{"id":25332,"date":"2012-01-12T15:09:25","date_gmt":"2012-01-12T22:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/12\/the-most-pathetic-question-ever-asked-in-journalism.html"},"modified":"2012-01-12T18:14:35","modified_gmt":"2012-01-13T01:14:35","slug":"the-most-pathetic-question-ever-asked-in-journalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2012\/01\/12\/the-most-pathetic-question-ever-asked-in-journalism.html","title":{"rendered":"The most pathetic question ever asked in journalism"},"content":{"rendered":"

I mean, really?<\/i> <\/p>\n

When asking "Should the Times Be a Truth Vigilante?" Arthur Brisbane, the "Public Editor" (which sounds like ombudsman) for the New York Times means, "whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge \u201cfacts\u201d that are asserted by newsmakers they write about."<\/i><\/p>\n

Well, gee, let me think …<\/p>\n

Of course<\/i> it should be. Of course they should. Duh.<\/i><\/p>\n

I mean, either the "Paper of Record" is simply a PR Mill ("You say it, we'll quote it") or it's something giving us the news,<\/i> i.e., what is happening, what is the truth, what is reality.<\/p>\n

Do I expect reporters to get into shouting matches with everything a politician or celebrity or says? No, of course not. But neither do I expect reporters to act as stenographers. I expect fact-checking of at least some of the significant assertions being made, and the results included in the story. If a point has been disproven, or is subject to serious contention, I expect the reporter to raise that if the point is brought up again, and not take just a simple repetition of the point; get, at the very least, a commitment from the individual to provide backup for their statement.<\/p>\n

Is there the risk of editorializing by the reporter? Sure, that's possible, and certainly something that needs to be watched for. Will some people be upset? Quite likely. Will reporters that do this possibly lose access to interesting sources? Perhaps. Will people debate what the real facts are, or perhaps question the facts that the news organization is reporting? Altogether likely, and that's a good thing.<\/i><\/p>\n

But the alternative is zany. It turns journalism into simply typing whatever the person said, and turning discussions into simple "he-said, she-said" dictation without any assistance or information to help readers draw a conclusion. <\/p>\n

A newspaper (or other news reporting media outlet) unwilling to do this doesn't deserve to be called journalism. #ddtb<\/p>\n

\n

Embedded Link<\/strong><\/p>\n

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\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tShould The Times Be a Truth Vigilante?<\/a>
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe public editor asks for help from readers on determining how and when The Times should set the record straight on untruths in the news pages.\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I mean, really? When asking "Should the Times Be a Truth Vigilante?" Arthur Brisbane, the "Public Editor" (which sounds like ombudsman) for the New York Times means, "whether and when New York Times news reporters should challenge \u201cfacts\u201d that are asserted by newsmakers they write about." Well, gee, let me think … Of course it … Continue reading “The most pathetic question ever asked in journalism”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[106,12],"tags":[107],"class_list":["post-25332","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-plusposts","category-fourth-estate","tag-ddtb"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":38242,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2013\/07\/12\/why-does-this-corn-maze-seem-bigger-in-the-inside.html","url_meta":{"origin":25332,"position":0},"title":"Why does this Corn Maze seem bigger in the inside …?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 12-Jul-13 2:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Heh.Reshared post from +shelly tennantthe doctor who maze in york.(UK)......i'll get lost in that....n probably get exterminated by a dalek..the pic is how it looks when your in a helicopter,well i mean news reporters took the pic..York Maze Press Launch 2013 View this post on Google+","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24657,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2011\/12\/20\/face-to-face-encounters-with-the-other.html","url_meta":{"origin":25332,"position":1},"title":"Face-to-Face Encounters with the Other","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 20-Dec-11 3:44pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's a lot harder as a politician to bash people when you might run into those people anywhere ... especially when those people will then confront you about your bashing, on camera or with reporters present.I don't expect it to change the rhetorical climate this election cycle, but it's a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135820,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2018\/01\/11\/apparently-dutch-reporters-arent-willing-roll-lies.html","url_meta":{"origin":25332,"position":2},"title":"Apparently Dutch reporters aren’t willing to roll over for lies","author":"***Dave","date":"Thu 11-Jan-18 10:34pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Trump's choice of ambassador to the Netherlands has run into trouble upon arrival in that country with reporters who are interested in his past comments about Muslim-dominated \"no-go zones\"in the Netherlands, and Dutch politicians being \"burnt\" by Islamic extremists. The comments have been widely debunked, but never acknowledged as incorrect\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/01\/pete-hoekstra.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":456,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2003\/04\/11\/what_price_the.html","url_meta":{"origin":25332,"position":3},"title":"What price the truth?","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 11-Apr-03 6:27am","format":false,"excerpt":"Eason Jordan, executive news director of CNN, writes of stories about Iraq that CNN intentionally quashed in order to protect his reporters and their Iraqi employees. 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