Wednesday, May 18, 2005
The REAL Cost Of Newsweek's Hubris
The conditions that led to this latest mess have two very real, and unfortunate costs. The first leads to the second.
The first is a huge gap between the media and the American public growing larger with every event like this. Blogging is, in large part, about knocking down the MSM, but we need them, at least for now. News and information is important to the functioning of our democracy, and this technology is just not yet pervasive enough to give information to the average joe out there. This is a great medium for the news junkies, but it is just not there yet for anyone else.
This gap grows because they are not about reporting, they have become about crusading. Best of the Web yesterday looked at this quite well, as did I to a small extent. I love this quote from Taranto
I am put in mind that during WWII it was standard practice for journalists to withhold information from the public if that information put American soldiers at risk, even a little risk. Because of the mindset Taranto describes, American GI's have died -- and other American GI's are more than a little upset about it. Here is what some of my faves have to say -- Dadmanly -- Major K -- Ma Duece Gunner.
A week or so ago, I found myself defending our military against some shots from a cartoonist. I wrote this in that post
Newsweek should pay a price -- a very dear price. For God's sake, cancel your subscription. A friend of ours has given us a subscription for years. Some months back we started throwing it away without bringing it in because we could not bear to read it. Now I am going to call my friends and risk insulting them because I do not want those people to get any money on my behalf. I do not know if there are legal ramifications here, but we need to do whatever we can to make them pay. Please join.
The first is a huge gap between the media and the American public growing larger with every event like this. Blogging is, in large part, about knocking down the MSM, but we need them, at least for now. News and information is important to the functioning of our democracy, and this technology is just not yet pervasive enough to give information to the average joe out there. This is a great medium for the news junkies, but it is just not there yet for anyone else.
This gap grows because they are not about reporting, they have become about crusading. Best of the Web yesterday looked at this quite well, as did I to a small extent. I love this quote from Taranto
It's not just that the media are biased against conservatives and Republicans, though they certainly are. It is that they see every war as another Vietnam and every supposed scandal as another Watergate--at least when Republicans are in the White House, which they usually are.Paul Krugman's Monday colum in the NYTimes is proof positive of that thesis.
The obsession with Vietnam and Watergate is central to the alienation between the press and the people. After all, these were triumphs for the crusading press but tragedies for America. And the press's quest for more such triumphs--futile, so far, after more than 30 years--is what is behind the scandals at both Newsweek and CBS.
At this point, the echoes of Vietnam are unmistakable.In your dreams Paul! These leads me to my second cost.
I am put in mind that during WWII it was standard practice for journalists to withhold information from the public if that information put American soldiers at risk, even a little risk. Because of the mindset Taranto describes, American GI's have died -- and other American GI's are more than a little upset about it. Here is what some of my faves have to say -- Dadmanly -- Major K -- Ma Duece Gunner.
A week or so ago, I found myself defending our military against some shots from a cartoonist. I wrote this in that post
It sickens me that Dadmanly and Mustang have to defend themselves against this kind of stuff. They have people with IED's and AK47's to worry about. They should not have to worry about shots coming from back home.When I wrote that I thought I was writing about rhetorical "shots." I honestly thought that as biased as the MSM is they would stop short on genuinely endangering American lives. Now I have been proven wrong, and what is so much worse is that it was because they failed to withhold information, it was because they reported a falsehood.
Newsweek should pay a price -- a very dear price. For God's sake, cancel your subscription. A friend of ours has given us a subscription for years. Some months back we started throwing it away without bringing it in because we could not bear to read it. Now I am going to call my friends and risk insulting them because I do not want those people to get any money on my behalf. I do not know if there are legal ramifications here, but we need to do whatever we can to make them pay. Please join.
