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Leonard Pitts on Citizen Journalists.

Discussion in 'Journalism topics only' started by Drip, Oct 7, 2010.

  1. TheSportsPredictor

    TheSportsPredictor Well-Known Member

    YankeeFan is correct. Pitts is full of it.
     
  2. Double J

    Double J Active Member

    Better arguments than I could make against this ridiculous column have already been made here.

    I'll just add that it's always laughable when ivory tower journalists claim that this profession is something so precious and noble that only a few, chosen people should be allowed to aspire to it.

    Signed,

    A proud journalist who flunked out of college and never went to J school but can outresearch and outwrite anybody still working at my former newspaper, including the elitist douchebag who has two bachelor's degrees but can't differentiate between "who's" and "whose," or between "to" and "too."
     
  3. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    It's not a red herring when Pitts makes the argument that "real" journalists are better than citizen journalists.

    Here's a question for you: can you name one mainstream news org that you think is ethical and/or not conflicted?

    Just one.

    Because I think they all have ethical problems and conflicts of interest. All of them.

    "60 Minutes" features Random House authors. The Today Show interviews newsmakers who get deals form NBC's entertainment division. FOX affiliates use their local news to promote "American Idol". ABC does the same with "Dancing with the Stars" and CBS did it with "Hawaii-5-0."

    Let's not even get into ESPN.

    The New York Times rails against corporate malfeasance yet still maintains an ownership structure that gives certain shareholders more rights than others.

    It's like trying to find one righteous person in Sodom and Gomorrah.

    Unfortunately for Leonard, he's a resident of Sodom and Gomorrah and doesn't realize it.
     
  4. murphyc

    murphyc Well-Known Member

    This.
    Pitts could have made his point against citizen journalists much better if he gave multiple examples of multiple citizen journalists doing wrong things. Using one bad apple and using that as an example of citizen journalists as a whole? The irony is that's the type of weak work Pitts would associate with citizen journalism.
     
  5. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Real journalists have standards and sometimes fall short. The fact that you can find stories about reporting being in trouble show that we consider these things bad.

    Many citizen journalists wouldn't know or care.

    Neither side is perfect.

    I would have to figure that the trained professional journalists are better than Average Joe off the street.

    Just like I think someone who is trained to be an auto mechanic is better than Joe with the duct tape next door.
     
  6. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    The "journalists" at the Deseret News appear to have missed a big story right under their nose:

    http://webmedia.newseum.org/newseum-multimedia/dfp/jpg8/lg/UT_DN.jpg

    Luckily, Salt Lake is still a two newspaper town:

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home/50434583-76/gay-church-lds-packer.html.csp
     
  7. YankeeFan

    YankeeFan Well-Known Member

    So, you can't name one then? Is that right?

    What's worse, having standards you don't live up to or having no standards at all?

    My mother always said, "the road to hell is paved with good intentions."

    The mainstream media has good intentions, except when they don't.

    And, btw, is Leonard Pitts a "trained professional journalist"? If he graduated from college, he doesn't mention it in his official bio. All he alludes to is "attending" college.

    http://leonardpittsjr.com/Biography.html

    He started out doing freelance work & was later a writer for Casey Kasem.

    Didn't Leonard begin his career in much the way that today's "Citizen Journalists" began their's?

    Leonard is a product of his own generation's version of "citizen journalism". Is there any doubt that Leonard would have had a blog at 16 if the internet was then what it is now?

    Unless you're going to tell me what a great journalistic influence Casey Kasem was, it's a poor argument & Leonard is the wrong person to make it.
     
  8. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    If your name is Packer, you should not condemn homosexuals.
     
  9. Ace

    Ace Well-Known Member

    Listen. I've enjoyed sparring with you on this thread.

    But if you are going to cast aspersions at the voice of Shaggy, I'm done with you.
     
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