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Could Tribune employees soon be working for the Koch Bros?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by LongTimeListener, Mar 12, 2013.

  1. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Thirty years in newsrooms, chief. Still at it. Still see/hear it, more than ever.

    And think about your claim up top there: Of course you hear the right cite it more, because more outlets lean left. Why would those on left complain about a trend they're content with, oblivious to or less discerning of? It seems like what ought to be the middle or the norm to them.

    You should be able to tell by yourself what's wrong with your remark about "slightly left" being OK or the same as fair. And who defines the "slightly?" Those doing the leaning. I question, too, your blanket use of "independent analysis." Where? Show us.

    The coverage of the Obama administration vs. coverage of the Bush administration is textbook, and stark, evidence. Flip the two guys/parties and does the tone or focus of coverage change? Of course it does. Yet it shouldn't if your "professionals" truly were performing as such.

    If you can't acknowlege the drift within most newsrooms, based on simple demographics and voting tendencies, you aren't being honest on the topic. Just like some wealthy folks were born on third base and think they hit a triple, a lot of so-called journalists look at the agreement around them in their workplaces and assume they're in the middle.

    It's long been said, you want real diversity in a newsroom, hire a conservative.
     
  2. Versatile

    Versatile Active Member

    That's not the opposite. The opposite would be trying to be biased and failing. That doesn't even seem possible.
     
  3. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    In the past decade or so, news organizations have not even tried to fight it, but embraced it and promoted it.

    That's much worse. IMHO.
     
  4. JRoyal

    JRoyal Well-Known Member

    So you don't think a journalist can put their political leanings behind them when it comes to making news decisions? That just because someone votes a certain way, their editorial decisions will be impacted?
     
  5. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Gets back to my comment about the conscious decision to abandon attempts at objectivity, conveniently demeaning that as feigned and impossible -- despite wanting to still see themselves as "professionals" like doctors or lawyers who must strive to adhere to standards greater than themselves or the moment.

    They complain that such a value doesn't sell. Or that it gives undue weight to the "wrong" sides of topics. Meanwhile, what they seek is to be the provider of info AND the arbiters of it, too, not trusting their audience to discern. And they want the freedom to push their own opinions in the guise of "news" coverage.
     
  6. Joe Williams

    Joe Williams Well-Known Member

    Of course I think they can, JR. Many did, and did a pretty good job of it, for a long time. Many still do.

    But the numbers of those who don't bother, who even claim that it's better business to abandon that thinking, have grown exponentially. At what used to be some of the most respected shops in the industry, places that were so incestuously cloistered and self-perpetuating in hiring and insinuated values from corner offices that they're now among the worst offenders.

    I do think the smaller to mid-size markets do a better job of covering news and reflecting a spectrum of views in editorial content. I think the larger outlets, especially at what once were "destination" organizations, have strayed badly from that. They don't think much of their audience, in its ability to sift through complex stories, or often they think the vast majority think like them.
     
  7. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    At some point a news organization will be successful being the most middle ground, and proving it with each issue or telecast. The public will be searching for it once again.

    Now will that happen anytime soon? Doubt it.
     
  8. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    I love predictions like this. You say it will happen "at some point" but it won't happen "anytime soon".

    So, you can never be proven wrong, and if it were to happen, you can claim to have predicted it.

    Hmm. Let me try one. I predict that at some point the Detroit Lions will win the Super Bowl, but it won't happen anytime soon.
     
  9. JRoyal

    JRoyal Well-Known Member

    I predict it will be the Buffalo Bills, but not anytime soon.
     
  10. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    No, because people have not totally tired of knuckles draggers like yourself who constantly post bad information that people need to sort through for the truth.

    Everything runs in cycles, and at some point people enough people will get tired of slanted news to want the real stuff again.
     
  11. YGBFKM

    YGBFKM Guest

    The "real stuff" never existed.

    But keep on keepin' on, Devil, you're one of my favorite posters.
     
  12. 93Devil

    93Devil Well-Known Member

    http://www.macneil-lehrer.com/

    And keep bad mouthing the industry you made a career in.
     
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