Josh Marshall chimes in on the "liberal media" myth, specifically with regard to Deborah Howell, the Washington Post Ombudsman who bungled, in spectacular fashion, the issue regarding Jack Abramoff and contributions to Democrats.
For those of you not keeping up, Abramoff gave zero, zilch, nada to Democrats. His client organizations did, but the ratio was about 70/30 Rebuplican/Democrat. I keep remembering that line from "A Few Good Men" where Kevin Bacon tells the awful tale of the two marines assaulting the third marine, and he ends with, "These are the facts, and they are undisputed."
Anyway, Josh certainly has a better look than me, but he draws a similar conclusion with regard to why political reporting (and social issue reporting as well) is such a mess. Reporters (and editors and publishers who need to sell advertising) are scared to death of the right wing noise machine that attacks for bias regardless of the facts. They are loud, they lack shame, they are tireless, and, relatively speaking, there are a lot of them.
It's how we end up with (my construction here, but it demonstrates the point) stories that read like:
Senators of both parties charged in Criminal Behavior
(IP) Republican Senator Kit Santorurm (R, PA MO) was charged today with 27counts of murder in a shooting rampage that left 27 protesters, representing animal welfare and gay rights groups, dead and 35 more wounded. Several Democratic Senators, including Minority Leader Harry Durbin (D, NV IL) have also been implicated in criminal activity.
What they don't report, of course, is that Harry Durbin shoplifted a pack of gum in college 34 years ago, or it's buried so far down in the story that nobody gets it. You get a clear case of Republican criminality (or ethical lapses or just bad behavior) and they comb the archives looking for a"but the Democrats do it to" angle.
Beyond being bad reporting, it's practically criminal.
For those of you not keeping up, Abramoff gave zero, zilch, nada to Democrats. His client organizations did, but the ratio was about 70/30 Rebuplican/Democrat. I keep remembering that line from "A Few Good Men" where Kevin Bacon tells the awful tale of the two marines assaulting the third marine, and he ends with, "These are the facts, and they are undisputed."
Anyway, Josh certainly has a better look than me, but he draws a similar conclusion with regard to why political reporting (and social issue reporting as well) is such a mess. Reporters (and editors and publishers who need to sell advertising) are scared to death of the right wing noise machine that attacks for bias regardless of the facts. They are loud, they lack shame, they are tireless, and, relatively speaking, there are a lot of them.
It's how we end up with (my construction here, but it demonstrates the point) stories that read like:
Senators of both parties charged in Criminal Behavior
(IP) Republican Senator Kit Santorurm (R, PA MO) was charged today with 27counts of murder in a shooting rampage that left 27 protesters, representing animal welfare and gay rights groups, dead and 35 more wounded. Several Democratic Senators, including Minority Leader Harry Durbin (D, NV IL) have also been implicated in criminal activity.
What they don't report, of course, is that Harry Durbin shoplifted a pack of gum in college 34 years ago, or it's buried so far down in the story that nobody gets it. You get a clear case of Republican criminality (or ethical lapses or just bad behavior) and they comb the archives looking for a"but the Democrats do it to" angle.
Beyond being bad reporting, it's practically criminal.
posted by John at 7:49 AM
2 Comments:
I'll read this stff over Atrios (the Hack) ANY DAY!
NICE WORK!
Everyone needs to see these guys. They are a radio(tv) internet show and are filibustering Alitos appointment. They have been up for over 29 hours and are going to stay up till Monday.Check them out what they speak is true.
young turks
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