Credo
"Sign on, young man, and sail with me. The stature of our homeland is no more than the measure of ourselves. Our job is to keep her free. Our will is to keep the torch of freedom burning for all. To this solemn purpose we call on the young, the brave, the strong, and the free. Heed my call, Come to the sea. Come Sail with me." -- John Paul Jones
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature" --George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
"And those who were seen dancing were thought to be insane by those who could not hear the music."--Friedrich Nietzsche
"A kind Providence has placed in our breasts a hatred of the unjust and cruel, in order that we may preserve ourselves from cruelty and injustice. They who bear cruelty, are accomplices in it. The pretended gentleness which excludes that charitable rancour, produces an indifference which is half an approbation. They never will love where they ought to love, who do not hate where they ought to hate."--Edmund Burke
“You say that it is your custom to burn widows. Very well. We also have a custom: when men burn a woman alive, we tie a rope around their necks and we hang them. Build your funeral pyre; beside it, my carpenters will build a gallows. You may follow your custom. And then we will follow ours.”--General Sir Charles Napier
"Μολὼν λαβέ" -- Leonidas
"Blogito Ergo Sum" -- Neptunus Lex
So do I, So do I.
Getting journalism schools to teach journalism instead of how to push agendas will be a monumental task. Hopefully, we’ll reach a tipping point soon that will create the backlash that forces these schools to actually teach journalism.
I just hope it’s not a lost cause…
I think getting rid of adverbs is a start. Then reporters must stop using adjectives. If that doesn’t produce objectivity, verbs must go.
The journos most desperate to “make a difference” often can’t tell the difference between an indifferent fact and a hopeful fantasy. If it “feels right” it MUST be true.
Facts are boring, independent and stand on their own. Facts don’t belong to anyone.
Narratives tend to be breathless, hand-wringing waifs—always dependent “on the kindness of strangers”.
We can ignore facts and they’re still there. But a narrative ignored simply dies…if it isn’t killed quickly by changing the subject when an inconvenient fact appears.
Hard to have a complete sentence without verbs. It’s do-able without adverbs and even without adjectives. Impossible without verbs.
Just sayin’.
P-3W ~ monumental task but not impossible. I hope.
Made me think of Steven J. Hatfill and Richard Jewel. I’m sure the list is endless of the accused who have been wrongly convicted in the name of journalism.
Awkward things, those facts. They can ruin a beautiful hypothesis like anthropogenic global warming, or mercury poisoning causing autism.
The thing about facts is, that they just *are*. There’s nothing you can do about them, wth any amount of talking and handwaving.
Drinking works better, to some extent.
N.B. Drinking may also invoke talking and handwaving, if you do it with other people.
I blame Woodward and Bernstein for the current generation of “opinion shapers”. Recording history is boring. Shaping history is intoxicating. Some MSM-types are starting to wake up (with attendant throbbing head and bloodshot eyes), but I think most are still at the bar, trying to beat the last call.
Cap’n,
I submit ‘journalists’, as opposed to ‘reporters’ start off from the premise ‘They MUST be doing something wrong. I’ve just got find it.’ and then proceed to prove their faulty premise. Perhaps we should rename newspapers and broadcast news ‘Pamphleteers’ at least then people would know when something is being reported or somebody is trying to influence outcomes.
Web Reconnaissance for 08/15/2007…
A short recon of whats out there that might draw your attention, updated throughout the day…so check back often….
[...] Good commentary on regular media templates is here. [...]
I do like your phrase “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable”, and I agree, journalists like Tom Brokaw are hard to come by but, not everyone can be the best!
Nice article!
Mike
http://stupidfacts.info