Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Olbermann v. Koppel

Olbermann Rips Koppel as 'False Priest of Objectivity' - Journalists have always exercised judgment about stories, he argues:
'The kind of television journalism he eulogizes failed this country because when truth was needed, all we got were facts—most of which were lies anyway. The myth of impartiality has led television news away from the path to truth.' Koppel skewered Olbermann in a Washington Post editorial earlier this week, calling him 'the most left-leaning among MSNBC's left-leaning, Fox-baiting, money-generating hosts.'
Here, in a nutshell, is what I like and dislike about Keith Olbermann. He's absolutely correct that the mainstream media failed miserably, and continues to fail miserably, at reporting -- on the casus belli for the Iraq invasion in specific, but on every major issue facing our country in general. Journalists should be trying to get at the the truth and, by and large, they don't. They shy away from the truth, are too timorous to call a liar a liar when the liar's in the act of lying, because they are either lazy hacks who couldn't be bothered to investigate and know the truth, or because it's in their interest to play the game. In any event, they leave the heavy lifting to smaller outlets and outspoken liberals like Olbermann. Who are then marginalized for being outspoken liberals and doing the job that should be done by impartial reporters.

Olbermann is bombastic though, and his language is imprecise. He works in sound bites that are emotionally effective; however, what's called for here is a restatement, point by point, of the failings of  journalists like Koppel. And to say, "all we got were facts," while he does immediately qualify that with the observation that the facts reported were lies, he still should be more precise in describing what it is the mainstream media does. And what they do is not "reporting facts"; when journalists repeat lies (ignorantly or deliberately) what they are doing is propaganda, it's that simple.

Olbermann, by employing a tabloid style, while he is far more likely to be conveying factually accurate information, doesn't do what I consider real journalism either. There is a place and a time for anger in the face of deception, but his schtick often applies that same level of anger and indignation to trivial bullshit for entertainment value. It undercuts the seriousness of those cases when his anger and outrage are, in fact, quite appropriate.
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...