Category: Current Affairs

O MST3K, Where Art Thou?

An article from the Oregon Daily Emerald:

Esteemed Steamed journalist lectures others on ethics

L.A. Times Editor John Carroll spoke about journalism ethics and pseudo-journalism at the Gerlinger Lounge on Thursdayattempts to help Fox News take mote out of its eye.

The media industry—Yes, let’s be honest about it: It’s an industry—has been infested by the rise of pseudo-journalists who go against journalism’s long tradition to serve the public with accurate information, Los Angeles Times Editor John S. Carroll told a packed room in the Gerlinger Lounge on Thursday.

Carroll delivered the annual Ruhl Lecture, titled "The Wolf in Reporter’s Clothing: The Rise of Pseudo-Journalism in America." “We use that title every year,” said Break Fastly of the school, “yet nobody seems to notice.” The lecture was sponsored by the School of Journalism and Communication.

"All over the country there are offices that look like newsrooms and there are people in those offices that look for all the world just like journalists, but they are not practicing journalism," he said. "They’ve been replaced by pods. They regard the audience with a cold cynicism that comes from being an alien, plant-based life form. They are practicing something I call a pseudo-journalism, since they are pseudo-people and thus pseudo-journalists, and they view their audience as something to be manipulated and replaced."

In a scathing critique of Fox News and some talk show hosts who are also, coincidentally, on Fox News, such as Bill O’Reilly, Carroll said they were a "different breed of journalists" who misled their audience while claiming to inform them and hoping to lull them to sleep next to a large extraterrestrial pod. He said they did not fit into the long legacy of journalists with Utopian Press International who got their facts right and respected and cared for their audiences like sheep.

Carroll cited a study released last year, the name of which you, the reader, don’t need to know, that showed Americans had threefour main misconceptions about Iraq: That weapons of mass destruction had been found, a connection between al-Qaeda and Iraq had been demonstrated, that we won so quickly because we were assisted by pixies, and that the world approved of U.S intervention in Iraq. He said 80 percent of people who primarily got their news from Fox believed at least one of the misconceptions. He said the figure was more than 57 percentage points higher than people who get their news from public news broadcasting, who tended to believe that we were assisted by fairies rather than pixies.

“This had nothing to do with people choosing their news sources based on their political preferences or hearing what they want to hear,” he said.

"How in the world could Fox have left its listeners so deeply in the dark?" Carroll asked, implying that Fox News had actually reported the misconceptions he attributes to its audience. “Fox News needs to go beyond just correctly reporting the news. It needs to embrace ‘outcome-based reporting’—a process of slanting coverage and hammering certain themes to ensure that the audience thinks what the network tells it to think, as with PBS and NPR.”

He added that a difference exists between journalism and propaganda.

As he addressed some of the hard hits journalism has taken in the field of ethics everywhere except Fox News, Carroll notedsidestepped culpability by noting that anyone could be a journalist because, unlike other fields,due to the First Amendment, journalism had no qualification tests, boards to censure misconduct or a universally accepted set of standards. “Even the relevance of fairness, accuracy, and presenting more than one side of a story are hotly disputed in many newsrooms,” he said.

However, Carroll said a great depth of feeling remains on the importance of ethics that is centered around newspapers’ sense of responsibilities to their readers, leaving the audience wondering what he meant by this.

"I’ve learned that these ethics are deeply believed in even though in some places they are not even written down, and—as noted—journalism has no universally accepted set of standards" he said. When ethical guidelines are ignored, their proponents respond with ‘tribal ferocity,’" he added, placing a bone through a hole in his nose.

"If you stray badly from these rules, you will pay dearly," he said ominously, while fingering a large stone dagger.

He said while much media has ended up "in the gutter," the L.A. Times has a different philosophy and was dedicated to taking the "high road, where it has a tactical advantage in dealing with its enemies." "I do think that a lot of newspaper people have made a lot of strategic mistakes when ambushing other tribes of journalists," he said. "They cut back space on things people really need to know, like stories about how objective journalists are."

Carroll, whose career as a journalist spans 40 years, joined the L.A. Times in 2000 when he was accidentally hired due to a Y2K computer bug, according to the paper’s Web site. Under his leadership, the paper earned five Pulitzer Prizes this year, which would be meaningless if journalism lacks agreed upon standards.

Tim Gleason, dean of the SOJC, said Carroll is a "journalist’s journalist." “He is a manipulator of the manipulators, so we asked him to give this lecture: to do what he does best.”

"As an editor he cares deeply about the integrity of the profession and he believes that news, real news as opposed to pod-based, pseudo-journalism, is the heart and soul of the business of journalism. There, I said it: Journalism is a business," Gleason said as he introduced Carroll.

University graduate student Mose “Yes This Is My Real Name” Mosely had similar sentiments. He said he admired Carroll not only for his vast experience around the country, but also for his consistent commitment to his ideals. “I’d never heard of him before this lecture, but I’m trying to get a good grade and so I was very impressed by him.”

"The depth of his integrity is very impressive," Mosely said. “My classmates and I did tricorder scans of his structural integrity during the lecture, and it was very deep.”

Bobbie Willis, a staff writer for the Eugene Weekly, said she felt Carroll brought up some relevant issues in today’s media environment.

"It really made me take a look at my career as a journalist," she said. “I’d never done that before. Until the lecture, I had been completely un-self-reflective, just ‘going with the flow’ of what other journalists thought.”

Willis said she understood Carroll’s concerns about the state of journalism nationally, but once she realized she was being quoted for a story that would be read by the general public, she quickly added that many of the journalists she has encountered were very committed to accurate and ethical reporting.

Carroll had a few words of advise [sic] for student journalists; he told them to pick their boss carefully.

"Don’t be lured by the money or the big name of the employer," he said, adding that journalists should not allow their integrity to be compromised by unscrupulous employers. "Don’t be a piano player in a whorehouse," he said, bizarrely. “Instead, aspire to the ideals of the ‘free love’ generation!”

Since the audience consisted of Pacific Northwest journalists and journalism students trying to get a good grade, The Oregon Daily Emerald was unable to find dissenting points of view to interview for this story.

Foley Addresses Advertisers

A nice little story about Archbishop John Foley addressing a group of advertisers. Archbishop Foley is the president of the Pontifical Council for Social Communications and, as it happens, a REALLY funny guy. He came with on last year’s Catholic Answers Cruise to Alaska, and kept the attendees in stiches with his humorous reminiscences about his career in the Church. With the native talents to do stand-up comedy, he’s by far the least dry Church official I’ve ever had the pleasure to meet.

His address to a group of advertisers put me in mind of a line from the 1967 film Bedazzled, in which Peter Cook (playing the devil) explains to Dudley More what a rut he’s been in of late:

There was a time when I used to get lots of ideas. . . . I thought up the Seven Deadly Sins in one afternoon. The only thing I’ve come up with recently is advertising.

A Time For Honesty

Archbishop John J. Myers of the Archdiocese of Newark has released a pastoral letter titled A Time For Honesty, in which he takes on the subject of abortion and the role it needs to have in Catholics’ political positions.

He is right on target. Go Archbishop Myers!

Some pertinent excerpts:

There is no right more fundamental than the right to be born and reared with all the dignity the human person deserves. On this grave issue, public officials cannot hold themselves excused from their duties, especially if they claim to be Catholic. Every faithful Catholic must be not only “personally opposed” to abortion, but also must live that opposition in his or her actions.

As voters, Catholics are under an obligation to avoid implicating themselves in abortion, which is one of the gravest of injustices. Certainly, there are other injustices, which must be addressed, but the unjust killing of the innocent is foremost among them.

Catholics who publicly dissent from the Church’s teaching on the right to life of all unborn children should recognize that they have freely chosen by their own actions to separate themselves from what the Church believes and teaches.

One who practices such dissent, even in the mistaken belief that it is permissible, may remain a Catholic in some sense, but has abandoned the full Catholic faith. For such a person to express ‘communion’ with Christ and His Church by the reception of the Sacrament of the Eucharist is objectively dishonest.

To receive unworthily or without proper dispositions is a very serious sin against the Lord. St. Paul explicitly teaches this in his letter to the Church at Corinth when he wrote, “This means that whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord unworthily sins against the body and blood of the Lord. A man should examine himself first; only then should he eat of the bread and drink of the cup. He who eats and drinks without recognizing the body eats and drinks a judgment on himself” (1 Cor 11: 27-29).

To receive communion when one has, through public or private action, separated oneself from unity with Christ and His Church, is objectively dishonest. It is an expression of communion by one’s action that is objectively not in accordance with one’s heart, mind, and choices.

That some Catholics, who claim to believe what the Church believes, are willing to allow others to continue directly to kill the innocent is a grave scandal. The situation is much much worse when these same leaders receive the Eucharist when they are not objectively in communion with Christ and His Church. Their objective dishonesty serves to compound the scandal.

Some might argue that the Church has many social teachings and the teaching on abortion is only one of them. This is, of course, correct. The Church’s social teaching is a diverse and rich tradition of moral truths and biblical insights applied to the political, economic, and cultural aspects of our society. All Catholics should form and inform their conscience in accordance with these teachings. But reasonable Catholics can (and do) disagree about how to apply these teachings in various situations.

For example, our preferential option for the poor is a fundamental aspect of this teaching. But, there are legitimate disagreements about the best way or ways truly to help the poor in our society. No Catholic can legitimately say, “I do not care about the poor.” If he or she did so this person would not be objectively in communion with Christ and His Church. But, both those who propose welfare increases and those who propose tax cuts to stimulate the economy may in all sincerity believe that their way is the best method really to help the poor. This is a matter of prudential judgment made by those entrusted with the care of the common good. It is a matter of conscience in the proper sense.

But with abortion (and for example slavery, racism, euthanasia and trafficking in human persons) there can be no legitimate diversity of opinion. The direct killing of the innocent is always a grave injustice. One should not permit unjust killing any more than one should permit slave-holding, racist actions, or other grave injustices. From the perspective of justice, to say “I am personally opposed to abortion but…” is like saying “I personally am against slavery, but I can not impose my personal beliefs on my neighbor.” Obviously, recognizing the grave injustice of slavery requires one to ensure that no one suffers such degradation. Similarly recognizing that abortion is unjust killing requires one—in love and justice—to work to overcome the injustice.

Episode 1.5: The Snakehead Menace

This story about a pond in Maryland that was recently drained after a Chinese snakehead fish was found in it . . .

. . . gives me the opportunity to point to one of my favorite Scrappleface stories of all time.

(Along with another of my favorite Scrappleface stories, and one that isn’t even from Scrappleface. These two don’t have anything to do with snakehead fish. They’re just funny.)

Terminatorland

It is a little surreal living in a state where Arnold Scharzenegger is governor:

Even his critics find him a hard man to dislike. This is a governor who bombs around the freeways with his old motorcycle buddies every weekend, who loves a crowd and whose favorite word is “fantastic.” His wife is “fantastic.” [Loathsome, disgraced ex-governor] Gray Davis is “fantastic.” He even described a $4 million judgment against him in a campaign finance case as a “fantastic” decision. Criticism bounces off like rubber bullets. When John Burton, the Democratic leader in the State Senate, accused him of “pontificating,” the governor called him up and said: “That’s funny! Pontificate. Like the pope!” “Nothing fazes him,” Mr. Burton observed [ Author Jimmy AkinPosted on Categories Current Affairs5 Comments on Terminatorland

Gus and Ambrose Hang Out

This story is kind of touching. The relics of two doctors of the Church–St. Ambrose and his most famous convert, St. Augustine–have been placed next to each other in Milan till the end of the week.

I can’t help thinking that the two of them must be moved by this up in heaven. I know I would be moved (figuratively, not just literally) if someone placed my relics beside those of one of my best friends, *sixteen centuries* after my death. What a testament to friendship!

On the other hand, I’m much less happy to see the Italians trying to make hay regarding the immigration issue in connection with all this. (Italians, like most Europeans, tend to be crazy regarding politics.) The comment by historian Giorgio Rumi that “Augustine’s descendants at this moment in time are probably queueing outside a [Milan] police station for a residence permit” is especially tasteless. Yes, it’s true that Augustine had a son before he was a priest, and so he may well have descendants today–or maybe not. However that may be, it’s supremely tasteless to raise the possibility in the way Rumi did.

More Good News: al-Qaeda Leadership 70% Degraded

Shortly after 9/11, I was talking to a Maronite priest friend who was helping me with Arabic pronunciation, and we got to talking about bin Laden. My priest friend was very worried about the danger posed by bin Laden–and, indeed, he was and is a very dangerous man who needs to be dealt with as swiftly as possible. But I pointed out that with the new U.S. War Against Terror, it would make it much, much harder for bin Laden to operate. He could no longer come out into the open without making himself a target, and it’s hard to raise support and coordinate major attacks if you’re deep in hiding. My priest friend saw the point and was somewhat relieved by this line of thinking.

Now we have reports that bin Laden has been forced so deep into hiding that he now is only a figurehead for al-Qaeda.

The same story goes on to report:

As many as 70 percent of al-Qaeda’s leadership have been captured or killed as a result of the US-led war on terror launched in the aftermath of September 11 in Afghanistan (news – web sites) and other parts of the world, according to US intelligence officials.

More than 3,400 of the group’s lower-ranking operatives and supporters have also been detained or otherwise neutralized, these officials insist.

But a report on worldwide terrorism patterns released by the State Department Thursday acknowledged that al-Qaeda probably still has several thousand members and associates it can rely on.