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scaeagles · 05-17-2005, 09:31 AM

I realize this thread is not about Newsweek per se, but if it is about shoddy journalism, of course that ties in.

The journalists of today typically do not just want to report the news. They want to make the news by being the person to break the big story. They want to be famous. They want to be the next Woodward or Bernstein. They want to find the conspiracy or the hidden truth and be the first to report it. In a world of 24 hour news stations and internet news sites and newspaper and local news and the nightly network news - they want to get noticed. The way to do this is to be the first person to report on the found "piano virtuoso" or to have a story published about the desecration of the Quran by US troops. (Interestingly, it is not reported where these Muslims got the copies of the Quran - being the US government.) Then the reporter becomes the story - being interviewed about how they broke the big piece, showing up on Larry King or Hannity and Colmes. This is why the New York Times reporter.....drawing a blank on his name, but he's the guy who was fabricating all sorts of stuff and got caught....did it. This is why Isikoff went with a huge story that had one unverified and unnamed source (I won't go so far as to say he made it up). Newsweek went with it because they wanted to be first. It's the same thing that happened with CBS and the forged documents.

Reporting actual news isn't enough. It must be sensasionalized. It must be the big story. It must be first. And accuracy be damned. It is things like this that continue to erode the confindence of the public in the media at large. This is not a good thing.

Edited to add: What gets reported in this way is typically negative stories. Reporters get famous most quickly by reporting news that will "bring someone down", a la Watergate. Political leanings come into play, whether to the left or to the right. I doubt you would find Isikoff writing a questionable and unverified piece putting any positive light on anything to do with Iraq or the war on terror.

05-17-2005, 09:31 AM	#3
scaeagles I LIKE! Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 7,819	I realize this thread is not about Newsweek per se, but if it is about shoddy journalism, of course that ties in. The journalists of today typically do not just want to report the news. They want to make the news by being the person to break the big story. They want to be famous. They want to be the next Woodward or Bernstein. They want to find the conspiracy or the hidden truth and be the first to report it. In a world of 24 hour news stations and internet news sites and newspaper and local news and the nightly network news - they want to get noticed. The way to do this is to be the first person to report on the found "piano virtuoso" or to have a story published about the desecration of the Quran by US troops. (Interestingly, it is not reported where these Muslims got the copies of the Quran - being the US government.) Then the reporter becomes the story - being interviewed about how they broke the big piece, showing up on Larry King or Hannity and Colmes. This is why the New York Times reporter.....drawing a blank on his name, but he's the guy who was fabricating all sorts of stuff and got caught....did it. This is why Isikoff went with a huge story that had one unverified and unnamed source (I won't go so far as to say he made it up). Newsweek went with it because they wanted to be first. It's the same thing that happened with CBS and the forged documents. Reporting actual news isn't enough. It must be sensasionalized. It must be the big story. It must be first. And accuracy be damned. It is things like this that continue to erode the confindence of the public in the media at large. This is not a good thing. Edited to add: What gets reported in this way is typically negative stories. Reporters get famous most quickly by reporting news that will "bring someone down", a la Watergate. Political leanings come into play, whether to the left or to the right. I doubt you would find Isikoff writing a questionable and unverified piece putting any positive light on anything to do with Iraq or the war on terror. Last edited by scaeagles : 05-17-2005 at 09:37 AM.
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