I can't work out why CNN is so boring

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by Gatekeeper

I'm not saying journalism is perfect — how can anything be whose origins rest with humans? But what cannot be denied is that journalists are often used as punching bags by those who have real agendas and, more often than not, they simply absorb the blows without complaint because, if they did complain, it'd "prove" this or that about so and so "biases."

[Tingkai]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
What I want is for them to have some balls and do what they promised, "Aflict the comforatable and comfort the afflicted."

You're under the mistaken impression that the media is homogeneous. It is not.

Some newspapers have the resources to do a good job, others do not. Some sections of a newspaper are hard-hitting while in the same newspaper there will be fluff like travel pieces or property stories.

There are still many journalists with the determination to tackle difficult stories.

Could the media do a better job? Yes, and that's true in every country.

And by the by, the bit about afflicting the comfortable was never a promise.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by Alexander's Horse
Not me - I'm just bored by the CNN coverage

Heh. Thank goodness for books, exercise, computers and The History Channel's Roman Empire week.

Gatekeeper

[My Wife Hates CIV]

'I can't work out why CNN is so boring '

hmmm... they are not as colorful as cartoons you spend most of the day watching?? just a guess.

[Gatekeeper]

Originally posted by chegitz guevara
Let's put it this way. With your "professionalism" these days, there's no way Woodward and Berstein would be allowed to uncover Watergate. The 70s were a golden age for journalism, but once it became "profesionalized" it started going downhill.

I'm calling that what it is: Bull****. When's the last time you paid any attention to the Pulitzer Awards that journalists earn for their hard work? Year in and year out investigative pieces are honored; just because you happen to never hear of them for whatever reason doesn't mean the likes of Woodward and Bernstein aren't around anymore. My own employer has pissed off TPTB in Washington, D.C., and elsewhere WRT stories we've run, including a number of deeper look on Iraq issues, ranging from the "no armor" problem to the insurgents being dug in deeper than Rumsfeld, et al., are willing to admit publicly. And that's just a tiny sample of what we do, and we're far from being the only journalists out there.

If that's "going downhill" to you, Che, then you really do deserve to be pitied.

I think there are two major problems with the media today, first, they're cowards. They are too afraid to challenge public authorities, except when it comes to sex or the evidence is overwhelming and has already been gathered for them by someone else.

Cowards? You post this as even now a New York Times reporter sits in jail because she refuses to reveal her sources to a judge? Oh, wait, that's right: She's protecting sources who certain members of the left (and others) would love to see fall, and fall hard. And there are other, "less prominent," journalists out there paying the price for their profession ... but, hey, since you don't hear about them, obviously they don't exist and their peers are all craven, gutless fools.

The are afraid because they don't want to lose their access. They are afraid to go after corporate criminals, because they don't want to piss off their advertisers and they are afraid to be sued. Profit is more important than the public's right to know.

God Almighty. I'm not even going to bother with this part.

As for corporate interference from the top, I know it exists. Look at what happened at the San Jose Mercury or the Fox news affiliate in Tampa. NBC never says anything negative about GE, ABC about Disney, etc. Journalists who don't tow the line find themselves without work.

I'm going to pull a Q here: it's TOE.

OK, back into serious mode: I speak from my experiences as a journalist who's employed by the second-largest media company in the United States. In my years in the profession, the only restriction I've seen on our reporting and/or editing is the fact that stories about the company that originate from outside sources (i.e. Reuters, AP, AFP and so on) get a look-see from the top editors in the newsroom to make sure they're factually correct.

Oh, there's other, little, things that sometimes percolate down from up top, but that's mostly style-related (i.e. making sure our Web site is prominently displayed somewhere on the pages and/or in articles so that folks can go there for further and/or late-breaking coverage of an issue).

Do they dictate everything? No, they don't have to. Journalists self-censor.

Not even a tenth as much as you fantasize they do.

I don't care whether the media is left-wing or not. What I want is for them to have some balls and do what they promised, "Aflict the comforatable and comfort the afflicted."

Afflict, damnit, afflict! AUGH! Comfortable! (Q, you've set a monster in motion!)

*cough* Ahem. All I care is that the media is as unbiased as it can possibly be. It's how I was educated and I'll do everything I can to ensure that remains the dominate force in journalism. If that means pissing off folks with agendas, then so be it.

In conclusion, Che, I could take your entire post, change a few things here and there and, voila!, I've got a right-wing argument saying the media is controlled by liberals. I've seen this for years now — left saying this, right says that — and, frankly, it accounts a great deal for why I get all preachy about the subject from time to time. That is, when I simply don't just and move on to more productive tasks.

America's journalists, for all their warts, are among the best in the world. That's been my experience in the field, FWIW.

Gatekeeper

[Brundlefly]

She makes CNN a lot less boring..

[Ecthy]

CNN is extremely dull though. Riz Khan and all the fellas. BBC is better.

[Bereta_Eder]

I want Fox News Of course we got our own "fox" channels but it would be nice to have that.

[Bereta_Eder]

BTW that's an ugly mug there ecthy, change it

[Ecthy]

It's one of the few with a smile on it. Change?

edit: it does look more positive on the real one though. I might as well just go for the lateral option and ignore you.

[Bereta_Eder]

or leave it. but that's so honest posting your real face. too honest. brings back memories from giancarlo and that's not good.

[Ecthy]

Giancarlo? If more people get that flashback I MUST change it back.

I might go for that Chinese chick but then I never really knew her.

[Bereta_Eder]

post pictures from china!

[Bereta_Eder]

btw I'll post the asses from the beach voley championship too but first i have to buy a laptop (big story)

[Ecthy]

Idid in my thread, they're all with me on them though, couldn't be arsed to post any of the cities or the like.

Might still do so later though!