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Sep. 20th, 2004 01:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
maidenjediInvestigative journalism has suffered a huge blow thanks to Dan Rather and CBS. The false documents used in an expose about President Bush’s National Guard service backfired not only against Rather, but at all of journalism.
The trouble here has less to do with the obvious bias and attempted character assassination than the damage false reports do to public opinion. The news media are more powerful in determining what the public thinks and believes than any other force in this country. CBS’ mistake is that the network defended false information for nearly two weeks, leaving viewers confused and skeptical.
Long gone are the days of Woodward and Bernstein, when journalists were the David to big government’s Goliath. Americans trust their news sources more implicitly than their government. Unfortunately, there are no polling booths and term limits for the media.
Rather stands before us claiming dispassionate interest in the story. It rings false, and worse, the taint of bias in his initial eagerness to defend the story undermines his credibility. This kind of story, with one questionable source and a larger agenda driving it, should have been more thoroughly investigated before it reached the public.
It is the duty of news organizations and reporters, be they print, television, or radio, to present all sides. It is the further responsibility of investigative journalists to conduct their work as meticulously as detectives; no stone unturned, no source not cross-examined.
This scandal is doing more harm to public discourse than anything else. It has taken focus off the candidates and made this election a sideshow to the mudslinging duel going on between the networks. Rather has added fuel to the flames, without adding anything worthwhile to the debate.
It goes to show you that it’s true what they say. Don’t believe everything you read or see.
I submitted this to my school newspaper, and am sharing here for posterity, because it may be too late to get it printed
The trouble here has less to do with the obvious bias and attempted character assassination than the damage false reports do to public opinion. The news media are more powerful in determining what the public thinks and believes than any other force in this country. CBS’ mistake is that the network defended false information for nearly two weeks, leaving viewers confused and skeptical.
Long gone are the days of Woodward and Bernstein, when journalists were the David to big government’s Goliath. Americans trust their news sources more implicitly than their government. Unfortunately, there are no polling booths and term limits for the media.
Rather stands before us claiming dispassionate interest in the story. It rings false, and worse, the taint of bias in his initial eagerness to defend the story undermines his credibility. This kind of story, with one questionable source and a larger agenda driving it, should have been more thoroughly investigated before it reached the public.
It is the duty of news organizations and reporters, be they print, television, or radio, to present all sides. It is the further responsibility of investigative journalists to conduct their work as meticulously as detectives; no stone unturned, no source not cross-examined.
This scandal is doing more harm to public discourse than anything else. It has taken focus off the candidates and made this election a sideshow to the mudslinging duel going on between the networks. Rather has added fuel to the flames, without adding anything worthwhile to the debate.
It goes to show you that it’s true what they say. Don’t believe everything you read or see.
I submitted this to my school newspaper, and am sharing here for posterity, because it may be too late to get it printed
