One reporter said he was so disgusted with how the media reported the news in Ferguson that he was not returning to Ferguson. He wrote on his blog:
After what I saw last night, I will not be returning. The behavior and number of journalists there is so appalling, that I cannot in good conscience continue to be a part of the spectacle....
-Cameramen yelling at residents in public meetings for standing in way of their cameras
-Cameramen yelling at community leaders for stepping away from podium microphones to better talk to residents
-TV crews making small talk and laughing at the spot where Mike Brown was killed, as residents prayed, mourned
-A TV crew of a to-be-left-unnamed major cable network taking pieces out of a Ferguson business retaining wall to weigh down their tent
-Another major TV network renting out a gated parking lot for their one camera, not letting people in. Safely reporting the news on the other side of a tall fence.
-Journalists making the story about them
-National news correspondents glossing over the context and depth of this story, focusing instead on the sexy images of tear gas, rubber bullets, etc.
-One reporter who, last night, said he came to Ferguson as a “networking opportunity.” He later asked me to take a picture of him with Anderson Cooper. Rest of the post.
Indeed, another friend of mine who is a national reporter told me " I am so fed up with all the self-serving D.C. reporters down in Ferguson right now. They're becoming the story, which is damn near malpractice in journalism. Just do your jobs and shut up about it.".
13 comments:
......to incite rage
Sadly, that's what this all boils down to!
The media has taken a crap all over this thing, parents be damned!
They ( the media) cry foul as their pockets grow and political agendas are pushed.
From Ebola to ferguson, this whole " season" of a news cycle has been so sensationalized that it's mind numbing.
Unless ' anger' can float down the Mississippi River from St. Louis, MO and wash ashore near West Point, MS, how else can the ' local' incident be explained?
Yawn. I call BS.
A "real" reporter would never walk away from a story because of the behavior of other reporters.
A "real" reporter would see the opportunity for another story. First, report on the Ferguson situation itself. But then also he could report about the disgusting behavior of those who are supposed to be covering the story. Hell, he could turn it into a documentary film. But instead he just walks away in disgust?
Nope, I'm not buying it.
Actually you make some good points. I posted it so people could see how one reporter saw other reporters.
Of course, he could have covered those stories that needed covering that weren't touched by the media i.e. the food drive.
Unfortunately, when you're a reporter just trying to cover the story, and the police arrest you for that, then you've become part of the story.
10:56am
Yeah, anyone REALLY committed to their ideals would never give up, such as supporting another party's candidate just because yours happened to lose, sacrificing any party loyalty & integrity in the process by doing the same as you accuse your competitor of doing, bust still feeling righteous and justified in being a hypocrite.
Also, see any parallels between the folks who deal only in absolutes, such as their own brand of "true" conservativism versus others' brand of conservatism, as well as "establishment GOP", big government Republicans, progressives, communists, socialists, RINOS, atheists, blacks, dimmicraps, muslims, libruls, heathen, "pro-abortion" murderers, welfare queens, takers, lazy poor people,etc.
Or REAL Good Christians versus the librul "not really good"christians "not really christian" catholics, muslims, Buddhists, Hindu, atheists, etc.
REAL journalists versus lamestream, librul media,etc.
It's US vs THEM on every criteria, with special damning, personal criticism rather than seeking common ground or showing respect for the ideas, feelings, ideology, racial/ethnic background, chosen profession, etc.
Doesn't being the judge of every other group or individual other than your own EVER get old, or are you just that angry and miserable that you must share what you are? The people that persons like you usually loyally defend are not necessarily "right", but merely on your "team" politically or other affinity group like religious affiliation. And yet folks like you never seem to notice your judgemental, self-righteous posturing that repels people the same as the Pharisees did.
Just an observation of consistent behavior and attitudes, since you and yours seem to overlook the logs in your own eyes every time.
No thanks.
Infotainment is graded exclusively on ratings which are yielded by appealing to the lowest common denominator in the largest niche, which is comprised of mindless drones. Cheap programming appealing to low-info viewers is very profitable, and this sector watches the most of the same crap all the time. This audience is full of individuals who will die one day without learning any better than to be a sheep being sheared and manipulated at every turn. God Bless them all.
I agree the media is entertainment now rather than news.
This reporter was there for Al Jazeera America , KF. He is an American with meager journalistic credentials.
I also worry about the lack of professionalism as we once knew from those reporters who served overseas in WWII and knew our Nation mattered more than our checkbook balances.
The biases they had existed but were based more often than not on deciding Nixon's paranoia was more dangerous than JFK's problems keeping up his zipper! They knew the people in office and knew some of them were lazy or assholes or immoral in every way .
12:39 - Very informative post.
1) I didn't know Nixon was in office in World War II.
2) I didn't know "Nixon's paranoia" got us into Vietnam BEFORE "JFK's zipper" got us out of there.
Who is your source for this unique history: Howard ZIinn?
@1:43
re-read 12:39's post s-l-o-w-l-y.
Maybe you can discern what he is talking about.
1:43 pm Don't you know that the seasoned reporters during the time of Nixon and JFK were WWII vets as were they?????
And, I didn't say a word about Vietnam, just about the well known character flaws of the two men.
I've had more than one American history professor as they specialize in periods of our history or didn't you know that?
And I had a syllabus for each course,not an overview textbook with multiple contributors. So, my knowledge was gained from multiple sources.
Didn't you take any history courses at the college level? I'm very upset to learn if one can graduate from college these days by only taking one overview course in American History.
6:07b- from the right, just to make sure this is understood.
Good comments. Just saying.....
@12:21 I'm stealing your word "infotainment"! Love it and so true!
@12:21 - I'm stealing your word "infotainment" - love it! and so true!
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