In my day, if a source didnt make sense or contradicted themselves, a journalist would ask for clarification, and, if necessary, during the course of the interview and ensuing story, bring up the pitfalls of the sources statement and report on their response. This practice has since gone by the wayside. Journalists, for the most part, have become lazy. They dont question anything; merely recording what someone said; not reporting on the larger story and rarely digging any deeper. They print rumor, speculation and unfounded theories. They print one side of the story without printing both sides of the story. The result is that readers are only getting one side of the story, which is often filled with rumor and speculation. Then you have the policy changes in small town newspapers; rags that once published all local news without bias and have since become nothing more than economic development tools and marketing brochures. Cresco and Decorah, for example, dont report on most significant local crime. Cresco is flat-out against publishing local crime ... giving its less-knowledgeable public and surrounding area the impression that Cresco is a sweet, little bedroom community. Decorah publishes more significant crimes but does not report on crime itself or follow the penal process of most crimes. The overall result is a nation in which its citizens are only fed one side of every story and in which small town residents dont know all the challenges and problems plaguing their own communities. And, the result of those two combined are a strategically-and-intentionally-confused, blinded and pacified nation of citizens who have no real comprehension of what is actually going on just down the street; let alone in their state and national capitals. Alas, my long-loved profession simply isnt what it used to be. Personally, I enjoy blaming it on smoking laws, because as soon as some dickweed said journalists had to clean up their image, and smoking was no longer allowed in public places, journalistic quality and ethics went right out the window. While I know this isnt the real cause, its what I blame so I can sleep at night. I wonder how the rest of the nation sleeps ... not knowing whats happening in their own communities, in their own neighborhoods ... right next door?
Posted on: Wed, 16 Oct 2013 18:49:50 +0000
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