28 October 2005
Spectator
The View From Here
Journalism Ain't What It Used to Be
The Spectator recalls a time when people actually listened, watched and read the news to find out what was going on in the world. People like Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, David Brinkley, Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward could be counted on to tell the truth to the American people. Now we endure the likes of Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh, the entire Fox propaganda machine, Donn Esmonde, and Judith Miller. It is a sad commentary, indeed, when a growing number of Americans are turning to a comedy like the "Daily Show" to get their news.
The Spectator also recalls when the New York Times burned like the torch atop the Statue of Liberty as a beacon of integrity in journalism. How far the mighty have fallen. The whole Judith Miller fiasco is an indication of what passes for news these days and how intent the media moguls are to cover their tracks. We are now confronted with a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist who can't recall who tried to break the law by leaking the name of a secret agent. A reporter for the Glens Falls Gazette wouldn't make such a moronic claim but we are asked to swallow it whole because it was printed in the Times. Is there no shame? Are there no standards anymore? Is there no institutional memory about what it used to mean to be a journalist? (Rhetorical questions. We all know the answers.) The simple fact is that Miller was a shill. She is not alone though. We see across the broad spectrum of modern journalism: the reporter as celebrity ... the celebrity as part of the story ... the celebrity given access because of celebrity status ... the celebrity needing to kiss the ass of sources to retain access and celebrity. That's what allows an idiot like O'Reilly to go on the "Today" Show and tell Katie Couric "the left hates evangelicals, they hate people who go to church and that's the truth." That's the truth? Who said that's the truth besides this specious cretin? What evidence is there to substantiate that claim? Why didn't Katie challenge the assertion? She didn't challenge him because she's a celebrity as much as O'Reilly and neither are really journalists. But neither are the people we put on media pedestals. Take Tim Russert for example. On "Meet the Press" on Sunday 10/23, Russert questioned Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison about the Rove/Libby leak case. She made light of a possible perjury or conspiracy indictment, as if such things were trivial matters. Russert reminded her that it was perjury that led to the impeachment of Bill Clinton and the impeachment was pursued vigorously by the Republicans. She responded "Oh, there were more charges against Clinton and that's why we moved." End of discussion. Russert allowed that fallacy to stand as the last word. Such things may sound trivial but they represent journalistic sloppiness at best and sloth at worst. And when the icons of modern journalism do such things, what do you think the filter-down-effect is to the average guys in newsrooms?
When Judith Miller went to jail the journalistic community rose up as a single chorus to sing her praises. Where's that chorus now? Where are the apologists? Where are the First Amendment scholars who proclaimed the divine right to protect confidential sources? Is anyone re-thinking the defense of Judith Miller now that we know that she never had to go to jail in the first place? Is anyone re-thinking their defense of Miller now that we know she made a deal to divert attention away from Scooter Libby? Are we now to assume a reporter can lie to protect a source?
When Profits Fall, Blame the Workers
Unisys is the latest corporate citizen to be caught with its hand in the government cookie jar. A Homeland Security audit has found that Unisys has been overbilling Uncle Sam for three years. The audit also revealed that Unisys is overcharging but its employees are not the beneficiaries (big surprise, huh?). The case of a technical writer is cited as the example. Unisys charged the taxpayers $131.12 per hour for a writer who was paid $46.43 an hour. Unisys also falsified time sheets and demanded "expert" pay for low-skilled workers.Unisys was hired following the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001 to improve the nation's transportation security system. Don't you find it ironic that corporate schmucks like Halliburton and Unisys and their ilk have virtually carte blanche to steal from the government in time of war while the average citizen is subjected to unprecedented restrictions and restraints of the Patriot Act? Is there no corporate equivalent of cowardice in the face of the enemy? The government wants to know what you read, to have access to your bank records, to publish no-fly lists. But they have no capacity to manage their own contractors?
It is even more ironic that this kind of corporate greed surfaces at a time when the rank-and-file worker in this country is being asked to suck it up in the name of financial health for their companies. There is already an earnings disparity in this country that sees CEOs making as much as 400 times what the hourly worker gets paid but still the corporate bottom line is being balanced on the back of the hourly employee. Locally, Delphi is asking UAW workers to take a 70% cut in pay and benefits at the same time the Delphi CEO pockets a $3 million "bonus." Remember when you could only count on a "bonus" if you did something good? What does a CEO of a company in bankruptcy do to earn a "bonus?"
The middle class is inching closer to extinction in this country. Once upon a time, Corporations recognized employees as consumers. They structured pay and benefits to allow the workers a living wage that allowed them income to buy things Americans made. The "global economy" has not changed corporate thinking. Who cares if American workers can't buy goods and services? Foreign workers in other countries will take their place. How far away is this country from a worker revolt?
Copyright 2005 by Buffalo Report, Inc.