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(Photo of jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium by Thomas Hawk. Love the color in this shot -- that blue is just gorgeous with the glowing orange.)
The continuing saga of reporting what you see versus reporting just enough to give a little news but not tick off any particular demographic past the point that advertisers might get uncomfortable: (via Attytood)
Well said, but what really has me scratching my head is this:
Mike Sims, director of news and operations for CBSNews.com, said he believes stories on the website can strike a more opinionated tone than those that air on television, as long as they're clearly labeled.Why not allow Pizzey to give some of those strong opinions -- if you must, "clearly labeled" -- on TV, where millions more are watching than are reading his blog? Clearly, his informed, first-hand views of life in Baghdad are quite powerful, and engaging. The role of television news, or any kind of news, is to both inform and entertain -- and aren't Pizzey's opinion pieces both more entertaining and frankly, in an instructive kind of way, more informative than those two-minute "objective" news pieces?
In an era of shrinking audiences for network news, newspapers and all other old-style media, why are we utterly terrified of putting our best stuff out there where the most people can see it? Someone might disagree? Fine -- bring back that "Free Speech" segment, and let the debate begin.
Sometimes I swear the news business has a death wish. (emphasis mine)
Personally, I think "objective" is just marketing speak for "doesn't piss off a segment of our advertisers so much if we water it down." Which means, for viewers anyway, much less information wedged in to the cracks around much more fluff. I got an e-mail earlier in the week from a "recovering reporter," who had read my Saturday piece on "battered press syndrome," and this truly says so much:
I've lived and worked in Washington and...I find I have a few good weeks in me there and then I begin to be just like everybody else. Weird place. No division between personal and professional. I get kind of a vertigo, know what I mean? I lose my horizon and have to get out to get my equilibrium back.So why should expect these poor dorks to live there year after year and have any remaining independent judgement left? So, I say, squad A flies in for a few months, from around the country, and then they get relieved by reporter squad B, freshly trained and studied up. Maybe there should be overlap, like half the squad laps half the new bunch for a couple of weeks....get some new hungry guys in there who don't think they know as much.
Frankly, I think the whole Beltway could do with a few weeks of reality somewhere else. Including, especially, the folks in the news management and ratings department.
PS -- Dan Froomkin issued a correction to part of the column that inspired part of my battered press piece linked above. And I wanted to note that for the record, because Dan is a precise kinda guy in that way -- but also because, frankly, the fact that the initial reporting was even plausible in anyone's mind at first read is, truly, a big part of the problem.
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yeah!
Perhaps a nice stroll through a Baghdad market??
Ouch Christy. I’ve been stung by those little suckers twice.
“Frankly, I think the whole Beltway could do with a few weeks of reality somewhere else.”
Virtual Congress, anyone? Keep them at home, with their constituents, and use DC as a ceremonial place, but let them do their real work ONLINE, we have the technology.
As long as we send them to a single geographic location and put them all together in one place, our lawmakers will continue to be subject to K-Street arm-twisting and outright bribery. And they are all, also, quite vulnerable to “the sum of all fears,” when they are concentrated like this.
BRING EM’ HOME! It would be good both for their personal integrity and our national security.
I had a dream and Christy was in it, my wife suggested I should post the dream to Christy. I think the dream was spawn from an incident some months ago where I was taken aside by police in an airport and treated as a terrorist (sort of, I’m not a Muslim and I’m sure for others the story could be far worse). My wife had brought our camping gear home from storage and had transported some camping knifes (two cheap 5” steak knifes, not Crocodile Dundee blades) in a carry on bag that later I hurriedly packed before the flight without noticing the knifes inside. $$$ later, lawyers, fines, criminal court and even the threat of a felony charge I’m still trying to get my name clear.
The dream was that I was being tortured by homeland security, (see the connection), and quickly before much torture I decided to pretend that the torture had made me insane. Well guess who my legal representative turned out to be, (in the dream of coarse). The insanity act went on for a long time with out even letting on to Christy, who seemed to get what I was up to. Even when I woke I wondered for a brief moment if I should let my wife know that I was only acting crazy until I realized that I could leave happy dream world and get ready for work. I don’t think without the past six years I would have had such a nightmare that many are living out in reality and with out legal representation, if only there were more Christy and less Cheney and the mob in our nightmare Bush world.
Joe Wilson’s publisher called in to WNYC this morning. Among other things, he mentioned that he’s doing an instabook on the Libby trial, which will be published on June 5, sentencing date. Anyone know anything about it?
Reposted from previous thread:
AP story on Yahoo:
Bush administration gets Muzzle award
“journalists” seem to be learning “fluff” as a way of life- and it’s not exclusively the political news that shows the problem.
Read about damned near anything- automobiles, investments, sports, etc. and you’ll find coverage that’s light on facts and heavy on cute.
Oughta send em ta journalism school- but first we might have ta build one.
Teresa @ 2
I thought at first you were referring to the journalists in the article. Then I realized you were talking about the jellyfish in the picture. ;-)
ppp - I had a dream in which TRex appeared the other night! (Not the dinosaur, but that cute guy that moves the levers inside) We must spend too much time in the Lake!
Stephen Parrish, CPA @ 7
Governor of Kentucky (Fletcher, R-Idiot) also received Muzzie for blocking blogs critical (BlueGrass Report) while leaving access to friendlies.
The jellyfish exhibit at the Monterey Aquarium is stunning. Some are nearly transparent, some brightly colored like the ones in the photo in this post. So graceful and elegant. They’re downright hypnotic.
#10 true that, back to work!
As for the journalists, yeah, rotate them thru. I love that idea.
TheOtherWA @
11
one time I fell off the deck of a boat into about a 1000 of ‘em… wasn’t particularly hypnotic but I did almost walk on water…
I just returned from reading Digby’s posts on “uncivil” journalism. {{{{Digby}}}}
Some time ago, I suggested, almost in jest, that all our US congress and executive branches be physically moved to parts all over the country. Then we could call our reps “servers” and we could be called “clients.” Same goes for news people.
BTW, here is the link to the source for Jefferson Muzzle Awards
As long as the shekels keep pouring in, MSM Owners and Management could care less about the garbage they
compostcompose.They’ll cry their crocodile tears in insisting Imus
take a vacationbe suspended for 2 weeks, but that charade will be just smoke and mirrors, ’cause they’ll just raise their Ad rates a wee bit to cover Don’s sojourn in Purgatory (as well as his 1st Class airfare to the Dominican Republic to partake in its Rush Limbaugh 2-fer-1 “Get Acquainted” Ladies Night pole-dancing extravaganza).Ethics and Morals in MSM Owners and Management is like a pleasant smelling fart…a fantasy that only Disney could be proud of.
If I could change Congress:
Both Senators and Representatives would have to have real jobs — no more career politicians. (No lawyers allowed to be either Senator or Representative, you can either make the laws or practice law — not both.)
They would meet 90 days per year, and the budget and appropriation bills would have to be passed BEFORE they could address any other type of legislation.
If they go over 90 days their pay is docked by the Federal per diem rate for each day over the limit.
All Senators and Representatives would stay in a Congressional dormitory while Congress is in session — they would not be allowed to rent or own any property in any area contiguous to DC, and their families would stay home.
All Federal laws currently on the books have to be translated into 8th grade English. New legislation will be held to this standard as well.
Hmmmmm. We aren’t just talking “perspective.” These guys make shit up and censor the truth. Their censorship may seem subtle to the average reader, but burying the lede is blantant censorship the way these guys do it.
And when you get the the editorial page, they fabricate their own universe. How many WaPo columnists have repeated the bullshit there was no underlying crime, because:
1) Valerie Plame wasm’t covert in the legal sense.
2) Amritage, the one and only bean-spiller, didn’t work in the WH.
These guys know better, but like Goebbels they believe that if you repeat a lie enough people will believe it. But, people are starting to catch on and are believing that the fools are lying sacks of shit.
Where is everybody? Don’t tell me it is a serious work day? I wanted to say hi to Aunt Betsy and congratulate her on Cassie. What a jewel! Did I see in an earlier post that you were in the DFW area?
Christy: Do you think this is the same camp where George flew to on Thanksgiving to bring the troops the rubber chicken? I do.
(link below found thru the Froomkin article)
FORT IRWIN — President George W. Bush landed at Fort Irwin around noon, his helicopter kicking up a wave of dust as it swooped above a fake Iraqi village at this Army training center.
http://www.vvdailypress.com/on.....ticle.html
Bill Richardson is made to endure Korean anti American propaganda during his trip to recover soldiers remains.
http://www.abqtrib.com/news/20.....g-tuesday/
I guess we can expect fatuous militarist Jack Jacobs to condemn these actions and excoriate Richardson for not killing all the Koreans instead.
Because the people who pay Pizzey’s salary don’t want to admit that 1) they’re in the tanks for the GOP in general and Bush in particular, and 2) they were the biggest factor in selling the Bush/PNAC/RNC war to the American public.
This has been another edition of Simple Answers to Simple Questions.
I have to continually remind myself that
we live in a capitalistic society.
As such, decisions are made based on the Almighty dollar…
Hence, we have greed, power and economic chicanery…
Bush and the Repugs have pushed this to the
max… They have so many dirty rotten players on their despicable team…
If I don’t ding myself, I will go crazy…
Life begins on opening day in Boston, so I can loss myself today in the wonderful world of beisbol…
Jack
Here, here! I remember it well - the only thing that redeemed a perpetually soggy April. I listened to Sunday’s Rangers-Sox game while driving back from Austin. Loves me that Papi.
OT:
Jen has an update on Steve’s condition at The News Blog
Now it’s time for a long recovery, apparently.
Phoenix Woman @ 23
Amen. It’s rather surprising how many commenters here, including CHS, are talking about news coverage as if the rules of the market were functioning, or how “journalists” are promoting fluff (as if they had a say in editorial content). Content is an executive decision, sometimes a financial one, often a political one.
Think about the absurdity of saying that the Pelosi smear, for example, was done for “ratings”. The public is hungry for news about Syria? Huh?
Spine?
supine.
1.lying on the back, face or front upward.
2.inactive, passive, or inert, esp. from indolence or indifference.
Brisingamen @ 18
There would have to be a “Waxman” exception to the 90 day rule. Henry’s gonna need more than three months to bring sunshine to all of Rove’s “lurking and plotting in the shadows.”
Punaise, arbiter of all things written, is the phrase (saying?) “Here, here!” or “Hear, Hear!”? I’ve seen it both ways.
Anybody seen anything of the stem cell debate to let us know what’s going on?
Coleman’s amendment is a trojan horse…if a cell line’s not naturally viable, how can it function for research?
punaise @ 29
Punaise, you stand out.
mc @ 30
Oh, I can see funding for extraordinary circumstances. I don’t think our Founding Fathers had a year-round Congress in mind when the Constitution was written. (I can just hear John Adams now…)
Hi y’all.
this is OT - or maybe as an exception to the usual. Dna Milbank in the WaPo this a.m.:
The White House Celebrates a Very Special Day
As Iraq observed the fourth anniversary of the fall of Saddam Hussein yesterday, the lead item on the White House Web site, under the heading “LATEST NEWS,” was a photograph of Clifford the Big Red Dog at the annual Easter Egg Roll on the South Lawn.
The president marked the anniversary by going to Arizona to give a speech — about immigration. In his 24-minute address, he didn’t so much as mention Iraq. The vice president, secretary of state and secretary of defense had no public events on their schedules yesterday.
Milbank blows hot and cold, of course, but this one is pretty good. Downright snarky.
Many IMUS listeners must tune in despite the “legitimate political discussion” reportedly offered. The same way they tune in to Rush and Beck. It’s good to hear others being slimed. “Let’s all yak and yuk it up together, folks.”
Then you would have the wonderful world of the Texas Legislature that meets for 16 weeks every two years, and look at how well we function. Also, think about all the wonderful recess appointments a president could make. Nope. I want a full time responsible and responsive congress.
the fact that the initial reporting was even plausible in anyone’s mind at first read is, truly, a big part of the problem.
I thought the report rather implausible at the time, partly because I don’t ever remember being tempted to kneel on the ground at Ft. Irwin. Where the ground isn’t rock hard it can be full of all sorts of nasty things. Guess it was another case of the wrong word being used followed by people speculating.
Gnome de Plume @ 31
I’ve always assume it was a contraction of “hear ye, hear ye”
Elliott at 33: I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down
:~)
AP via NYT
I bet Joe Lieberman already got his invitation and has accepted. It’s a good article covering the Bush doublespeak.
http://www.nytimes.com/aponlin.....ref=slogin
From wiki:
tejanarusa @ 34, Dana Milbank showed last night on Countdown he is still riding on McCain’s straight talk express. Only saw fit to come up with one instance of McCain’s credibility; e.g., Baghdad equals safe haven. Sposin’ the MSM McCain groupies will be back in full force and sharing the fun McCain is having spewing his insane war propaganda.
hear Hugh, hear Hugh
Hugh @ 40
Yep — it’s the secular equivalent of “Amen, brother/sister!” or “Preach it!” from the congregation.
Shorter Brisingamen:
part-time Congresscritters with regular jobs; no lawyers allowed; 90 days sessions per year; pay docked if they go past 90 days.
Brisingamen: Can’t agree, tho’ I understand the temptation.
1-it’s the lawyers like Leahy (ex-prosecutors, in particular) who are doing the oversight so sorely needed.
There are good lawyers and bad lawyers, y’know. We really do need ‘em in Congress, IMHO.
2- the short time limit. This is basically what we have in Texas, plus the “Lege” only meets every other year.
This just means the governor is constantly having to call special sessions, which end up costing more. 90 days just isn’t enough, unfortunately, in the modern world.
I agree, the Founders did not intend year-round Congresses, but life was completely different. They worked around extremely slow travel - Boston to Philadelphia was a long distance (2 wks by horseback, IIRC, as John Adams usuallly made the trip), and life was in most ways, much more simple.
While I deplore the attitude that every tiny thing must have a law about it, we’re a very big country with complex technology and a diverse society, where the government must regulate and legislate. We’re already seeing the harm that can come from, say, a lax FDA. Not only oversight, but review of changed circumstances is going to take considerably more time in today’s world.
Sorry for the length.
Gnome de Plume @ 31
Well I don’t play Punaise either here or on TV but I will say, with some certainty, that the proper spelling is the latter, “Hear, Hear!”. IIRC it stems from debates, most recently heard in the U.K. Parliament, when listeners want to express agreement with the speaker. As in “I’m glad to hear you” or “Quiet down awreddy youse guyze, let him be heard.”
There are entire websites written by pedants (like moi) devoted to the collection of orthographic errors like this, where the errors are juuuust almost reasonable enough to have survived. Like “for all intensive purposes” ( http://tinyurl.com/397krz ) or “tow the line.” Google others of ‘em if you wanna see ‘em.
Gnome de Plume @ 37
LOL, Gnome de Plume. Here I was laboring over writing and editing a similar comment, and by the time I got done, you had posted this much more pithy version. good for you.
Sally @ 42
Aww, too bad. Well, credit where credit’s due, and spanking where spanking’s due. Haven’t seen anyone else point out the disconnect between Bush’s anniversary activities-just “straight reporting” on the immigration speech. Thx.
sorry to veer off-topic, here, christy. . .
B R E A K I N G!
rep. conyers has just subpoenaed gonzales
this morning! easy-read jpegs
here, of the cover letter — rest
of subpoena duces tecum to follow
shortly!
Hear Hear for tejanarusa @44. Personally, I want my government representatives to be professional, well-educated and well-paid fulltime representatives of the people. I don’t want to have our legislators be learning on the job because of high turnover. They have the awesome responsibility of representing us and protecting the constitution. We have the awesome responsibility to send them back every few years, or replace them if they are incompetent and/or unethical.
To make the Congress a part-time job that is term limited would be detrimental to our society. We would get less accomplished, and those who would be willing to do the job would likely be motivated even more by special interests than by serving our nation and representing we, the people.
subpoena issued for evaluations of all 93 USAs. per msnbc.
YES!!!!!!!!!
I told ya we could count on Conyers to be bold. He is careful and meticulous, but he also is not one who is gonna take a lot of BS. Good on him.
nolo @ 49
Off topic?
This IS the topic. Well done.
ccmask @ 22
FROM THE ABOVE ARTICLE:
Yeah, this is the same kinda “denigrate the reporter to remind everybody who’s the alpha dog” stuff we were talking about on the David Gregory thread. Mr. President, you are SUCH a caution!
S’funny how the only jokes he can ever come up with are always at the expense of others. Don’t know about you, but although I can take a ribbing as well as anybody (and I grew up in a family of ribbers) I still don’t think I’d wanna sit down and have a beer with this guy.
On occasion I try to watch an episode of the evening network news. The line between the amount of time devoted to commercials and news is now drawn just about down the middle. Commercials are more likely to be honest and forthright with all of the fast talk and fine print in legal speak at the end of pharmaceutical ads.
Maybe the actual news segments should include that sort of caveat at the end of war segments. Warning: war is likely to cause a lot of suffering, pain all over and death for all involved. This is real people.
I find Olbermans show most telling. His viewers are not interested in the second half of his show for the most part and he isn’t either..but producers etc. insist on slamming the Anna Nicole crap of the day down our television pipes for half an hour..
If they really wanted more viewers they would change that, imo.
Thanks for maintaining the vigil, Christy!
OldCoastie @ 15
The jellyfish at the Monterey Bay Aquarium are unbelievably beautiful. Falling into the water with them sounds almost as scary as the toothpick fish, mentioned in passing by that guy who just swam down the Amazon. Ouch!
McCain
several of my regulars (recovering Texas republicans) have developed man crushes on St Straighttalk-
2 weeks ago, I asked 4 of them to visit these two sites and get back to me
3 of them got back to me late last week - collectively they were
surprisedshocked to see the voting record vs TradMed Maverick Personna and are presently looking for another candidatetra la la la la
the real mccain
McCain Voting Record
tejanarusa @ 45
S’OK. Couldn’t have said it better. Well, actually, I might have, but I’d have had to think about it for a long while.
It’s also quite clear that the 109th Congress, which seemed to prefer four-day work weeks with lots of breaks here and there, wasn’t around long enough to do the nation’s business, let alone the things they wanted to accomplish.
egregious @ 53
Off topic?
This IS the topic. Well done.
Say it like the Kool-Aid man: Oh, YEAH!
When KO was here he said when they do the fluff the ratings spike, unfortunatly
Waiting for the Gonzales hearing feels a lot like waiting for the Libby verdict..sighs…
egregious @
53
Wow. He’s asking for everything. This is going to go to court.
cbl - good on you! I have no idea how the media have managed to sell the notion that McCain is a “straight talker”, a “maverick”, or a “moderate”. He’s a man with a distinguished war record we should honor - and a weasel for exploiting our men and women overseas when he knows better. (Ok, weasel is the nicest censored word I could come up with). He is a hard nosed conservative, also a panderer and most definitely a hot tempered prick.
BTW, with your “tra la la la la”, were you by chance channeling the Red Elvises?
punaise @ 39
AWWWWW!!! Thank you, I love this! On of my very, very fave Elvis Costello songs; also my theme song.
Elliott at 33: I Can’t Stand Up for Falling Down
:~)
thank you for the delightful interlude !
White House briefing with Dana Perino on CSPAN 1. She’s spewing out strawmen left and right.
egregious @ 53
okay — the subpoena is up!
trying to end the bolding.
[Modnote: Good move nolo. Refresh, all will be well]
Cozumel, Interesting… Guess I need to quit recording it on my tivo..and be sure and turn it off thirty minutes into the show…)
1,482 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ ON AND ON AND..
Firepup Patriots:
HEY THEY COME NOW…KEEP YER HEAD DOWN!!
Conyers has just subpoenaed the fuckin’ kitchen sink…the tempo just pick up in this death dance with the Whitehouse. I sure hope Conyers and the Democratic leadership have choreographed this together. It seems that impeachment and resignations are now the endgame targets for the Democrats.
KEEP THE FAITH AND PASS THE AMMUNITION, THIS ADMINISTRATION WON’T LAST THROUGH AUGUST!!!
It won’t let me cut and paste, but the second page of the Conyer’s letter tracks the language of the new Fedral e- discovery rules.
He is thinking in terms of admissable evidence folks!
Eureka Springs @ 69
I’ve noticed over time the actual news has gone from just the first 15 minutes to about the first 30 minutes ; )
nolo @ 67
did anyone else feel the earthshake?!
The subpoena is for documents, not Gonzales himself.
Great news on the subpoena. They can’t stall this one. Out of popcorn. Must run to the store.
To me it seems like most cable tv reporters are either already on Fox News or are on-air auditioning for Fox News. This causes a particular spin since Fox viewers only accept a spun version of events. If that version is not presented, they will not watch. Naked truth is not acceptable.
Perino’s briefing today is a work of art, a real exploration of surrealism. Goebbels would be proud.
And the deadline for the documents is the 16th, next week. Go, Conyers!
TPM has a post up on the USAs who are also working at main DOJ. Apparently there’s a provision (another one!) in the revision of the unpatriotic act that makes it okay.
Also they have a post up about Bush wanting the Dems to come to the WH to ‘negotiate’ the supplemental funding. The general opinion of the commenters is that they should not show up, since all they’ll get from the Preznit is a finger.
TheOtherWA @ 74
They’ll still fight him tooth and nail for the documents or try to give him crap over it.
aliasofwestgate @ 80
Gonzo will soon resign. The document subpoena will live on.
Patriot Act provision also stripped residency requirements (this was an avenue for investigation in Phoenix Woman’s post on Paulose)
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.c.....013541.php
An Idea based on the Libby trial - Bloggers in WH Press Corps
I came across this great idea in a post at MyDD White House Correspondent. Dreaming Big? - my thought it would be exciting and maybe even affect the culture in DC. It is about getting a seat in the WH press corps. I like the idea of rotating blogger reporters. The Libby trial showed us that bloggers can have a lot of credibility. I have no connections nor any idea of how to make this work. The diarist gave some good ideas. I lurk here often, but got excited about this and wanted to share. I do think it is an idea whose time has come and the folks at FDL or HuffPost or others may want to look at it and see if making it work is a possibility. Any thoughts?
Weird - I don’t see anything about the subpoenas posted at Conyers’ site, nor on TPM. Conyers’ website indicates he in Louisiana this morning:
link from the US House Committee on Judiciary & Oversight
Elliott @ 65
thank you for the delightful interlude !
I mean this to say “Thank you punaise!”
Please don’t resign before the 17th! You still have to appear before the senate committee and explain yourself. *chuckle, chuckle*
actually other WA — the subpoena orders
alberto gonzales’ personal appearance!
take a look. . .
punaise @ 39
I think “here, here” might be an expostulation (e.g., “Here, here, what is all this?”).
(Just a thought. Can’t find my 8th grade grammar book.)
1,482 DAYZ AND THE KILLIN’ GOEZ AND ON AND..
Citizen Hardin Smith and the Firepup Patriots:
Now do I hear any clarion tones of optimism from those who have professed fealty to and confidence in our justice system…it seems the Norske was right all along, the immediate future of our constitutional government rests on the votes of Mr. Justice Kennedy.
This is gunna be a constitutional mess to rival Hiroshima the day after…
KEEP THE FAITH, THE SHIT HAS NOW ENCOUNTERED THE FAN!!
New CHS Goodness above!
CNN just added this to their website banner, and just now are reporting on TV.
They say the subpoena was served to Gonzo for documents.
Damn,
I just read the subpeona through and it is limited to the “fired Attorneys” we already know about.
On the brighter side, since it calls for unredacted documents, we may get some answers to our questions about who was on the hit list but dodged the bullet and why.
Badwater @ 81
They’ll still fight him tooth and nail for the documents or try to give him crap over it.
Gonzo will soon resign. The document subpoena will live on.
Let the CONSTITUTIONAL CRISIS begin!
New thread.
Breaking: Rep. Conyers Issues Subpoena Duces Tecum for DoJ Docs
nolo, I looked at the pdf. On page 4 are two options to check, “to testify” or “to produce things identified” The only check is on “to produce things identified”.
Fresh thread, on the Conyers subpoena duces tecum, up and running.
Gonzo’s becoming quite the weight hanging from the neck of this administration, methinks he’ll be gone by week’s end. Given the shit that’s hitting the fan this week (and it’s only Tuesday!), wouldn’t the Bushies rather have an ex-administration official testifying in Congress next week?
Assuming there’s no one lined up to take his place, perhaps Abu doesn’t have permission to resign yet.
A loyal Bushie to the end.
there, there, Abu - it’ll be all right….
S.O.S. from MA @ 46
I surmise, you’d elide? :~)
I find the attitude of major media somewhat analogous to the music industry. They are so convinced that they know what’s best for everyone else that they can’t see the forest through their own greed.
landofthefree @ 84
IANAL - but my look at the USA/NOLA office makes me suspicious. Course, Katrina’s waves could be the ‘culprit’.
Recent activity:
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/lae/press/index.html
Thanks Christy. This is grinding my favorite wheel about the electronic press…what I’ve observed in the corporate world in general and the press specifically over the last decade—and it keeps getting worse—is a fear of screwing up the revenue for this quarter and this year. Whatever you can do to keep things even and not rock the boat, so your numbers don’t take a hit in the next reporting period, is good. Anything that causes—or threatens—potential negative consequences for this quarter’s revenue is bad. So producers and executives push (or direct) that everyone walk that nice neutral middle ground…which, in our world today, is right of center. It’s the *safe* position for these people and their business.
It’s all about selling cars and loans and household goods. It’s not about informing the public and holding our country to a high standard of fairness and honesty and civil rights. Sales first; information second.
Man, this having to work for a living really crimps my blogging style. EPU’ed again. Sigh.
marksb @
103
well, usually you figure you’re safe posting in the #100 range…