Kelli Arena: Why media blew it in Egypt

CBS Marketwatch ^ | February 16, 2011 | Jon Friedman

[danielmryan]

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — As former CNN journalist Kelli Arena watched the television coverage of the historic Egyptian uprising, she couldn’t help but feel angry.

Yes, Arena, who teaches journalism now at Sam Houston State University as the recipient of the Dan Rather Endowed Chair, was impressed with the immediacy of the reporting and the depth of the analysis.

Yet, she wondered: Why didn’t more people in the media see this coming? Why were so many journalists caught by surprise and unable to anticipate the upheaval?

“It was clear that there was a new energy there. These things don’t happen just suddenly out of nowhere, with thousands of people protesting on a whim,” Arena told me by phone from her home in the Washington suburbs....

[danielmryan]

This interview took place before Lara Logan was sexually assaulted - which Jon Friedman described as "assaulted." As for the content of the interview, it's wrapped in a framework that you'd expect to come from the holder of the Dan Rather Chair. The news department needs more money!

(I wonder if Ms. Arena realizes that this plaint is typical of bureaucrats, who always say they need more money and power when something's missed.)

[kingpins10]

That the media didn’t see it coming only proves how great at agitation Bill Ayers and Bernadine Dohrn are.

http://gulagbound.com/11925/ayers-obama-and-the-destabilization-of-egypt

[grobdriver]

Don't fret, Kelli - no one seems to have seen it coming (although a few guessed and take credit), including several US "intelligence" organizations whose purpose it is to not be surprised.

And doesn't anyone use the word "Rape" any more?

[SMARTY]

“Why didn’t more people in the media see this coming? Why were so many journalists caught by surprise and unable to anticipate the upheaval?”

These are the same people asking the same questions which they asked when Khomeni took over Iran, when the Wall came down, etc.

THEIR problem is that they believe their own subjective lies and hype SO much and question the objective facts SO infrequently that they are ALWAYS blindsided by events.

Why is it that these career-Liberals with their gullibility, preconceived and superficial understanding of history, politics and how the world works are the ONLY ones who are surprised and shocked by events?

[Rappini]

The answer is that the Media are not Journalists anymore they are reporters and reporters report after things happen because it’s less work.

[Rappini]

The answer is that the Media are not Journalists anymore they are reporters and reporters report after things happen because it’s less work.