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Could we handle the truth?

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by SockPuppet, Aug 25, 2009.

  1. SockPuppet

    SockPuppet Active Member

    Just read this on Poynter and thought it was damn good.
    Here are 3 grafs from the piece that nail it:

     
  2. Songbird

    Songbird Well-Known Member

    taibbi wrote a pretty damn good piece on healthcare reform in the current RS.
     
  3. SockPuppet

    SockPuppet Active Member

    The people that read RS are now informed. But that's not where the rubber meets the road on health care issues. Not many middle-aged white folks read RS.
     
  4. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    The truth is, that the truth is boring. Easier to write a headline on screaming people with guns.
     
  5. Baron Scicluna

    Baron Scicluna Well-Known Member

    Not to mention, a lot of the people who've been seeking the truth have been laid off.
     
  6. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    Not sure this phrase doesn't punch a hole in the bottom of the whole "we're not seeking the truth" boat:

    The whole idea of "the truth" (which, coincidentally, jibes neatly with one side's talking points) in this debate is ridiculous.

    There's no one black-and-white, you're-right-I'm-wrong "truth" in this debate, or any other difficult political question. That's why it's a difficult political question, and a controversial subject on which objections can fairly be raised on both sides.

    This faux-journalistic head-scratching about "the truth" is just a cover for Taibbi's search for a way to best sell the president's agenda. He's perfectly entitled to believe that the "reform" is the best thing for the country, and perfectly entitled to use his not-inconsiderable skills to sell said "reform."

    But to pretend that the only reason 100 percent of Americans aren't marching in lockstep to the Obama/Reid/Pelosi/Orszag/Zeke Emanuel drum is that because they're being denied "a journalism of truth" is wish fulfillment of the most puerile, navel-gazing variety.
     
  7. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    It can be a complex issue, and the media can be not covering it as well as they should. Not an either/or thing.
     
  8. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    As Taibbi said, it's a given that a mass media, staffed mostly by (somewhat) well-educated generalists, is going to have trouble covering any complicated story in depth. But the idea that it's happening because we lack "a journalism of truth" is just silly. Equally silly is the idea that professional journalists aren't covering health care reform fairly because they're afraid of being "bashed" by the right.
     
  9. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    I'd say we're lacking a "journalism of depth," which is a slightly different point, I guess.
     
  10. Mighty_Wingman

    Mighty_Wingman Active Member

    I'd say it's a very different point, but I'm glad we mostly agree.
     
  11. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    I am certain a lot of papers have done detailed stories on the health care problems and costs and such in recent years but if no one reads them ....
     
  12. dooley_womack1

    dooley_womack1 Well-Known Member

    You're damn right I ordered the code red!
     
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