In the wake of Buzzfeed’s fake reporting about President Trump this week, Roger Simon has a nice piece out at PJ Media dismissing the profession of journalism as a scam.
He’s certainly not far wrong, as both Jim Acosta and Buzzfeed prove. As far as the national media goes, we know we can’t trust anything out of them. But I do hold out hope that community journalism can still be saved. As an editor at a local newspaper for the better part of four decades, I’ve seen the best and worst of my profession. Sadly, although there are still journalists at daily papers who see their role as telling other people’s stories, more and more see their role as telling other people what to think.
I think the problem has its roots in the invention of the 24-hour cable news network and the elevation of the lowly reporter into a grand poobah with knowledge and wisdom about all things. (Think Wizard of Oz before the curtain is drawn back!) I’ve written about this extensively over the last 15 years, and am currently collecting my media commentary into Volume 4 of the Heartland Diary USA series. It should be available by February.
I’ve been pleased to find out that my columns hold up very well. Here, for instance, is a quote from my 2005 column at the Daily Inter Lake titled “Media Madness”:
“Fact of the matter is that the national news media — in particular the cable news channels — thrive on controversy, and they will go anywhere to find it, or to manufacture it if need be. Indeed, some of those reporters go to such great lengths to shed light on dark places that they might sometimes be mistaken for suppositories.”
Ladies and gentlemen, I give you Buzzfeed.
To read more of my columns about the Dishonest Media, the Deep Swamp, the failed presidencies of George W. Bush and Barack Obama, and Trump’s war to restore American greatness, read my “Why We Needed Trump” trilogy. Part 1 is subtitled “Bush’s Global Failure: Half Right.” Part 2 is “Obama’s Fundamental Transformation: Far Left.” Part 3 is “Trump’s American Vision: Just Right.” They are available at Amazon in paperback or Kindle editions. Also please considering leaving a review in support of my conservative commentary on one or all of my book pages at Amazon! Thanks! –Frank D. Miele
