Welcome to the fifth and final installment of the Scholars & Rogues year-end wrap-up. Today we tackle the dirty, but oddly riveting world of politics. We’ll take a couple shots at the even dirtier world of media that makes it all possible. Let’s start at the top, shall we? George Walker Bush: I’ve been telling my Republican friends for five
Read moreI recently offended some people, quite unintentionally, with my modest suggestion that perhaps it wasn’t in the best interests of the nation to hand over so much decision-making power to people who aren’t informed about the issues and their own system of government. (Responses ranged from “thoughtful disagreement” to what I believe is referred to as a “galloping hissy fit.”)
Read moreIt’s always confusing to sports fans, and not a little disappointing, when they encounter great talents with second-rate character. Bobby Knight is a legendary coach but a serial bully who has, on many occasions, deserved a righteous public ass-whipping. Barry Bonds was gifted with first-ballot Hall of Fame skills, but has destroyed his reputation forever thanks to a little problem
Read morePart four in a series. I hope that by this stage of the discussion a few fundamental points are evident: Traditional journalism – the institutional form that most of us grew up with and the codes that governed it – is in decline. For a variety of factors it has lost (or is rapidly losing) its place as the dominant
Read morePart three in a series. In the aftermath of the 2004 election I wrote a fairly jaded op-ed for Editor & Publisher lamenting just how badly our brave new world of electronic media had failed us. I said, in part: In the “marketplace of ideas” model that gave rise to the First Amendment, rationally self-interested citizens would enter the market
Read morePart two in a series. Let’s begin with a brief look at how Americans view the press. A 2004 Gallup Poll says “Americans rate the trustworthiness of journalists at about the level of politicians and as only slightly more credible than used-car salesmen.” Only about one in five Americans “believe journalists have high ethical standards, ranking them below auto mechanics
Read moreIt doesn’t seem controversial to suggest that journalism in America (and beyond) is in trouble, and there are any number of factors contributing to the malaise. A particular concern of mine has been the decline in the efficacy of what we’ll call “objective journalism” – that is, the institutionalized press that dominated newsgathering and production throughout the better part of
Read more[UPDATE] Hunter’s widow, Anita, has a nice post on Hunter’s birthday at Owl Farm Blog. ———– You may have noticed that Hunter Thompson is back on the masthead. Today would have been The Doctor’s 70th birthday (July 18, 1937 – February 20, 2005), and we thought it appropriate to honor the memory of a journalist who was an incredible influence
Read moreWow. It may all have been scripted, but I don’t care – MSNBC’s Mika Brzezinski is my new hero. This is priceless. Happy Friday, everybody… [Thanks to Aaron over at 5th Estate for passing this on.]
Read moreSo, CBS CEO Les Moonves thinks Dan Rather’s comments about Katie Couric are sexist, huh? CBS Corp. Chief Executive Leslie Moonves shot back at former CBS news anchor Dan Rather today, saying remarks Rather made about his successor, Katie Couric, were “sexist.”Rather, speaking on MSNBC by phone on Monday, said CBS had made the mistake of taking the evening news
Read moreFor those of you who missed it, S&R’s Denny Wilkins was on with David Goldstein of HorsesAss.org, who hosts a show on 710 KIRO in Seattle every Saturday and Sunday night. The subject was the media’s rapt fascination with the two wayward whales that are currently swimming in circles north of Rio Vista. Denny posted a pretty insightful take on
Read moreIn my last post I noted that Mitt Romney is on the stump simply making things up. And in another post from April 26 I took a stick to Secretary of State Rice for not realizing that there is no Soviet Union anymore. So what do these stories have in common? (Yes, there are politicians we’d do well to keep
Read moreI heard the news today, oh boy… (February 22, 2005) – One of the brightest lights in the American firmament blinked out Sunday. Word of Hunter Thompson’s death arrived at our house via the crawl on the network happy news this morning , and there’s irony enough in that fact alone. I barely know where to start. Most of us
Read moreDr. Hunter S. Thompson is most remembered for over-the-top writings and personality. But it’s worth remembering that he was also a damned fine reporter, with a gift for details and one of the best crap detectors in history. (February 21, 2005) – One of the brightest lights in the American firmament blinked out Sunday. Word of Hunter Thompson’s death arrived
Read moreThis article originally appeared in the Shoptalk section of the Editor & Publisher online edition. — High hopes for the watchdogs in the blogosphere during Campaign 2004 were only partly realized, as consumers strapped on their blinders and hung a fast left or right, looking for a witty putdown they might agree with. (November 13, 2004) — Expectations were high
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