Comments on: Bloggers vs. journalists again: Getting it right the first time

By: Lee

Lee — Thu, 31 Jul 2008 04:14:56 +0000

Ok, here’s the point that seems to be missing from this discussion – who’s doing a better job of informing their readers? All this noise about journalistic methods, and ethics and so on is just inside baseball that misses the real point – People are turning to blogs because the mass media has abandoned its role of informing the public and dedicated itself to serving the interests of the corporations and politicians who pay their salaries.

Looking back this started decades ago – I remember in the 70s it became obvious that Detroit was manufacturing crappy cars, but newspapers continue to publish car columns that tiptoe around this fact because car dealers were important advertisers.

The tobacco institute campaign against the evidence that smoking causes cancer was another example of the media failing to report the truth and instead ‘covering the controversy’ because the truth wasn’t as profitable.

But the complete abandonment of all principle didn’t become fully apparent until the clinton administration. The first real alternative that i found to that was Salon, and I’ve had a diminishing interest in corporate media since then.

By: orcmid

orcmid — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 20:28:13 +0000

My first startling realization about getting it right the first time was on having served on a felony-trial jury and reading the newspaper coverage afterwards. I could swear that I and the journalist were at different trials.

The lack of nuance, especially before the verdict, was appalling. The trial was not a biggie in the public attention, so the coverage was slim. Fair enough. The unreality wasn’t. And the ignorance of the legal/judicial system that was reflected was frightening.

By: mary hodder

mary hodder — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 12:53:22 +0000

I look forward to the day when we can stop talking about blogging verses journalism. I suspect it will come when those cute little curmudgeonly journalists stop talking smack about bloggers. Till then, ugg. Opps, I mean, i’m very happy to talk about this with people who don’t understand and have strong opinions about why we should return to the 70s.

By: Shafqat

Shafqat — Mon, 28 Jul 2008 11:05:58 +0000

What I find amusing about the journalism industry -both mainstream and bloggers – is the lack of real accountability for such gaffes (and much bigger ones as well). Some journalists/bloggers have a self-image as a profession that is never at fault. Journalists, like members of any other trade, often assume that their peers will always uphold themselves to the highest levels of integrity and ethics. As you said, this might be the exception rather than the norm.

Journalists rarely excommunicate or banish those who break ethical codes. As a lawyer, if you break the law, you cannot practice your trade. But there is not such accountability in journalism. We don’t have to take it that far — but why can’t we ensure that a journalist has a public track record?

Great thought-provoking post!