My rant on journalism today

I'm a journalist. But I'm not the kind of journalist that goes out and nabs the "tough stories." I write and edit for consumer and business magazines. Very little controversy there. However, as someone who went to journalism school and feels she knows a lot about her profession, I feel I can say this: I hate the news.

My hatred for the news has grown consistently and exponentially over the past several years. Why do I hate it? Because those reporters, those network anchors - they're lazy and they're scared. Nearly every time we watch the news at home, which is more and more infrequently lately, I turn to my husband and say:

"Being objective DOES NOT mean you can't ask tough questions. Come on."

I'm tired of network and cable news channels just replaying snippets of the president, republicans in Congress, whomever, spouting the latest crap and then leaving it at that. What? Where are the follow up questions? Where is the research to prove them wrong or right? Why don't you point out how they're being hypocritical? Doing these things does not make you a biased journalist - it makes you smart. It makes you act like a watchdog for the people, which by the way is your job.

You know who was the best watchdog for the people? Tim Russert. That guy didn't care who sat at his table each Sunday morning, he asked the tough questions. He listened to his guest (democrat or republican) and then proceeded to show them a clip of themselves months earlier saying the exact opposite thing. Did this make him biased? No. He was holding our leaders accountable and he was searching for the truth. And I liked that about him. (I have to admit I haven't watched David Gregory in this role. Maybe he does the job just as well, but I don't know.)

(There's another man who shines in this area, though he doesn't call himself a journalist. Jon Stewart. Sure, he may lean left politically and be a comic by profession, but he's not afraid to throw up clips of the president when he's screwing up or Nancy Pelosi when she stumbles over her words, just as he's not afraid to devote 10 minutes to the grossness that is Glen Beck.)

I think I really started turning off the news when the health care stuff kicked into high gear over the summer. The whole "death panel" conversation had me in a tizzy. To me, it didn't even seem like the reporters had actually read the bill. The American people are not going to read this bill for themselves. It's the responsibility of reporters (both print and TV) to spell it out for us. Tell us the truth, and if the truth comes out in favor of the president, that doesn't mean you're biased. Or vice versa. (This was also around the time Obama's citizenship was being questioned. I was so disappointed that story made it on TV news so many nights that it did. Why is that even a story? He was born in Hawaii. Done. Over. Next.)

Anyway, long rant longer, Eric Black of MinnPost has an awesome column that talks about just this stuff - the responsibility of journalists and how they're failing. He points to an amazing article in the Columbia Journalism Review about how journalism is becoming irrelevant. It is. Either people think all news organizations are biased, or they're like me and just sick of the laziness. The author, Brent Cunningham, says some wonderful things and makes valid points. For example:

Meanwhile, American journalism, too, is in a protracted moment of painful change. Both its business model and its sense of mission are in full retreat. Much experimentation is under way, with different financial-support structures, narrower editorial missions, collaborative projects, etc. There is an urgency, a humility, at news outlets about the need to rethink things that is long overdue.

So the press needs a new mission, and the nation needs someone to help initiate and lead the discussion of what kind of place America will be in the twenty-first century. It is not at all clear that our best news outlets have the will to become true arbiters of our public discourse, but given the increasing inadequacy of the journalistic status quo, and the nature of the challenges facing the country, such a mission shift could offer a crucial way forward for both the press and the public.

If you don't want to read the long Cunningham article, Black does pull some other great snippets in his own column. To all of it, I can only say: Right On. And then hope for a change.

Plagiarism

My bff sent me this article from Slate.com. One of the magazine's reporters discovered by happenstance that one of her articles was copied nearly verbatim in a Texas alt-weekly. After a little more Googling and research, she discovered this is pretty much the way they do things at this newspaper.

Unbelievable. My co-worker and I were just talking about it and we think this happens a lot more than we realize, especially now that people - anyone with a computer - can publish online. Why did this reporter even bother to change a few words here and there? Why go to the trouble? Just steal full out, then. It's just pure laziness. And maybe jealousy, as Slate's writer has an obvious way with words. Hey Bulletin: It's called ethics. Get some.

Thoughts?

Jon Hassler and MinnPost

On MinnPost today, I read a wonderful story about Jon Hassler, author of such best sellers as Staggerford and A Green Journey, not to mention the young adult books Jemmy and Four Miles to Pinecone (both of which I read when I was younger and loved). I also wrote a paper on Grand Opening for my 10th grade English class. His books line many Minnesota shelves I'm sure, including my mom's. He's one of the greats from our region.

I didn't know, however, that he's suffering from a Parkinson's-like disease which affects his speech and mobility. Imagine how hard it is to write books when you can't write, type or speak well. The writer, Dave Wood, describes Hassler's daily life - of which writing is very much a part - and his selfless, caring wife and "helper." It's a great story of focus and perseverance.

I also want to give a shout out to MinnPost. Started just last week, this online and print publication is composed by many writers familiar to we Twin Cities dwellers. Many are former Star Tribune, Pioneer Press and City Pages reporters who were bought out, asked to leave or got out just in time when our big newspapers went through several months of turmoil and turnover recently. I'm so pleased to see their names in print again and look forward to reading what they have to say.