History on the Run

A lot has been said about the "Main Stream Media" and about the bias' (both left and right) in the press. Thought I'd share a few defining quotes about journalism. Let me know if you have a different perspective on what journalism is and how you protect yourself from being swayed by media bias.. not to say that we aren't all swayed a bit by what we read, see and hear :)

Journalism: writing characterized by a direct presentation of facts or description of events without an attempt at interpretation; writing designed to appeal to current popular taste or public interest. -Merriam-Webster Dictionary

Journalism is in fact history on the run. -Thomas Griffith

Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine. -Walter Cronkite

The public have an insatiable curiosity to know everything. Except what is worth knowing. Journalism, conscious of this, and having tradesman-like habits, supplies their demands. -Oscar Wilde

I hope we never live to see the day when a thing is as bad as some of our newspapers make it. -Will Rogers

Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air. -Henry Anatole Grunwald

We journalists make it a point to know very little about an extremely wide variety of topics; this is how we stay objective. -Dave Barry

Journalism largely consists of saying "Lord Jones is Dead" to people who never knew that Lord Jones was alive. -G. K. Chesterton

Rock journalism is people who can't write interviewing people who can't talk for people who can't read. -Frank Zappa
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3 comments:

  1. RygelSeptember 20, 2009 at 11:29:00 AM CDT

    because of the internet, any given event will have multiple reportings, each one influenced by the perspective and perception of the author. If only there was a way to compile and integrate all these reports to come up with what really happened

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  2. Shane Vander HartSeptember 20, 2009 at 6:30:00 PM CDT

    The dictionary quote you give is dead on, as far as, what objective journalism is supposed to be.

    The problem with that is what facts are being presented. When I was in J-School we were taught to ask - "who? what? where? when? why? how?" and we should be getting all sides.

    That doesn't happen anymore. Stories are often overlooked. I think what Rygel said is true, you need to look at a different reports to come to a conclusion as to what happened.

    Provided it was reported at all.

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  3. kc bobSeptember 20, 2009 at 6:36:00 PM CDT

    The internet can be a great place for diverse story reporting.. politico balances out huffpo.. fox does the same for msnbc.. the idea is to not be gullible.. check the story out even if it agrees with your ideology.

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