RIP, MSM

NanceGreggs

(1000+ posts) Send PM | Profile | Ignore

Mon Jun-16-08 08:48 PM
Original message

RIP, MSM

Edited on Mon Jun-16-08 08:56 PM by NanceGreggs

I never met Tim Russert. He may have been a model father, a devoted husband, a caring son – and I’m willing to take his family’s word for all of the above.

However, I draw the line at being told a great journalist has passed – and I don’t care who is offended by that remark. That’s because I have been, and continue to be, offended by the notion that what passes for “journalism” these days hasn’t even a passing acquaintance with what real journalism is all about.

There have been many posts over the past few days berating those who have complained about the canonization of Russert, along with the non-stop coverage of his passing, with the admonition that our current crop of media journalists have a right to wallow publicly in their grief, because they have lost one of their own.

And therein lies the problem.

Where is the media coverage of our own who have passed? Where is the tribute to our troops who have fallen? Where is the in-depth coverage of our fellow citizens who have died due to homelessness, poverty, or lack of medical insurance? Where are the news stories about our fellow human beings in Iraq who have suffered untimely deaths – infants, toddlers, children – due to our actions? Where is the twelve-part series on our first responders who have died as a result of doing their jobs, without question or hesitation, in the aftermath of 9-11? Where are the tearful reminiscences about those who perished during Katrina while our government stood by and did nothing?

They were all a part of us; they were our fighting men and women, our sons and daughters, our neighbors and friends, our fellow countrymen, our fellow world citizens. When do we get to grieve? When do we get to take over the airwaves and say, “We have lost one of our own, and due respect should and must be paid”?

The MSM coverage of Tim Russert’s passing, and the idea that we should all indulge the incessant ramblings of his colleagues because they are “hurting”, is offensive to me on every level imaginable.

I can’t help but wonder how many of our own would not have perished if the so-called “newsmen” – who now wail like inconsolable children – had, even once, questioned this administration’s justification for war, this government’s total disregard for the humane treatment of others, this group of war-profiteers who lined their pockets while American troops went into battle without sufficient weapons and body-armour – while citizens went hungry, while Iraqi children were mutilated, while torture became “acceptable”, while the Constitution and the rule of law were cast aside as unworthy of nightly coverage on what is jokingly referred to as “the news”.

With apologies to no one, I have no patience for the ill-informed, well-coiffed talking-heads rambling on about their collective grief due to the death of “one of their own”. Being one of “their own” is nothing to take pride in these days – and perhaps that is the crux of the matter; a subliminal need to mourn not the passing of a journalist, but the demise of true TV journalism itself.

Rest in peace, Tim Russert. And rest in peace, MSM journalism - which, unfortunately, pre-deceased you years ago. I only wish you and your colleagues had bothered to notice its failing health, and stepped in to save it before its untimely death.

4101