What have the actions of CBS done to mainstream news?
The New York Times > Washington > Campaign 2004 > The News Media: CBS News Concludes It Was Misled on National Guard Memos, Network Officials Say
The New York Times article above is basically saying that the documents questioning President Bush's National Guard service were completely fabricated and came from faulty services. CBS has since come clean and apologized for their blatant disregard for proper journalism. But is that enough? I for one do not believe this will not go away. Dan Rather might be in for early retirement, and the ramifications this will have on the public image of CBS will be devastating.
But the real issue here is whether this story was a scandal, and if so, who was a part of it? We as Americans require that our news sources are at least honest in their delivery of the news. For the last few years, many have questioned the motives of news sources. Stations like Fox News are constantly criticized for having a bias of sorts--and have been for years now. While Fox News has gained quite a widespread credibility in recent years, the far Left continues to lambaste its journalism. Well, what has CBS done to the far Left?
I fear this might not only be a punch to CBS, but to all the mainstream local networks as well. Statistics clearly show that ratings amongst the three giants--ABC, CBS, and NBC--have fallen drastically, whereas the ratings of the cable networks such as Fox News, MSNBC and CNN have been on the rise. This current issue may really be a blow to mainstream journalism and will hopefully shake people up enough to watch multiple news sources. The honesty and credibility of our nation's news should not have to be questioned in such a way that we can no longer trust our news sources.
I think it is very clear that certain news sources will be biased, sometimes simply by opinion and sometimes even in such a way that the facts are mislead to a small degree. An example would be a news source focusing on one story that breaks concerning one of the Presidential candidates and not covering another story that breaks about the other.
But this is something completely different. This story that broke at CBS--and above and beyond that, the testimony Dan Rather gave to it (i.e., "I know this story is true"), has far more detrimental characteristics. It is a slap in the face to all of media. And I firmly believe that the integrity of journalism has taken a huge blow because of this.
Update, 9/22: The link below from the New York Times, "Find the Forger" discusses the gravity of this situation, legally speaking. That is, the offense could mean jail time of up to twenty years for the offender.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: First, Find the Forger
The New York Times article above is basically saying that the documents questioning President Bush's National Guard service were completely fabricated and came from faulty services. CBS has since come clean and apologized for their blatant disregard for proper journalism. But is that enough? I for one do not believe this will not go away. Dan Rather might be in for early retirement, and the ramifications this will have on the public image of CBS will be devastating.
But the real issue here is whether this story was a scandal, and if so, who was a part of it? We as Americans require that our news sources are at least honest in their delivery of the news. For the last few years, many have questioned the motives of news sources. Stations like Fox News are constantly criticized for having a bias of sorts--and have been for years now. While Fox News has gained quite a widespread credibility in recent years, the far Left continues to lambaste its journalism. Well, what has CBS done to the far Left?
I fear this might not only be a punch to CBS, but to all the mainstream local networks as well. Statistics clearly show that ratings amongst the three giants--ABC, CBS, and NBC--have fallen drastically, whereas the ratings of the cable networks such as Fox News, MSNBC and CNN have been on the rise. This current issue may really be a blow to mainstream journalism and will hopefully shake people up enough to watch multiple news sources. The honesty and credibility of our nation's news should not have to be questioned in such a way that we can no longer trust our news sources.
I think it is very clear that certain news sources will be biased, sometimes simply by opinion and sometimes even in such a way that the facts are mislead to a small degree. An example would be a news source focusing on one story that breaks concerning one of the Presidential candidates and not covering another story that breaks about the other.
But this is something completely different. This story that broke at CBS--and above and beyond that, the testimony Dan Rather gave to it (i.e., "I know this story is true"), has far more detrimental characteristics. It is a slap in the face to all of media. And I firmly believe that the integrity of journalism has taken a huge blow because of this.
Update, 9/22: The link below from the New York Times, "Find the Forger" discusses the gravity of this situation, legally speaking. That is, the offense could mean jail time of up to twenty years for the offender.
The New York Times > Opinion > Op-Ed Columnist: First, Find the Forger
¶ Blogged at 10:50 PM - Linkback - 
Hi! My name's Adam Donaghey and this is my weblog. 
The Abductors (producer)
5 Comments:
I agree completely, and while I'm one of those who has and will continue to lambast Fox News (now for lying AND not apologizing), I'm just about sick of all journalism. NY Times and NPR (which is really the only place I get my news on a daily basis) feel like bastions of solidarity and honesty to me, but then we all know that the Times had the made-up-stories conundrum a year or two ago, and it's also hard not to see its liberal bias, something NPR often shares as well.
~dvd
DVD,
And that's exactly why I counter my Times experience with FoxNews. I also watch a little CNN, CSPAN (if I'm in a masochistic mood) and MSNBC from time to time. And then there's always the random Google News searches where I generally get the Associated Press. Reuters isn't bad either.
still, who cares? 4 years was good enough for daddy
How much for the night, ma'am? An even hundred? Oh, come on. Stop looking at me like you're too good for it. Okay, I'll even buy you some clothing. And dinner. There, you feel classy now, you fucking whore? GET BACK IN MY TRUCK.
...and they never saw her again. True story.
You're such a woman, Adam. Seriously, buy a bra. :D
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