just FYI, journalism is dead.

[Lerkfish]

I know, I know, we've all noticed the flies buzzing on the corpse for some time now.

What I'm saying is that it is not only dead, it is extinct as a species.
It was insidiously destroyed from within by corporate interests over a period of about 15 years. All the viable egg sacs have been burned.

Not only do the current owners dance on the grave, due to no FCC oversight of consequence, those owners have amassed such a large monopoly over the propaganda machine that they are powerful enough, in coordination with corrupt officials, to maintain that monopoly and destroy any minor annoyances like competition.


Actually, journalism was in hospice already when JOA (Joint Operating Agreements) were allowed to flourish, which allowed one of two competing papers to swallow the weaker one, and then print both papers on the same press, eliminating over time any sort of philosophical opposition to a monolithic political propaganda tool.

The web is our only hope, but its amazingly vulnerable. All you have to do is look at China and Google. Astroturfing. FBI investigations of political sites.

(Hello, Agent Mike).

[Xipe Totec]

1. This is news?

It's been dead so long, the carcass stopped smelling.

[LiberalEsto]

2. I kinda knew that

I was a newspaper reporter for many years, starting in 1972. I worked at a major metropolitan daily for 11 years. My last newspaper job was in 1997. Haven't been able to get a job at a paper since then, although I've tried.

I'm 58 and obsolete.

[Kerrytravelers]

3. I went to J-School at USC in the 90's. All my profs were working professionals.

And they were already saying the flies were buzzing the corps that were being eaten by vultures. We were advised to either work for a foreign press here in the states or leave the country and work for actual journalists.

I just left the profession.

[DJ13]

4. I think journalism died when Newt's Contract on America became "news"

Real investigative reporting never recovered from that propaganda.

[trumad]

5. Duh.

[Lerkfish]

6. I guess my point was I keep reading threads here in aghast of CNN or MSNBC or whatever

shocked that no real journalism is going on.

I guess I"m pointing out that they should give up on that.

[trumad]

7. I agree with you...

Gerbilisim has been dead to me for years...

[calico1]

8. It's been dead since the early 80's. n/t

[Echo In Light]

11. +1

[jobycom]

14. That's when the major "news" outlets became the PR firm for the Republican Party.

Once they advertised Reagan into office and ran interference for him when he kept getting caught in treasonous acts, he rewarded them with major corporate tax breaks and deregulation, and it's been downhill since then. Downhill as in, over the cliff.

[kgnu_fan]

9. Would you please support community radio activism?

Will you please listen to KGNU(www.kgnu.org) for example? We have been running our radio station for the last 32 years and we are all volunteers.... reporters, engineers, dj, webmaster... all... And we were one of the first radio stations that started to carry Democracy Now with Amy Goodman when nobody was paying attention to her.

Journalism is what we make. Please do not give up. Will you please support us or please make one community radio in your area. Radio is not that hard... You can do it, too. If want to know how. probably we can show you where to start....

Anyway, if you live in Colorado, you can come and listen to Bob McChesney.. here is the info.

Bob McChesney & John Nichols Will Speak to Benefit KGNU

Robert McChesney is the author/editor of 16 books. He holds an endowed Professorship in Communications Studies at the University of Illinois. John Nichols is Washington correspondent for the The Nation and is one of Americas leading progressive authors and political journalists. McChesney & Nichols are the founders of Free Press, the leading media reform organization and creators of the National Media Reform Conference

A donation of $10-$20 is suggested at the door. More information is available by calling 303-449-4885 during business hours.


Unitarian Universalist Church 5000 Pennsylvania Ave, Apr 26 at 07:00 PM

[jobycom]

10. It may be alive, but it is certainly not supported by any major networks or media outlets.

I think the principles of journalism have been tossed in the trash by the entertainment-driven concept of "news" today. Outlets that used to report news now report stories meant to entertain and hold an audience rather than to inform and educate an audience. Spin replaces facts, journalistic integrity loses out to personality and opinion. I quit watching news long ago, but a couple of years ago I had CNN on and listened to a reporter leading off every story with some interjection, like "You're not going to believe this," or "Wow, what until you hear this one." When you've got to introduce a story by telling someone they won't believe it, you've gone a long way from any useful form of journalism.

But the principles are still out there, and there are reporters and journalists who want them to be followed. Right now those people rarely get platforms in any consistent way. But maybe when the world turns again, they will be in the wings waiting, and can get it started again.

We are in the same type of period as the Yellow Journalism era was, where the media hypes its own agenda and feels it's done its job if it sells the most papers. The media now cheerleads popular ideas and people, manipulates people into wars (there are so many similarities between Iraq and the Spanish-American war that it's heartbreaking), and never considers the truth or their responsibility to the world. Because people don't demand more, they hire entertainers, and leave the real journalists to tap away in obscure corners of the Internet. But sooner or later they will want the real journalists back. I hope.

[kgnu_fan]

12. We need to refuse to be "spoon fed" --- need to act like an adult who can eat real food

Passivity is a sin. Democracy does not work when people are lazy....

[jobycom]

13. That's why DU exists.

:) :hi:

[Junkdrawer]

15. A penny of propaganda saves a dollar's worth of social spending....

This time next year, we'll be praising Obama for only cutting social security in half.

[YOY]

16. Ohhh...but that corpse is so liberal!!! Or rather its corporate successor is.

At least according to the dipshits I occasionally deal with.

And I've gathered Liberal = Anything that doesn't agree with Rush Limbaugh.

[Toasterlad]

17. Helen Thomas Is Still Alive.

[Odin2005]

18. K&R