People here in the United States are so starved for good journalism that when Helen Thomas yesterday pressed White House press secretary Dana Perino about the President’s now admitted approval of torture, people started sending her flowers. How bizarre is that? A journalist goes and does her job and people across the country swoon.
Of course, all the other journalists will tell you that they’re just giving us Americans what they want. I believe that’s what Charlie Gibson and George Stephanopoulos said last week, after hosting their absolutely horrendous Democratic debate on ABC. Instead of talking about economic policy, the mortgage crisis, international relations and healthcare, they took the opportunity to grill the candidates on trivial bullshit like the decisions they’ve made about whether or not to wear American flag pins. This, I guess, is what they think we Americans are going to base our votes on… And maybe we are. Maybe, this far into the campaign, that’s all that’s left.
So, how do you account for the sorry state of the press these days? Has the quest for advertising revenues driven the industry into the toilet, or is it just as Olbermann said on Letterman last night, that most people in the press aren’t that smart?
When I hear about people sending flowers and chocolates to Helen Thomas, though, I’m encouraged. The same goes for the people out there on the street protesting ABC and the way they handled the debate. They may not speak for the majority, but at least there’s a subset of Americans that are mad as hell, and not willing to take it anymore. Here’s hoping they don’t give up.
11 Comments
OK, so I lied before when I said that I wouldn’t be blogging tonight… I’m an addict.
Press …. there IS no press here … not in Ypsilanti … you mean MLive … you mean the A2 Advertising Wad that I have delivered every day … press … humpf! Ask me again, I’m too sleepy to debate this one at the moment. The reporters I know and have met work very hard, but it’s too damn bad they don’t work for real newspapers. Most of the stories are newswire releases which I get off of the net (Rupert’s little Dow gazette and others.) Truthfully, after a quick scan, I use the A2 news to light my bar-b-que … much better than the NYT. G’night.
Thank god there are still real journalists like Jordan Miller around…
Amen. That debate was complete bullshit.
Ubu,
I don’t mind you being an asshole to me, but it kind of pisses me off when you go after someone like Jordan who’s just doing her job… It kind of makes you look like a prick.
For those of you who don’t know, Ubu’s pissed that Jordan, an Ypsi correspondent for the Ann Arbor News, has written about me and my various projects in the past. You see, he feels as though I get more than my share of coverage, and he holds Jordan somehow responsible.
The bottom line is that he’s pissed the Shadow Art Fair gets more coverage than his shop in Ann Arbor and the various book fairs he’s involved in. He’s complained to me about it many times. And, personally, I can take it. I can take him hating me. I don’t like him taking it out on Jordan, though. Her job is to cover things taking place in the Ypsi community. She couldn’t very well not mention the Shadow Art Fair, which is one of the larger, more interesting things to take place.
So, Ubu, stop being a prick. If you have a problem with the News not covering your shop, write them a letter. Don’t attack some whose job it is to cover Ypsi. If she weren’t covering the SAF, it’s not like she’d be in Ann Arbor covering your store.
-Mark
Sorry, Mark, I guess I thought there were things going on in Ypsi that didn’t include you or your family…if you actually read my blog or the Ann Arbor News on a regular basis you might have a better clue as to what I’m thinking… but what really saddens me is that you think I hate you…I can not help giving you a hard time…it is just that you are just SO cute when you get mad!
Why don’t you two just get a room.
Yes, prick and asshole DO seem to go together in Mark’s lexicon…
Sit, Ubu, sit.
(I’m sure that’s an old one)
Shit, Ubu, Shit.
I heard the ratings for George Stephanopoulos’s Sunday morning show tanked after this debate. “This Week” has sucked ever since David Brinkley left. I’m surprised it took everyone this long to figure that out.