NationStates Jolt Archive

We've all seen the craptastic fluff, the hatefull invective, and the general low grade of integrity in journalism today. Hell, Jon Stewart has made a career complaining about it, and it sells for ine simple reason

Because it's true.

So, for those of us tired of the inattention to detail, the laziness, and the unabashed bullshit that the media presents to us, let me take a moment and introduce you to the future of
journalism (http://www.dailyiowan.com/media/paper599/news/2005/10/13/Opinions/On.Schoolings.Useless.Lessons-1019353.shtml) by way of her recent letter to the editor.


I loved high school. I loved the memories I have of parties, football games, and hanging out with my friends. These are the things I have taken with me, not the useless information acquired in the classroom.

I remember complaining about how I'd never use knowledge I gained in the classroom in real life. I regretted all the time I devoted to school because, in the end, I didn't remember the algebraic equations, historical dates, or the periodic table.

A problem exists within the high-school education system: It doesn't prepare students for their careers. When I decided in high school that my major was going to be journalism, I took the only class offered by my school in hopes of learning the journalistic writing style. I didn't learn anything from that class. My teacher was not a journalism teacher; she was an English teacher.

...

How is this fair? I shouldn't have to give up my dream of working at Glamour magazine because my GPA was low - all because of some stupid gen-ed classes that I was forced to take. Let's just get rid of them.



Oh yes, the horror of needing to be able to write.... English.

The difficulty of having to be able to learn to assimilate ,digest, and then present organized thoughts on disparate subjects.

The incredible unfairness of having to apply oneself to acheive one's dreams.


Yes, why oh why should life require that of a journalist? It's just so darn unfair.....




But have no fear Stacey, the future is now! These traits already seem out of favour in the media so don't give up your dreams of a long career in the hard-hitting world of discussing celebrity hemlines.

If it could happen to half the hacks out there, it could happen to you too!




Sweet Jebus, this had best not be the prevalent thinking in journalism schools these days....

Oh, I firmly believe that Jayson Blair and Judith Miller are at the forefront of American journalism today. And the New York Times is leading the charge into the future.

Do either of them also write under the pen-name of Stacy Perk?

:D

It horrifies me that I have to agree with Sierra on this. Of course, the answer is for those who wish to be real journalists is to become real journalists, rather than wait for academia to make them so -- and by extension, then wait for the stories to be handed to them just like their degrees. This isn't how the old muckrakers worked.

Oh yes, the horror of needing to be able to write.... English.

The difficulty of having to be able to learn to assimilate ,digest, and then present organized thoughts on disparate subjects.

Don't worry...I want to go into journalism, and those skills are the exact reason I'm doing a history degree at the moment. The future of journalism isn't all doom and gloom.

Do either of them also write under the pen-name of Stacy Perk?

:D

I think that's Jayson's new name (he had a hard time finding a job with his old name).

I find it interesting that Judith Miller's silence seems to have had little to do with First Amendment issues, and more with her trying to cover her Republican friends (who also gave her inside access to just about everything). As far as I'm concerned, the people running the New York Times need to just open their office windows and jump out - their splattered remains would be a more insightful story than their paper will ever produce again.

I think that's Jayson's new name (he had a hard time finding a job with his old name).

I find it interesting that Judith Miller's silence seems to have had little to do with First Amendment issues, and more with her trying to cover her Republican friends (who also gave her inside access to just about everything). As far as I'm concerned, the people running the New York Times need to just open their office windows and jump out - their splattered remains would be a more insightful story than their paper will ever produce again.


You won't get much argument from me over that one. It's no accident that Judy was responsible for most of the White-house-ass-sucking rah-rah articles before the war that the Times ended up apologizing for later....

You won't get much argument from me over that one. It's no accident that Judy was responsible for most of the White-house-ass-sucking rah-rah articles before the war that the Times ended up apologizing for later....

My question is why?

It's obvious to me that the New York Times has about as much credibility as a news organization as the National Enquirer - maybe less.

My question is why?

It's obvious to me that the New York Times has about as much credibility as a news organization as the National Enquirer - maybe less.


Why what? Why she still has a job?

Access no doubt. She IS after all, a valued conduit into the Whitehouse.

Where she falls down is by buying all their bullshit and spewing it out in print.


I dunno, maybe the owner is Karl Rove's gay lover or something. For whatever reason that paper seems to enjoy being the propoganda arm of this administration.

Why what? Why she still has a job?

Access no doubt. She IS after all, a valued conduit into the Whitehouse.

Where she falls down is by buying all their bullshit and spewing it out in print.


I dunno, maybe the owner is Karl Rove's gay lover or something. For whatever reason that paper seems to enjoy being the propoganda arm of this administration.

It's not even doing a good job of being a propaganda arm. Why didn't they fire her a long time ago? So what if she has access? It obviously isn't any good. The editors must have bought the bullshit too.

The worst part is that I do believe she DID have a security clearance to know about Valerie Plame. If so, everyone on the White House staff has a nice fig leaf - and Judith will go to jail.

Won't that be funny. I bet in the future, journalists will refuse to accept certain access and refuse security clearances - just to keep from being used as bait.

It's not even doing a good job of being a propaganda arm. Why didn't they fire her a long time ago? So what if she has access? It obviously isn't any good. The editors must have bought the bullshit too.

The worst part is that I do believe she DID have a security clearance to know about Valerie Plame. If so, everyone on the White House staff has a nice fig leaf - and Judith will go to jail.

Won't that be funny. I bet in the future, journalists will refuse to accept certain access and refuse security clearances - just to keep from being used as bait.


Well now in every other reporters eyes she's a martyr on the altar of "journalistic integrity" so they CAN'T fire her. Every reporter in the country would be trashing the paper if they did that.