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October 24, 2008
A Journalist's Lament
Where have all the ink-stained wretches gone?
Now, don’t get me wrong. I’m not one of those people who think the media has been too hard on, say, Gov. Palin, by rushing reportorial SWAT teams to Alaska to rifle through her garbage. This is the Big Leagues, and if she wants to suit up and take the field, then Gov. Palin better be ready to play. The few instances where I think the press has gone too far - such as the Times reporter talking to Cindy McCain’s daughter’s MySpace friends - can easily be solved with a few newsroom smackdowns and temporary repostings to the Omaha Bureau.Thomas Jefferson once wrote "our liberty depends on the freedom of the press, and that cannot be limited without being lost."No, what I object to (and I think most other Americans do as well) is the lack of equivalent hardball coverage of the other side - or worse, actively serving as attack dogs for Senators Obama and Biden. If the current polls are correct, we are about to elect as President of the United States a man who is essentially a cipher, who has left almost no paper trail, seems to have few friends (that at least will talk) and has entire years missing out of his biography. That isn’t Sen. Obama’s fault: his job is to put his best face forward. No, it is the traditional media’s fault, for it alone (unlike the alternative media) has had the resources to cover this story properly, and has systematically refused to do so.
A few years later, Jefferson's belief in the need for the press to be free had not changed, but his opinion of the press had soured. In 1807, he wrote "nothing can now be believed which is seen in a newspaper. Truth itself becomes suspicious by being put into that polluted vehicle." A lot of Republicans would agree with him on that second point.
The press' behavior in this election has been dangerous, because I really do believe a free and fair press is necessary to a functional democracy. If the press acts like a public relations arm for one party, it can no longer be considered an effective watchdog against government excess or power. If Obama becomes president, will our press hold him and his administration accountable for their actions?
Given what we've seen this election, I'd have to say no.
Posted by slublog at October 24, 2008 08:32 PM
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