OK -- NOW I get it!
After all the saturated news coverage of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, I think I've finally figured out for myself how things really work. Mind you, this is just how it's finally settled for me and I'm sure I'll hear all about it from many of my liberal friends. Anyway, here goes:
So the MSM (MainStream Media) reports on all that nasty -- and inflammatory -- stuff that came out of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Thousands dead, roaming armed gangs, gang rapes, cannibalism and even rumors of sharks swimming in infested waters around the Gulf. It was the end of the world. Even worse, the nasty reporting with all the racist undertones in this unprecedented natural disaster came from all sides, especially from the so-called "black leadership." Unbelievable! The only guy who could be fired got fired: Michael Brown, head of FEMA got taken to task for his lack of fast response to the relief efforts. All this even as both the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisana whined openly on national television without any repercussions about losing their jobs for incompetency since they were voted in and not appointed (and they're STILL bickering!). And President Bush got slammed by the MSM for his slow response to this disaster. (Never mind that he accepted responsibility for the perceived slow response.) And on and on and on... Right?
Anyway, the dust is now settling and as it turns out, there were a lot fewer than 1,000 dead and almost none in the Superdome or the New Orleans Convention Center (surprise!). No cannibalism either... But then the media start a poll and surprise -- George Bush is at his lowest ratings in his Presidency! And of course, that becomes another story, right? I think they used to call it 'News in the Making.' And they sure are making it these days. No wonder blog news is quickly becoming more popular (and credible) these days.
So let me see now... Media pumps up and overreacts and overreports on the disaster in New Orleans. Media then slams the President and the Feds for their poor response to all these terrible things that happened. Then the media runs polls that naturally say that the people are unhappy with the President's performance. Then they run stories about it. Then the stories start coming back about how poorly reported and inflated all the bad news actually was. Any retractions? Nah. Next story...
And the MSM wonders why no one respects them any more? And they also wonder how Governator Schwarzenegger could sign that paparazzi bill in California? I honestly believe that the MSM has been the primary reason in today's society that has created an atmosphere of judging others to a higher standard than you would hold yourself. For some reason, journalists today seem to think that they are better than you or me (and everyone else -- especially politicians) and that they're privileged to be both protected and trusted for what they say. Reporters seem to forget that the public trust has to be earned every single day and cannot be violated under any circumstances. You viloate that trust just once and you should have to claw yourself back from the bottom of the pit all over again. I read today about how many of them are incredulous that the public isn't more appalled at how Judith Miller had been imprisoned for "protecting her source." (The phrase 'Stuck on Stupid' comes to mind, in her case.) We should all be outraged that this reporter had been martyred protecting our "Right to Know" and her "confidentiality" agreements. Right. I'm fed up with reporters who think they have a right to an opinion; leave that to the op/ed pages. Me, I just want straight, objective news. Stop digging for news where there isn't any more and stop creating the news when there isn't any.
So the MSM (MainStream Media) reports on all that nasty -- and inflammatory -- stuff that came out of New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina. Thousands dead, roaming armed gangs, gang rapes, cannibalism and even rumors of sharks swimming in infested waters around the Gulf. It was the end of the world. Even worse, the nasty reporting with all the racist undertones in this unprecedented natural disaster came from all sides, especially from the so-called "black leadership." Unbelievable! The only guy who could be fired got fired: Michael Brown, head of FEMA got taken to task for his lack of fast response to the relief efforts. All this even as both the Mayor of New Orleans and the Governor of Louisana whined openly on national television without any repercussions about losing their jobs for incompetency since they were voted in and not appointed (and they're STILL bickering!). And President Bush got slammed by the MSM for his slow response to this disaster. (Never mind that he accepted responsibility for the perceived slow response.) And on and on and on... Right?
Anyway, the dust is now settling and as it turns out, there were a lot fewer than 1,000 dead and almost none in the Superdome or the New Orleans Convention Center (surprise!). No cannibalism either... But then the media start a poll and surprise -- George Bush is at his lowest ratings in his Presidency! And of course, that becomes another story, right? I think they used to call it 'News in the Making.' And they sure are making it these days. No wonder blog news is quickly becoming more popular (and credible) these days.
So let me see now... Media pumps up and overreacts and overreports on the disaster in New Orleans. Media then slams the President and the Feds for their poor response to all these terrible things that happened. Then the media runs polls that naturally say that the people are unhappy with the President's performance. Then they run stories about it. Then the stories start coming back about how poorly reported and inflated all the bad news actually was. Any retractions? Nah. Next story...
And the MSM wonders why no one respects them any more? And they also wonder how Governator Schwarzenegger could sign that paparazzi bill in California? I honestly believe that the MSM has been the primary reason in today's society that has created an atmosphere of judging others to a higher standard than you would hold yourself. For some reason, journalists today seem to think that they are better than you or me (and everyone else -- especially politicians) and that they're privileged to be both protected and trusted for what they say. Reporters seem to forget that the public trust has to be earned every single day and cannot be violated under any circumstances. You viloate that trust just once and you should have to claw yourself back from the bottom of the pit all over again. I read today about how many of them are incredulous that the public isn't more appalled at how Judith Miller had been imprisoned for "protecting her source." (The phrase 'Stuck on Stupid' comes to mind, in her case.) We should all be outraged that this reporter had been martyred protecting our "Right to Know" and her "confidentiality" agreements. Right. I'm fed up with reporters who think they have a right to an opinion; leave that to the op/ed pages. Me, I just want straight, objective news. Stop digging for news where there isn't any more and stop creating the news when there isn't any.
posted by RobertinSeattle at
4:30 PM
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