Posted on 03/04/2005 5:00:02 AM PST by kristinn
We used to get the Toledo Blade as it is the only paper in Toledo, but it aims its "blade" continuously at President Bush, his administration and most Republicans. We cancelled our subscription a while ago and they keep calling for us to renew. We told them in no uncertain terms why we cancelled and stop calling.
They are despicable in their reporting.
You are right. There is no definition of a "real" journalist. Non-biased reporting was dropped from the cirriculum in colleges and universities long ago.
If pressed, I would define a "real" reporter as one who reports the news fairly and without bias. Not many of these around - especially in the White House Press Club (aka corps).
The best we can hope for is a few like Mr Gannon (Guckert) who can slip in and frame a question to drive the club members crazy. The complaints by the liberal media only emphasize their own bias.
One thing I did forget. Kaptur is a kook.
And I wasn't trying to be a smart-@$$. The question of what is a 'real' reporter in 2005 is legit IMO. By all reasonable standards Gannon was a 'real' reporter as he 'worked' for Talon News. Just because Talon News was new, small and on the net is irrelevant.
The definition of a "real reporter" is simple - "a person who is a member in good standing of the Journalism Establisment."
This is easy to determine; just put the person in question on the spot on live TV and ask them if CBS was objective when it broadcast the "Killian memo" hit piece about Bush. A member of the Journalism Establishment in good standing will not, no matter what the provocation, publicly assert that any other member of the Journalism Establishment is not objective. Any person who fails that test is "not objective, not a journalist." There is no gray area, you are either in the Establishment, or you are out.
That is a system for maximizing the commercial and political effectiveness of journalism. It is also humbug - humbug which, unfortunately, the Supreme Court of the United States would almost certainly rule made sense.
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