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April 12, 2005
Poor Nicholas Kristoff
oor Nicholas Kristoff, columnist for The New York Times:
A recent report from the Pew Research Center, "Trends 2005," is painful to read. The report says that 45 percent of Americans believe little or nothing in their daily newspapers, up from 16 percent two decades ago.In this kind of environment, it's not surprising that journalists are headed for jail. The safety net for American journalism throughout history has been not so much the First Amendment - rather, it's been public approval of the role of the free press. Public approval is our life-support system, and it is now at risk.
Gee, I wonder why? I wonder if Jayson Blair and Howell Raines had anything to do with it? Or last week his own newspaper's decision, according to the Columbia Journalism Review:
...to subvert their own reporting by agreeing to ignore one side of a debate is disturbing, if not wholly insulting, to the paper's readership. And given that in this case, student journalists on a campus newspaper upheld a higher standard of journalistic integrity than the "paper of record," the Times is right to be embarrassed.
And what does Kristoff think is the solution?
More openness, more willingness to run corrections, more ombudsmen, more acknowledgement of our failings - those are the kinds of steps that are already under way and that should be accelerated. It would help if news organizations engaged in more outreach to explain themselves, with anchors or editors walking readers through such minefields as why we choose to call someone a "terrorist," or how we wield terms like "pro-life" or "pro-choice."
Okay, Nicholas. When was the last time you turned your Pharos light of critical swigginess on yourself or your colleagues? When was the last time you wrote a column admitting you were wrong, or that your paper was wrong?
I thought so.
*** It’s not fair the way you keep retaliating against my unprovoked attacks. Ashleigh Brilliant
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Posted by witnit at April 12, 2005 11:05 AM
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