I grew up watching Walter Cronkite on the news. He was trusted in our house like he was in millions of others. His sad passing highlights the long ago passing of responsible and unbiased broadcast news, as well as print news.
It prompted me this evening to put my DVD of "good night and good luck" into the machine and watch it. Anyone who has not seen this film, should, and soon. It starts with the first few lines of his speech at the RTNDA Convention in 1958. The speech can be found here - http://www.turnoffyourtv.com/commentary/hiddenagenda/murrow.html
The movie itself is relevant to politics and so called journalism today. Murrow, Friendly and their team took on McCarthy, the Air Force and, by extension, the U.S. Government. They stood up for a principle when it would had been much easier to go with the flow, look away and ignore what was happening. They risked their livelihoods and futures.
From what I remember and what his contemporaries and those who came after say, Walter Cronkite reported with an even hand and with great integrity.
Was this the passing of an age? I regret that I believe so. One only need look at the stories that are reported first and the biggest headlines these days. Michael Jackson's death pushed the turmoil in Iran completely off the front page. The plight of his children are the headlines over health care in this country. A sensational celebrity antic is more important than American service men and women in harm's way in Iraq and Afghanistan. Headline grabber at all costs, Sarah Palin, decides to quit part way through her term takes more, much more, time and space than ANYTHING else.
Yes, yellow journalism has always existed. The very sad thing is that yellow journalism is the mainstream now, and can be found in the one time standard bearers of print and broadcast news. And, one doesn't need to look inside or at minute 23. It is front page and story number one. Even sadder is that the populace in general seem to love it, even prefer it. What hope have we?
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Monday, July 6, 2009
The Attention Span of a Nation
Apparently it's about 15 minutes. Just two weeks ago, we were enthralled with the attempts of the people of Iran to hold a democratic election and then demand that the votes be counted with honesty and the true results to stand. We cheered the protesters in their brave efforts and willingness to put themselves in harms way for their country.
Last week, thousands of U.S. Marines went on the offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan. We waited in hope that no more of our young servicemen would be lost.
Farrah Fawcett, after a courageous battle with cancer passed away. The so-called journalists that grace our televisions nightly, and daily, on 20-20, Dateline, the Today Show, and all the others, clamoured to put out their video obituaries and interview the family, friends, doctors, maids, and anyone who claimed to have an association with Ms. Fawcett for their respective shows. All so tastefully done. NOT!
But before that day was out, Michael Jackson died. Suddenly, we forgot the Iranian protesters and the election. We forgot the U.S. Marines putting their lives on the line half a world away. We forgot the economy and the misery of hundreds of thousands more people losing their jobs.
Hours and hours and hours and hours of coverage. One news organization after another reporting "sources" saying Jackson was dead. Truth be told, it looked to me that TMZ broke the news, but all the other services were just reporting off that. And, we all know, if one says "sources', even if if it is only ABC, CBS, NBC, AP, and all the others are just quoting each other, it's being truthful. Why bother confirming if you can get away with pointing the finger at someone else's bad reporting?
After that, it went downhill, and fast. It actually hit bottom in the first hour. I won't go into details. If you didn't see it, you're lucky. I have ended up putting in DVDs to avoid the all channel, all day, all night coverage. I can watch the same clips, same interviews, same simpering sycophants only once before I feel nauseous. No rumor has been too salacious. No talking head too over-exposed or insincere. No hanger-on, or hanger-on wanna-be, too low or improbable to put on camera. Just add the disclaimers "sources say" or "unconfirmed" and we're good to go.
The feeding frenzy was, and still is, utterly base and nauseating. Cover it, yes. Michael Jackson was a truly amazing man. He was talented and influenced more than one generation. He will be missed and should be mourned. What is going on, however, is making a mockery of his sad passing. It is not mourning. It is not paying respect to a giant of the music industry. It is gross in the extreme. It is digging through trash and fighting over what is in the bottom of the can.
It is sad for our nation.
BTW, Sarah Palin resigned because she was pissed at being out of the spotlight. Hey, now she's there again. She's used up her 15 minutes way too may times. I hope this is the last.
Last week, thousands of U.S. Marines went on the offensive against the Taliban in Afghanistan. We waited in hope that no more of our young servicemen would be lost.
Farrah Fawcett, after a courageous battle with cancer passed away. The so-called journalists that grace our televisions nightly, and daily, on 20-20, Dateline, the Today Show, and all the others, clamoured to put out their video obituaries and interview the family, friends, doctors, maids, and anyone who claimed to have an association with Ms. Fawcett for their respective shows. All so tastefully done. NOT!
But before that day was out, Michael Jackson died. Suddenly, we forgot the Iranian protesters and the election. We forgot the U.S. Marines putting their lives on the line half a world away. We forgot the economy and the misery of hundreds of thousands more people losing their jobs.
Hours and hours and hours and hours of coverage. One news organization after another reporting "sources" saying Jackson was dead. Truth be told, it looked to me that TMZ broke the news, but all the other services were just reporting off that. And, we all know, if one says "sources', even if if it is only ABC, CBS, NBC, AP, and all the others are just quoting each other, it's being truthful. Why bother confirming if you can get away with pointing the finger at someone else's bad reporting?
After that, it went downhill, and fast. It actually hit bottom in the first hour. I won't go into details. If you didn't see it, you're lucky. I have ended up putting in DVDs to avoid the all channel, all day, all night coverage. I can watch the same clips, same interviews, same simpering sycophants only once before I feel nauseous. No rumor has been too salacious. No talking head too over-exposed or insincere. No hanger-on, or hanger-on wanna-be, too low or improbable to put on camera. Just add the disclaimers "sources say" or "unconfirmed" and we're good to go.
The feeding frenzy was, and still is, utterly base and nauseating. Cover it, yes. Michael Jackson was a truly amazing man. He was talented and influenced more than one generation. He will be missed and should be mourned. What is going on, however, is making a mockery of his sad passing. It is not mourning. It is not paying respect to a giant of the music industry. It is gross in the extreme. It is digging through trash and fighting over what is in the bottom of the can.
It is sad for our nation.
BTW, Sarah Palin resigned because she was pissed at being out of the spotlight. Hey, now she's there again. She's used up her 15 minutes way too may times. I hope this is the last.
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