Posted on 03/31/2007 9:06:22 AM PDT by Congressman Billybob
John / Billybob
I think Couric's problem is that she spent years cultivating an image as a lightweight and then wanted to suddenly be taken seriously as a hard news journalist.
Once people make up their mind about a person or a thing, it's difficult to get them to change their minds.
Never really thought of it that way... thanks!
What makes you think competent reporting is a goal of cBS... or any other DBM/DNC 'news' outlet?
Thank you, John, and yes, we budding scribes should seek out those who are competent at their craft. I look forward to reading Becky's work. And thank you Becky Johnson for performing your constitutional duty.
INteresting. When I have picked up the SMN in Franklin, I generally find it to be VERY liberal in its general 'coverage' and certainly in its editorials.
Unfortunately, so much of the footage was found to contain images such as the still seen here that it was rendered unusable and the project had to be s**tcanned.
Katie told interviewers later that this is how she spends much of her free time as this is where she gets some of her best program ideas. She cited her interview with Hillary Clinton as a prime example.
In fact, I think she went beyond mere good reporting, and approached the category of excellent writing in any medium. That's why I compared her lede to an O'Henry short story.
John / Billybob
Obviously, she doesn't work for the McClatchy rag, The Charlotte Observer, but strangely enough for Creative Loafing (go figure). She gets into the nitty-gritty of local politics and is fearless in exposing the chicanery of politicos of whatever stripe. I can't compare her to O'Henry but she is what the press should be, especially in the gadfly role.
It's indeed a shame when lightweights such as Couric have the national stage compared to real talents like Becky Johnson or Tara Servatius.
Here is a link to some of Tara's articles: http://charlotte.creativeloafing.com/gyrobase/Results?author=oid%3A62
Becky Johnson is a reporter. She doesn't have any "constitutional duty." What she has in the First Amendment is merely a charter of freedom, not a responsibility.Reporters have "the right to tell the truth." And I have a right to be a financier and investor. I have the right to own the Brooklyn Bridge. Since the fact that reporters have a right to tell the truth proves that in fact they do tell the truth, you should buy my right to the Brooklyn Bridge. I'll sell it cheap.
True, no one is forcing people to be reporters just as they aren't forcing people into high finance. Nevertheless, there is a reasonable expectation that people who choose to be reporters will use their freedom to do good, not to do bad. I think it is worth applauding when a reporter does good. It doesn't happen often enough.
Agreed. But my point was that the assumption that reporters do good - that journalism is objective - is a prejudice. It is "a vagrant opinion with no visible means of support."I think it is worth applauding when a reporter does good. It doesn't happen often enough.I go so far as to say that the claim of journalistic objectivity is a form of censorship. If faced with an open-and-shut case of politically tendentious journalism - such as the 2004 60 Minutes hit piece on President Bush's TANG service record - all journalists self-censor. None of them durst say the obvious truths that
The refusal of any organ of Big Journalism to point out these facts and conclude that the "Killian memos" were fraudulent partisan hit by CBS News is a mark not of the "objectivity" but of the solidarity of Big Journalism.
- Mr. Bush was not running as a war hero but as a sitting president standing on his record (so the idea that his service record of thirty years ago was relevant was not "objectivity" but a John Kerry POV),
- The "Killian Memos" were not originals and therefore it is patently impossible to verify the authenticity of the putative "signatures" by the (conveniently) long-dead Col. Killian,
- No chain of custody links the "Killian memos" to the personal effects of Col. Killian. And the quality of the copies of the "Killian Memos" is quite poor - indicating that each was itself made from a copy and that that copy was also made from a copy of the putative original. The poor quality of these copies obscures the putative signatures, and that lowers the standard of proof of authenticity for the credulous, but it also flies in the face of the fact that if these memo existed at all they must have been closely held. Copies made of copies of copies would not exist.
- And finally, the fact that Microsoft Word, which was developed long after the putative dates of the "Killian memos," does a lot of easily observable things to facilitate and optimize the production of a memo. The conceit that the "Killian memos" were produced on some other device than Microsoft Word without producing any artifact in any of them which suggests that any of them were not produced by Microsoft Word operating in its default settings is a fantastic leap of faith.
That is where we "violently agree."
BTTT
A very common assumption...very dangerous but very common.
The biggest smoking gun I've ever seen... and the fact that no prosecutor took it upon himself to delve further is mind-boggling.
BTTT!
I think you are partially right but that only applies mostly to liberals.
During the years she spent on the AM show, she showed her bias every time she interviewed someone. If the person was a liberal she was all smiles and nicey nice, if the person was a conservative her whole demeanor changed. Her expression was hard, she never smiled, her voice was lower and serious. She showed an obvious dislike to conservatives so none of those people are going to watch her on the evening news because we already know her style.
I want to relate a story about Couric. Four friends of mine (women) went to NYC together and one of the planned stops was to see Katie at the network because they all watched her every morning. They were not particularly political and thought of her as someone cute who lived next door. They loved her hair and her clothes and thought she was the cutest thing ever on TV. When she finally showed up for the arranged meeting she was so rude and sharp that they all left almost in tears. Perky katie is a b*tch! LOL!
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