Monday, June 17, 2013

Busy day today...late night

I'm going to be busy with other things today so I don't have time to write much. I'll just say that it was interesting being on Twitter the last couple of days and watching the firestorm that erupted over a CNET article claiming that the NSA could listen to American's telephone calls without a warrant. Like so much of what's been written/talked about in the press on this story...turns out it was false. If you're interested in the details, Bob Cesca (once again) has it all. As is my usual wont, I'm especially interested in the big picture conclusions - and I totally agree with Cesca.
Instead of focusing on how we can cut away any government abuses of power, the real story...has become the collapse of journalism. In addition to the sad state of digital journalism, the truly harrowing impact of this trend is the rapid unraveling of activist credibility when, in fact, it’s critical for any effort against government overreach to stand above reproach...That’s why articles like the ones published by Greenwald and McCullagh infuriate me so much. It’s counterproductive and embarrassing to the broader effort. There’s enough fuel without all of the hyperbole to achieve the necessary checks. But when the Cause becomes tainted with so many glaring falsehoods, it becomes too easy to cast the effort as being orchestrated by alarmist crackpots and bug-eyed conspiracy theorists who deal in misinformation to get what they want.
Hmmm...sounds like what I just said a few days ago is still happening. On something as important as this story, its sad to see the sensationalists mining it for clicks and hyping it for their own agenda rather than providing accurate information. I have a hunch that before this is over, some journalistic careers are going to tank spectacularly.

The really big news on all this is that I'm going to have a late night tonight.
It has been confirmed that the discussion was about NSA, etc. I'm glad to see that the President chose a journalist like Rose with such an impeccable reputation. So the big story will be the interpretation of this interview tomorrow...stay tuned.
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousJune 17, 2013 at 8:19 AM

    You have been one of my go-to sources on this issue in particular. There have been precious few journalists who have done their jobs - it's appalling and terrifying -- and you have been so extremely helpful in directing us to the few credible sources. We are fighting back instead of being overwhelmed with teh Stupid and the Craven, thanks to bloggers like you.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tien LeJune 17, 2013 at 9:13 AM

    The practice of calling these people journalists is diminishing the word itself. We need to develop a standard of achievement and accuracy before we call someone a journalist. Otherwise they're just media ambulance chasers. Is tabloidist a word? It should be.

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    Replies
    1. UnknownJune 17, 2013 at 10:08 AM

      perhaps they should be called .."Media Jocks"

      Delete

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