Someone asked why I invited Jon Stewart to be the first guest on the Journal’s premiere in 2007. “Because Mark Twain isn’t available,” I answered. I was serious. Like Twain, Stewart has proven that truth is more digestible when it’s marinated in humor. – Bill Moyers A sad state of journalism when its top program and its most-popular individual is a fake — I’m not faking it though, when I laugh Read More ...
As the US comes to grips with the plain idea that we’re a gun-wielding, dangerous society, and despite all the comfy talk about “civility,” from President Obama to Rep. John ‘The Boner’ Boehner, the culture created this past decade will not allow it. Hilarious — Horse walks into a bar, bartender asks: “Why the long face?” Horror talk from the wing-nuttery side of our padded room won’t bring much laughter Read More ...
Not! A new Gallup poll indicates a majority of US peoples don’t trust the mass media — Trust in the media is now slightly higher than the record-low trust in the legislative branch but lower than trust in the executive and judicial branches of government, even though trust in all three branches is down sharply this year. These findings also further confirm a separate Gallup poll that found little confidence Read More ...
Although informative and hilarious, the TV news programs on Comedy Central present a stark, and sad reminder of just how bad journalism in general (or honest-to-goodness news gathering) has become in the last few years. When the best news programs on TV are phony mock-ups — WTF! (Illustration found here). Of course, the massive, humongous problem is how divided the US, and the overwhelming assholeness of Fox News, the worst Read More ...
Highlights the desperate plight of news gathering: Editor&Publisher, an authentic cornerstone of journalism will cease publication at the end of this year. The announcement was made Thursday on its online site. An interview today with Greg Mitchell, E&P‘s editor since 2002, on the demise of the newspaper-trade industry/journo-icon can be found at Columbia Journalism Review. Read a brief Wikipedia-history of E&P here — the magazine was founded in 1901 and six Read More ...
In the past few years, a lot of people and organizations who should have been the standard bearers for news gathering and reporting have dropped the ball big time — Journalism sucks nowadays. Despite all kinds of media available, the exciting journalistic genre of “investigative reporting” has nearly disappeared off the mainstream radar. Except sadly at Comedy Central. (Illustration found here). Jon Stewart and the The Daily Show has been Read More ...
