Middle class in decline, in denial
Decent, informed people everywhere (not only in Occupy Wall Street) should be shouting this question: When are you suckers going to wake up? More here.
What’s a ‘word’? (VF tweaks NYT)
A new Vanity Fair piece spoofs the shockingly dopey editor’s column in the NYT that asked whether newspapers have a duty to report facts. A lot of VF readers apparently didn’t get VF‘s joke. More here.
NYT to readers: Do facts matter?
Daily newspapers subscribe to the notion of objective reporting, and newspaper editors are always eager to defend this foggy notion. Which makes it all the more curious that New York Times Public Editor Arthur Brisbane recently asked readers whether “news reporters should challenge ‘facts’ that are asserted by newsmakers they write about.”
WTF! Brisbane, whether he knew it or not, was calling attention to the facade that the mainstream media constructed long ago to guard against the charge that their main function is to defend the status quo. In doing so, he chose a good example to illustrate what’s wrong with the mainstream mindset:
…On the campaign trail, Mitt Romney often says President Obama has made speeches “apologizing for America,” a phrase to which Paul Krugman objected in a December 23 column arguing that politics has advanced to the “post-truth” stage.
As an Op-Ed columnist, Mr. Krugman clearly has the freedom to call out what he thinks is a lie. My question for readers is: should news reporters do the same..?
Note that Brisbane quickly jumps back behind the facade, ignoring the question of whether Romney’s accusation against Obama is based on fact. He says reporters have been trained to not ask this question, even if evidence exists that could answer it. However, it’s OK for a columnist to ask and even answer the question, because columnists merely state opinions. As if opinions and facts necessarily dwell in different realms.
More here.
NYT, WSJ: SEC in a ‘quandary,’ not corrupt
Matt Taibbi smacked down the SEC regarding its slap-on-the-wrist penalty against Citigroup, but so-called objective reporters seem to think the SEC is a victim! More here.
More news pollution from the toxic NYT
Frank Bruni wrote Sunday that Americans get worked up to no good end over news that isn’t really important. He and many of his colleagues are like factory workers who dump toxins into a river and then complain about all the dead fish. More here.
Who crashed the economy? NYT dodges question.
Most Americans are strongly in favor of higher taxes on the rich and many other common-sense measures that David Leonhardt’s article either doesn’t mention or carefully downplays. More here.
NYT’s Ginia B. admits protests are for real!
In her article today, Ginia Bellafante didn’t call Occupy Wall Street “pantomime progressivism” — an improvement — but it appears she’s still reluctant to acknowledge the significance of the ongoing protests…
Times reporter snickers at Wall Street protesters
Ginia Bellafante should have been fired or reassigned to work for the fashion section. Instead, I’ll bet she was high-fived by her yuppie colleagues for writing this fashionably snide article…
‘Liberal’ media, Wall Street thick as thieves
Class War Corporate Statism Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Disastrous Fuck the Poor Media Police State The New Depression The Regime Worshipping Mammon
So what would it take to compel reporters from, say, The New York Times to travel a few blocks to cover the latest phase of the class war that’s been going on in America for thirty years?
A ‘post-idea’ world? I don’t know what to make of that.
Read Neal Gabler’s essay in today’s New York Times before you jump on Facebook to tell friends what your cat had for dinner and how much you hate Mondays.
Recent Comments