Amazon.com Widgets



Sunday, September 26, 2004

Writing today about the media's trouble, David Broder tries lumping the SiftVets in with RatheerGate. Earth to Broder: The media lost credibility because of the SwiftVets, not because they paid too much attention, and not because the Vets' stories were inaccurate, but because they did everything possible to ignore the SwiftVets and pretend they didn't exist - and when they did notice them, they simply went on the attack while simultaneously demonstrating that they had absolutely no grasp of the clear substance behind the SwiftVets' feelings, as you also demonstrate.

Here is demonstrated another of the media's troubles. They just can't admit their own biases. Broder is so keyed on being even-handed that, along with the litany of issues that show the press trashing its own credibility to shill for a Kerry candidacy, he feels the need to cast about for a pro-Bush screw-up that shows balance. The problem is he has to make one up because there is no balance to be found. The MSM's problem continues to be its own inability to look itself in the face and admit that its own bias (or agenda if you prefer) is the real root of the problem. Until that happens, there will be no change.

Broder also gets the internet wrong, as well, casting the entry of internet "journalists" (his scare-quotes) as part of the problem, rather than part of the solution as they were in this case.

The Media, Losing Their Way (washingtonpost.com)

...In a year when war in Iraq, the threat of terrorism and looming problems with the federal budget and the nation's health care system cry out for serious debate, the news organizations on which people should be able to depend have been diverted into chasing sham events: a scurrilous and largely inaccurate attack on the Vietnam service of John Kerry and a forged document charging President Bush with disobeying an order for an Air National Guard physical...

... When the Internet opened the door to scores of "journalists" who had no allegiance at all to the skeptical and self-disciplined ethic of professional news gathering, the bars were already down in many old-line media organizations. That is how it happened that old pros such as Dan Rather and former New York Times editor Howell Raines got caught up in this fevered atmosphere and let their standards slip.

Time was when any outfit such as Swift Boat Veterans for Truth that came around peddling an ad with implausible charges would have run into a hard-nosed reporter whose first questions -- before he or she ran with the story -- would have been, "Who the hell are you guys? What's your angle? What's your proof?"...

Update: Beldar has a challenge: "Can you identify even one specific and material SwiftVets allegation that you believe to have been fully "debunked" or fully proven to be "unsubstantiated"?"

Listed below are links to blogs that reference this entry: Broder still doesn't get the problem.

TrackBack URL for this entry: http://www.solomonia.com/cgi-bin/mt4/mt-renamedtb.cgi/3180



Leave a comment to: Broder still doesn't get the problem





(Requires you leave a comment.)


Subscribe to This Thread Without Leaving a Comment


Comment Info and Policy:

1) You must have Javascript enabled in your browser in order to comment (blame the spammers). If you don't know what that is, you're probably fine.

2) HTML is on, so basic html should work. Raw links will be made auto-clickable, too, so even if you don't know html you can just paste in the link and it should work fine. Keep the "http://" in it.

3) Comments are generally unmoderated, which means I don't necessarily agree with the tone and tenor of everything posted. In fact, sometimes people post things they don't really mean just to make other people look bad. The internet is an anonymous place for the most part. That said...

4) I welcome you to post here. I'd love to have your input, agree, disagree or just offer a different data point, really. If I didn't want any participation, I'd turn off comments. Be aware, however, that this blog and the comments section exist for my entertainment. Therefore, I reserve ALL RIGHTS here, including the right to remove any or all comments on nothing more than a whim. Please don't even bother complaining. I'm the one providing the space and the free news and thought buffet. I don't owe anyone anything.

Anyone who posts here will be treated as my guest. That means I'm happy to be polite as a default, but if anyone is rude to the host they'll be unceremoniously shown the door.

It may pay to recall a famous line from the Tom Selleck magnum opus, Mr. Baseball: "Jack-san, you want Yoji's advice about the babes, you come to Yoji with respect."

5) Enjoy your stay!

"What looked like secularization was merely a veneer laid over a society that had been proudly Muslim for over a millenium. Moreover, the ostensible engine of Arab modernization -- Arab nationalism -- was little more than an elevated tribal covenant."

-Lee Smith, The Strong Horse: Power, Politics, and the Clash of Arab Civilizations, p.44


Links



Blogroll Me!

:Blogs:
Adam Holland
Adloyada
Agam's Gecko
Amy Ridenour
Armies of Liberation
Astute Blogger
Backseat Blogger
Backspin
Bagel Blogger
Bald-Headed Geek
Blazing Cat Fur
BlueTruth
Boker tov, Boulder
Bosch Fawstin
Breath of the Beast
Cinnamon Stillwell
Classical Values
Combs Spouts Off
Coming Anarchy
Conservative Grapevine
Conservative Oasis Contentions
Contentious Centrist
Cox & Forkum
Creeping Sharia
Dancing with Dogs
DANEgerus
Dave Bender
Davids Medienkritik
Dean Esmay
Defending Crusader
Democracy Project
Dodgeblogium
Dreams Into Lightning
Dutchblog Israel
Exit Zero
FresnoZionism
Ghost of a Flea
GM's Place
The God Blog
Hyscience
In Context
Iraq the Model
Israpundit
Israellycool
Israel Matzav
J Street Jive
Jerusalem Diaries
Jerusalem Posts
JIDF
JPundit
Kesher Talk
Legal Insurrection
Marathon Pundit
The Marmot's Hole
Martin Kramer
Matthew K. Tabor
Mere Rhetoric
Michelle Malkin
Mick Hartley
Mind of Mog
My Machberet
My Wide Blue Seas
Never Yet Melted
Normblog
Omnia21
One Jerusalem
Paula Says
Philosemitism
Point of no Return
PoliGazette
Political inSecurity
Random Thoughts
Ranting Sandmonkey
Red Planet Cartoons
Right Wing News
Rishon Rishon
Roger L. Simon
Seraphic Secret
Shawarma Mayor
Shekel
Shining City
Shira bat Sarah
ShrinkWrapped
Simply Jews
Smooth Stone
Snapshots
Soccer Dad
A Soldier's Mother
Solomon's House
Something Something
Somewhere on A1A
Stand for Israel
The Survivalist Blog
Tel Chai Nation
Texican Tattler
Themistocles' Shade
This Ain't Hell
TigerHawk
Tikkun Olam
Tom Glennon
Tools of Renewal
Tundra Tabloids
UCC Truths
The View From Here
View From Iran
The World
Yid With Lid
Yourish
Z-Word

:New England Blogs:
Alphecca
And Rightly So
Augean Stables
Bebere
Bloodthirsty Liberal
Boston Maggie
Boston's Patriots
Business of Life
Daniel in Brookline
Hub Blog
Hub Politics
Internet128
JRTelegraph
Jules Crittenden
Kavanna
Libertarian Leanings
Maggie's Farm
Miss Kelly
N.E. Conservative
N.E. Republican
Neo-Neocon
New Wineskins
Petitedov
Pundit Review
Red Mass Group
Shawmut
Sippican Cottage
sisu
Squaring the Globe
Technicalities
Universal Hub
Weekend Pundit
Who Knew?




Blogroll Policy



If You Enjoy This Site
Paypal Donate

Amazon Purchase
(Buy yourself something with this link and I will get a percentage.)

My Amazon Wish List

Worth a Click

CJUI

APT

Graphics

Remember

Solomonia Button

Smaller Button

Smallest Button

Note on Permissions:
You may feel free to use anything you find on this site as long as you're not selling it. Just give credit where credit is due is all. Thanks for stopping by!

Site (C)2003-2009 Solomonia.com

This site will not display properly at screen resolutions of less than 1024px wide.

Solomonia Store


Search


Archives
Recommended

Authors

Solomon
Martin Solomon

MaryM
Mary Madigan

HillelS
Hillel Stavis

Binah
Binah

Jon Haber
Jon Haber

Sophia
Sophia

Opinions expressed are those of the individual. No one speaks for any organization unless expressly stated.

Subscribe
Enter your Email for a Daily Digest of New Posts


Preview | Powered by FeedBlitz
(Be sure to whitelist feedblitz@mail.feedblitz.com if you aren't receiving updates.)


Follow me on Twitter

Solomonia


rdf
rss2
atom

 Subscribe in a reader

Games

Now Reading

Library Thing
Banner

Quality Diamond Crosses