are the true leading voices of change. For we know what we are seeing on the networks and reading in our Corporate Run Newspapers does not reflect the reality.
The Information Super Highway is a busy road. It has taken a while for the “din” of the corporate media to be clearly heard and seen. But we can see them now, can’t we?
It’s just that the mass hypnosis through media does work and a great many of our citizens are still under their spell.
Larry C, Johnson! You may just be our electronic “Neo!”