Saturday, October 20, 2007

Score one for integrity

Maybe the corrupt old mainstream media isn't the worst of all possible journalism.

Check out Techbloggers Have Sold Their Souls for some observations about why the conventions of honest journalism, integrity and accountability still belong in the world of news and information.

3 comments:

  1. Anonymous9:43 AM

    Best comment at the linked site is:
    "Pot. Kettle."

    We should examine our own souls every day at every newspaper, especially in business news as resources tighten.

    Printing press releases is easy and cheap. Our integrity is our brand.

    Keep ears open to critics like this:

    http://observerobserver.
    blogspot.com/2007/09/
    meanwhile-village-burned-
    to-ground.html

    ReplyDelete
  2. Anonymous12:40 PM

    Yeah, I wouldn't be so gleeful attacking tech bloggers as a general group. Those that choose to "sell out" in this way are known quantities among the readers, and -- bonus -- the writers are often transparent about their deals (not always true in mainstream media). Besides, this is just a page torn from the old media playbook.

    Sometimes it takes a while for the general public to recognize the agendas of journalists or media companies. For many years Fox News wasn't so easily dismissed as a right-wing cheerleader; they were considered "mainstream" by much of the general public. Today everyone knows better. This stuff works itself out over time as the shills are isolated and the honest work shines through.

    There is and always will be a spectrum of more reliable and less reliable journalists and outlets working any given story or class of stories. To hold up "mainstream media" as a generalized paragon of quality and reliability is a stretch and shows, ironically, a tremendous bias.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree completely, John; I don't intend to contrast *all* bloggers with *all* traditional journalists. In the post above this one, I was clearer in describing it as "certain techblogger ethics" to differentiate.

    ReplyDelete

 
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