Posts tagged “journalism”
I support Wikileaks, though quietly, out of genuine fear of reprisal. That fear itself is damning. The cables and war diaries served real public interest, were handled responsibly, and the US government's heavy-handed response has done far more damage to America's reputation than the leaks themselves ever could.
Citizen journalists are self-serving? So are professional journalists. This keeps "surprising" old media types, but everything that happens in real life happens online too. The conflict of interest Carr is clutching his pearls about has always existed. His byline gives him away.
The Daily Express ran a shameful hit piece on Dunblane survivors, trawling their Facebook profiles for ordinary teenage behavior to portray them as louts, without speaking to any of them. Lazy, disgraceful journalism that exploits trauma victims twice over. The paper owes them an apology.
Blogs have made journalism obsolete. Reporters were just middlemen connecting chatty experts to curious readers. Now experts blog directly, readers find them via search, and knowledgeable bystanders synthesize the conversation. Newspapers will die, but reporting will improve. Targeted advertising means better returns on smaller budgets, enabling niche businesses to thrive.
Fake Steve Jobs eviscerates a CNET columnist for lazy Dell analysis. Hilarious and mostly right, though CNET isn't doomed so much as permanently mediocre. Hard to blame their journalistic standards when they never really had any.
The BBC seems to be reporting oil price milestones at every round number — though $94 appears to have been quietly skipped.
For a brief moment during Katrina, American media actually did its job. Now CNN is running feel-good stories about white survivors while thousands of poor black people are dead. New Orleans is 63% black. The media's return to form makes me sick.
Journalists are now covering bloggers and becoming bloggers themselves. That's because journalists and bloggers are the same thing: writers. Blogging isn't journalism, but sometimes bloggers produce journalism, and sometimes journalists don't. Blogs have simply lowered the barrier to publishing. Being published is no longer special.
Kottke is going full-time blogger, which raises questions about what blogging even is. My take: it's the amateur/professional distinction, not fact-checking standards. More selfishly, if people are paying for blogs now, maybe I can get in on that.
Quick trivia: the three original estates were clergy, nobility, and commoners. The press became the fourth estate in 1837. I'd never heard any of these terms before, and now I'm sharing them with you, ironically helping to kill journalism in the process.
I'm the Grammar Fuhrer, apparently. Also, another journalist just discovered blogs exist. Their careers are doomed.
The Hutton report was a complete whitewash. Both sides clearly shared blame, yet the conclusions absolved the government entirely. The BBC lost two top executives over what amounts to a journalistic error, while the government faced zero consequences. This threatens BBC independence and leaves me furious.
The Kobe Bryant rape case has American media debating whether to publish his accuser's name and photo. A tabloid went all in, sparking the usual arguments. One editor asks why the accused gets destroyed while the accuser gets a "journalistic burka." No easy answers. Also, got busted blogging at work. Hi, Simon!
Launched dual-cam StalkerVision. Also: the BBC's undercover racism exposé in the police is a ratings grab but solid journalism. Shocked a cop admired Hitler, though it's just the tip of a deeper national racism problem. Could any British institution survive this kind of scrutiny?
A BBC reporter spent 7 months secretly embedded in the Greater Manchester Police, completing full training and covertly filming colleagues daily. His report airs tonight claiming overwhelming evidence of institutional racism. This is going to be a hell of a story.
Reason magazine rocks. Journalistic intelligence in its purest form.
