From Denny: Now that the Haters have enjoyed dancing on the head of former NBC News anchor Brian Williams it's time for the reasonable types to speak up and get heard for a change - without all the histrionics and chest thumping self-righteousness hogging the national attention.
Observing how this ugly journalism drama has played out it sure makes me glad I never got involved on that national level of the Dog and Pony Show, choosing another path.
And, as a small niche journalist blogger that gets read more by world intelligence agencies, think tanks, world diplomatic corps and military - along with political junkies like myself and heavy-breathing journalists who desperately want the opportunity to be journalists again -
I'm free to state the obvious that the networks and big news agencies quash: dissent...
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I'm my own boss and totally free to speak my mind. Those of you who do read me know that I don't hold back. (Texas Molly Ivans, anyone?) I also don't make any money at this so it's even more fun when it comes time to pay the bills just like everyone else in the world. Yes, a journalist who isn't making any real money just like the rest of you - and really does understand what you are dealing with every day. I also know that NBC or any other network is certainly not going to come knocking on my door to hire me as yet another dancing puppet to amuse them until they tire of me, ditching me in the garbage on a whim like NBC is so fond of doing to a parade of journalists.
And that's the real heart of this whole Brian Williams debacle.
What this incident has reminded all Americans of is not about "journalistic integrity" but rather about the bad bosses many people suffer under, wondering how long they can hold on to their jobs.
Watching NBC's uppermost male management run the character assassination strategy on Brian Williams - as well as many others at NBC - is oh, so typical of the corporate environment that people despise.
This incident so upset most of the country that people were not sleeping well for a couple of weeks, tossing and turning, worrying about their own job situations. Oh, thank you, clueless NBC. We have all "enjoyed" your rush to judgment and willingness to throw your own man under the train, keeping him dangling in legal limbo while you squealed with delight as he was ground up into a bloody mess of bits and pieces by your news rivals that you so gleefully encouraged.
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| Lying corporate suits on fire |
Apparently, there are two conflicting factions at NBC, one is the top management of "throw them from the train" men and the other management is a couple of women, willing to give him a second chance in another capacity other than news anchor and editor. After all, NBC "management" grossly mismanaged this whole situation. It's everyone under them that takes the hit. Yeah, typical corporate.
This Scorched Earth Male Management has run quite a number of character assassinations the past few years. There was Ann Curry forced out, mainly because of her age and desire to act like a real journalist. Recently, there was the unceremoniously dumping of David Gregory off "Meet The Press" after a week or so of management running a character assassination on him, claiming he "wasn't moving the numbers" among other petty accusations and labeling. His crime? He was attempting to ask the tough questions that Republicans and Democrats alike were refusing to answer, acting like a real journalist.
NBC replaced him with conservative Republican Chuck Todd. Well, Chuck hasn't moved the numbers much either. Loyal viewers left in droves and haven't returned. I don't mind Todd but am not any more impressed with him than I was with Gregory. There isn't any real journalism going on there. It's a boring show no matter who is anchoring it because it ends up displaying a Propaganda Parade for both political parties to get out their messages. That's the real Truth as to why the show does so poorly.
This generation's political show consumer is better educated, expecting real political dialog from both sides and for them to solve the problems and then act. So, how long before the NBC execs run a character assassination on Todd when they tire of him or he doesn't "move the numbers" enough for them? These NBC execs are so mercurial they don't know what they really want in life. Yes, they are that immature and lacking in proper management skills.
When a news network refuses to allow a journalist to ask all the questions necessary then there isn't a whole lot of journalism going on there, instead, an agenda - here, it's a political one. The whole point of good journalism is for the public to get all the information and a well thought out perspective, not a shoot from the hip screaming match like we've witnessed the past month out of most news agencies and networks piling on the attacks against Brian Williams. All of this is heavy-handed and self-serving, news groups attempting to gain greater market share and profits.
The Scorched Earth Male Management is currently running a character assassination on Lester Holt, their own emergency choice as Brian Williams' substitute for the Nightly News. That's right. NBC execs had already started the process of throwing Lester Holt under the train even before he gave his first broadcast. Pretty skunky, don't you think? They claim that Lester doesn't poll high.
They are giving Holt six months to move the numbers up and recapture all the viewers that NBC execs turned off with their bungled handling of the situation. All that says is they are setting up Lester Holt to be fired, a fall guy for their abysmally awful management style, not to mention their complete lack of finesse in the business world. Well, the only reason we watch NBC at our house on the weekends IS because of Lester Holt.
Their other "bright idea" is to slide Matt Lauer of "The Today Show" into the anchor slot. Integrity? Not wasting a moment to shock and promote their questionable brand, NBC promoted Lauer's faux bondage photo. When he isn't dressed in Halloween drag, Lauer is the same guy dressed up in a creepy sexual bondage outfit to mock "50 Shades of Grey," a photoshopped prank on Ellen's show. Lauer spent a week on "The Today Show" promoting the movie, and, before that, the book. Yeah, that's "integrity." Comcast and NBC have made some damaging mistakes here even though Lauer was not truly dressed like this - he did actually pull out the handcuffs in a playful manner during the actual interview, shocking actress Dakota Johnson.
NBC spent years promoting good stories for young women to develop healthy self-esteem, strength and independence. One woman has already been raped after an attempt at "50 Shades of Grey" imitation went awry. A victim of this movie promotion by Comcast is a woman raped by a Muslim man inspired by "50 Shades of Grey" at a Chicago, Illinois university. This ugly story will be followed by many others. It just goes to show you there are a lot of weak minds out there too easily influenced to do harm. In one week, all the good stories by NBC promoting strong women went out the window by promoting sexual violence, abuse, and submission for women. Yeah, that's "integrity."
Check out the CBS story on boycotting this movie: "It's a story of abuse; it's a story of violence against women," said Gail Dines, founder and president of Stop Porn Culture. "It ... rebrands violence as [if it were] romance. And what concerns us in society - where one in four women are sexually abused - [is] we have a film that is eroticizating, glorifying and basically legitimizing violence against women."
The Scorched Earth Male Management has also taken pot shots at Natalie Morales, a news reader and secondary player on "The Today Show." For what? Doing what they have asked of her and doing it well?
These NBC top execs have already started with the character assassinations on the next line below Brian Williams, determined to take them down with Williams: “Brian is cooked. Done. Has lost his credibility as an anchor and must go. The only question is who goes down with him.”
Previous good journalists run off the airwaves because they attempted to ask all the questions, especially of Republican politicians - and even a Democrat White House that didn't like answering those questions? Try Dylan Ratigan, The Young Turk, and Keith Olbermann. Now at ESPN, Keith Olbermann was recently sidelined for, you guessed it, speaking the Truth. The truth is Penn State has academic issues like many a university. Just check out the commentor:
So, the journalism culture is that if you don't allow the news execs to bully, intimidate and make you a dancing fool for their pleasure you get fired. Oh, and, if you do everything they ask of you for 22 years you still get fired. That's right. Brian Williams worked for NBC for 22 years. It isn't like they didn't know who he was or about the BS stories. In fact, the entire news culture is full of BS artists who enjoy telling a tall tale or two to amuse their audience just like Brian Williams.
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Oh, but Brian Williams is a pathological liar you say? Yeah, baby, I've got that covered. You see, I'm quite the expert on pathological liars. Wait for it... Wait for it... I really did grow up inside the vicious dangerous environment of the CIA. Yes, I really do know what I'm talking about when it comes to pathological liars and toxic people because I know them only too well.
Do I have any patience or much tolerance for lying? No. Just ask the wincing lying Pentagon when I've taken a swipe or two at them from time to time. But I do live in south Louisiana with the Cajun culture where the Art of the BS rises to new heights on a daily basis. People call it "funning" with you. Sometimes, it's their way of flirting with women. Men like women and want our attention no matter how ridiculous they have to behave to acquire it sometimes. Maybe it's just a Southern thing.
BS stories are just entertainment - like satire. No one is supposed to be so dead serious they believe everything that spills off your lips. Sure, there are times when I start with the gifted eye rolling to remind my friends and relatives to dial it back a notch as they are reeling in too tight some of the more gullible types that you wonder if their brains will explode from the outrageous.
But did Brian Williams only do what his bosses demanded of him? Answer: yes. And it backfired. Now the bosses are blaming him for being too entertaining. Brian Williams is nothing but a puppy personality who tried too hard to please everyone that he ended up angering most of them. People were angry about the exaggerated stories of self-importance where Williams' was basically attempting a story version of a selfie at notable historical news events.
People were more angry they were reminded how fragile are their own job situations.
Lying in the form of BS stories is not always about attempts at manipulation and deception like the intelligence community is so fond of employing. The kind of lying that Brian Williams slowly adapted to over a long period of time was more about feeling insecure, desiring others to like him, and, probably worrying about how long he could keep his anchor job. You know how it is. It's the self-fulfilling prophecy of "what you fear the most comes to you."
When you constantly entertain people they remember you and say good things about you. That's the most common reason people lie every day: wanting to feel good about themselves and get others to do the same. It doesn't really work - or work for long - before the BS becomes so outrageous that people start questioning either your ethics or your sanity - as in Williams' situation. Lying becomes addictive, like a drug. Most BS artists and outright liars crash and burn sooner or later; it's just a matter of time. Occasional BS artists and full time Liars don't stop until harshly confronted with reality like in this situation - and they have to lose a lot of something that means more to them than the addiction.
It sure looks like Brian Williams had good reason to feel insecure about his job. You had only to witness from every angle of the news universe his rivals piling on during this incident. It was the Star and Stripes that started this feeding frenzy, all the while claiming they resisted it. Seriously? You would think the Stars and Stripes peaked in high school. It was the Stars and Stripes site that dug up an obscure facebook comment to Williams' post and blew up Williams' life with it, claiming they were watching out for the military veterans. Who believes that BS? It was these guys who knowingly started the feeding frenzy. Yes, BS artists abound in the arena of Williams' screeching accusers. The Stars and Stripes are the same guys claiming that Brian Williams had no boss to rein him in on the exaggerations. If that's true then how can they fire him?
Friends And Enemies of Brian Williams
Well, NBC News anchor Brian Williams has sure found out who his friends are and who are not. Don't you just love the liberal haters as much as the conservative haters? Anyone catch on to the operative word here? HATERS. Haters are in both political parties, the kind of toxic people who enjoy grinding other people's faces in the dirt.
Toxic people don't accomplish much in Life and certainly not in government or the media. Who are the media fools that pulled out the long knives to stab Brian Williams? Try very caustic and toxic Maureen Dowd from the New York Times who regularly carries a chip on her shoulder and lashes out at anyone and everyone constantly. She claims that "NBC executives were warned a year ago that Brian Williams was constantly inflating his biography." She also makes sweeping assumptions as to Williams' motives and agenda - but did she ever bother to discuss it with him to see if her assumptions were accurate? Is Dowd far more comfortable destroying people rather than understanding or even caring about them?
Other friends who defended Brian Williams? Some of The Today Show crew were shocked at the personal attacks, citing his many kindnesses toward them and their families over the years. Most notable was from Joe Scarborough of "Morning Joe." Joe's a political conservative and is friends and neighbors with Brian Williams. Joe certainly stood up for his friend like NBC should have.
And now we get down to the heart of this scandal: how the Haters manipulate those in authority - the NBC and Comcast execs - to overreact.
These NBC top executives might require a firing by their new parent company Comcast. Why? Because they have failed to demonstrate any finesse of management skills. If they desired to make a change at the anchor desk they should have handled it with greater care and skill. Instead, these guys went to Pond Scum Slippery, spreading rumors and a full tilt character assassination and rush to judgment. They never did allow Williams any kind of time or venue to refute their rush to judgment.
America is very uneasy watching this news network scandal unfold. Why are Americans not sleeping easy at night? People are worried they too will be judged harshly, swiftly and unceremoniously dumped no matter how great a job they do for their company. No matter how loyal a worker is to their company, time and time again, Corporate America kicks their employees when they are down.
NBC top execs think they have run such a successful character assassination they believe Brian Williams can never rise again to challenge them. Sound familiar to all of you who were blackballed, lied about from previous employers who did it to you "just because they can"?
This debacle all comes down to a 12 year old memory - Brian Williams' and the mission veterans. The mission veterans told conflicting accounts of every detail of that day as to what did and did not happen to Brian Williams. The vociferous veterans are challenging other veterans to change their stories, challenging their memories as well as Williams' memory.
Jon Stewart of The Daily Show: "Guardians of the Veracity"
If the Stars and Stripes had any finesse they could have talked to Williams privately, chastising him for the exaggerated stories, something his NBC execs and close friends should have done a long time ago instead of encouraging it. The Stars and Stripes could have set about finding a more artful way of setting the record straight for the veterans, some of whom were spinning some serious BS themselves. A new report just came out about how lying is both common and encouraged in the military. The Lying Tradition in the military has been going on since Time began. But, instead, the Stars and Stripes promoted their site by encouraging the Haters. In fact, in almost every story they have written about this situation they are quick to remind "they were the first to break the story." Yeah, that was classy self-promotion at Williams' expense.
Well, I hope the military veterans and the Stars and Stripes are happy. What they have achieved is a big chill in the journalism community: "Don't go out of your way to help, promote or champion the military or veterans because they will turn on you like they did Brian Williams." Certainly no one is going to want to emcee veterans' award ceremonies because of the fear of backlash for real or imagined slights or politically incorrect satire. What appearances a few high profile journalists do will be lukewarm and not often, until, after some time, it tapers off entirely. Williams spent a lot of time promoting veterans' stories and honoring veterans and this is how they repay him? Expect that genre to die a quick death.
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"But wait, there's more" as the cheap TV ads claim, informing the consumer how much more they will receive for only five payments of $9.95. More from the Haters Quarter of Brian's "Friends." Talk about screeching. It was direct from the New York Times and Maureen Dowd (formerly known as O' Dowd). Dowd hates every person she writes about. She is known for her caustic, vicious, rip 'em to shreds approach. She sure hates men in particular. She ripped Williams about his integrity vacuum, then started in on ABC News anchor David Muir - who had absolutely nothing to do with this incident. Apparently, she didn't like the way he wore his shirts. Seriously?
Dowd is hardly the bastion of journalistic integrity herself. But then, that's generally the way it goes. The most vociferous of accusers are always guilty of the same issues. Remember the messy national drama of President Bill Clinton's sham impeachment by the Republican Congress? All the politicians and press who were vociferous screamers were absolute hypocrites, also guilty of multiple extra-marital affairs. I had plenty of friends who hated Bill Clinton for his affairs (Republican and Democrat, men and women), only to find out they too were doing the exact same thing.
Liars and Haters exposed
It's been my experience that Liars and Haters actually have a lot in common because both want to connect with others and both want respect. Liars work to charm people while Haters shoot guns, rain boiling oil, behead, demonize, kick and shriek so shrilly a person is forced to insert earplugs to save their sanity. Yes, Haters are terribly fond of histrionics in order to gain the attention they crave.
Haters, of course, are usually the most destructive. In fact, they pride themselves on how many people they can destroy in an hour, like a badge of honor. In their twisted dark hearts they have the idea they can raise their self-esteem by trouncing others around them. Yeah, that really makes people respect you. All people learn about these toxic people is to run, don't walk, and run fast away from them because they are like black holes that will drain all your energy. Haters always find themselves alone, divorced, suffering a string of broken friendships and bounced out of jobs because even their bosses grew weary of baby-sitting them.
Liars cherish the notion they are in control of the situation by either charming or deceiving others. They hold the belief that lying wins them new friends and lots of power to leverage, therefore, respect. The BS Artists sect of the Liars Club practices entertaining their audience to win power.
So, "what have we learned today?" (Morning Joe show segment) about Liars and Haters? Both want respect and both want to connect with others. Liars take the indirect approach, working the long con, and believe they achieve their goals by entertaining and deceiving. Haters take the direct approach, a short quick blast, and go about blowing up the entire world, demonizing others by saying, "See! I'm right about that person. They are a dirty dog and not deserving of care or compassion!"
What both groups have actually achieved is to lower the esteem and respect others had for them because they created a very toxic environment of mistrust and unease. Take, for example, that during the Bush years that White House completely clamped down on the press. Freedom of the press died and has not fully recovered. It takes bloggers to ask the tough questions the mainstream press is too afraid to ask, let alone pursue. The news networks and news agencies jumped into President Bush's lap and never left; they are now too timid and remain political lapdogs, too afraid to challenge. Anyone who does challenge gets bounced out.
So, who needs firing? Well, just about everyone in this drama. Dowd, at the New York Times, has been depressing America long enough. She has some serious inner demons with which she has not effectively dealt. She carries a gigantic chip on her shoulder that the rest of the world is weary of encountering. Bullying and scorching other people is not the answer to her own unhappiness.
Dowd needs to find a way to reconnect with her joy again because it's clear it's been missing in her life for a very long time. At the least she should be given a long sabbatical to get her balance back. We all feel sad for her decades long thrashing about while she is in spiritual crisis but it's time to end her vicious attitude and screamer histrionics. Someone has to say it to her. Those of you who want to defend her bad attitude need to join her in the psychiatrist's office for a lengthy session.
Who else needs to clean house and fire the whole messy management? The new parent company of Comcast has certainly purchased a stinking pig in the form of NBC News. The entire uppermost Scorched Earth management needs to go. They have no management skills for such a billion dollar industry. These guys lack finesse, and, most especially, wisdom. Comcast should think long and hard about what kind of news network they desire - or has it just morphed into an entertainment travesty of "infotainment" careening off the cliff?
The current NBC execs have trashed their own brand - with a lot of help from jealous news rivals. Kicking a pleaser puppy like Brian Williams over and over again is really bad form at best. Having the power to step on people "just because you can" does not build loyal audiences. NBC's decision is to fire Williams because they want to please their jealous rivals?
Those jealous rivals are laughing in their sleeves for scaring NBC into blowing up their brand and their profits. Williams made them a good $200 million in revenue just on the Nightly News show.
Integrity? What integrity? Where is it?
We don't see it at NBC because that organization stinks from the top down. We don't see it at the Stars and Stripes or the New York Times and a slew of other malicious writers and news sites. Piling on, yeah, that's "integrity."
Too many in the journalism community wave the flag of Walter Cronkite as their God of Integrity. Tell me, do you think Cronkite would have participated in this piling on? No. He was a gracious man, not prone to jealousy, pettiness or vengeance.
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But I will relate to you what IS integrity. The few real friends of Brian Williams' who stood up and challenged the Haters - not just on enjoying to hate - but on the fact none of them were any more perfect or filled with integrity. The one enjoyed the most was what Joe Scarborough of "Morning Joe" had to say.
Joe is a conservative defending a friend who is a liberal. How refreshing is that?
As an Independent, I, too, have both conservative and liberal friends and relatives. I love them all and would defend to the death all of them, conservative and liberal. So, it was quite impressive to see "our man Joe" jump out there to list all the good things that Brian Williams has done in his life so you can view the totality of the man, rather than on a one-dimensional myopic screen. Yeah, Joe was talking to all the little pointed heads out there in Toxic People Land.
Joe: "Well, it's really tough for us as a friend of ours who is also in this business. A very well known anchor who would rather eat dirt than have to talk about this. I mean, Brian, just so our viewers know, when I say there are politicians that I know and I'm personal friends with, I say it. Brian is not only a colleague. Brian is a friend. He's a friend of our family. Brian is not only a friend of our family; he's a neighbor. We literally just live around the corner from each other. And when we moved to town, he showed - and his family showed - extraordinary kindness to my son and daughter. And they have been nothing but extraordinarily remarkable, kind, giving people to us in a way I know it will shock you, not everybody in this industry is, especially when you reach the level and the height that Brian did.
"I'm just hopeful because I can't be objective here. I'm hopeful that when all the madness on Twitter and all the madness online that's going on right now, the investigations that need to be going on, we're not saying they don't need to be going on, but when the fury dies down and when we get through this storm and the decision is made to judge what Brian Williams' future should be, that that decision will be based on the entirety of his career and not only one or two or three mistakes. Bad mistakes, yes, They were bad mistakes. And guess what, he would say that. Guess what, he says that. We all make bad mistakes.
"You know, one of the things - one of the verses in the Bible that always - always makes me a little nervous before I start judging other people is the one that says that 'you will be judged and you will be given the same mercy that you show others.' I think we all should step back and ask whether we are so perfect that we want to be the ones that cast that first stone. 'Let ye who is without sin cast the first stone.' I'm in no position to cast that first stone.
"And, quite frankly, in over a decade in this news business, it is fair to say looking straight in the camera, I've seen a lot, I know a lot, and I know that there are very few people in this industry or politics that could live by the standard of perfection.
"Cast the first stone, I would be careful I think, I think right now the entirety of everything that Brian has done, including the Peabody Awards that he won for his remarkable Katrina coverage, should be taken into effect and people should consider, again, the totality of a man's life and not one or two mistakes.
(After more discussion at the table with co-host Mika and Willie Geist.) "I think you have to put it in perspective too. If he exaggerated, he puffed out his chest a little bit; news people do that. Politicians do that. Guys do that. We've all done that at times.
"You have to ask the question, 'Where was it done?' [In what context was it] Done on 'David Letterman' or made it a habit when he was reporting the news?
"Obviously when he was reporting an exaggeration about a helicopter it's far less damning to the future of the country than the reams of misinformation that were reported leading up to the Iraq War that got us into a decade long war when a lot of reporters should have asked a lot tougher questions, and, you know, I put myself right there because I was - that's when I first got into this business - right at the top of the list.
"So, again, I think we all have done things we regret and I would dare say some people have done things in front of a camera reporting, making mistakes, not following the story the way they should have followed the story that probably led to a lot more pain and misery and suffering that a misstatement or even a lie about where you were in Iraq when you were there.
(More discussion about transparency and integrity.) "No one here is excusing what Brian has done. It's also tougher for Brian and it's tougher for any host, any broadcast news anchor, because, you know, they read four or five minutes of news and toss to packages and so much of what they are judged on is intangible. Do you trust them? We're here for three hours [at Morning Joe show]. We can screw up 12 times in the first hour, hour two, hour three, but make up for it. But it is much, much tougher [on a short news show]."
Only a link to the video clip is available. Guess NBC was too nasty to give an embed code as they didn't want this video to go viral so I took the time to transcribe this quote. Two days later NBC had strong-armed Joe Scarborough into promoting how the NBC execs "made the right decision" against Brian Williams.
Girl Power! "I am a Woman: treat me with the same respect you want for yourself and I will return the favor."
Actress Allison Williams defends her father, a story few news agencies bothered to discuss: "One thing the experience has not done is shake my trust and belief in him as a man. He's a really good man. He's an honest man. He's a truthful man. He has so much integrity. He cares so much about journalism. And yes, he's a really good dad. I know you can trust him because, as any good daughter does, I've tested him on that."
Why are NBC execs continuing to hold Brian Williams hostage, kicking this puppy "just because they can"? It certainly looks petty and vengeful not allowing Williams to explain or talk in public. Obviously, the business nitwits at NBC are furiously looking to not pay out Williams' contract.
Those same NBC nitwits burned their own brand and coughed up millions in profits just to act out their pettiness. And why has Comcast not run them down the road?
What would you do if you were Williams for your next act? Well, counseling for "the stress of success and getting toppled" should be first on the agenda. Second on the list should be learning more about himself in the area of acting out the self-destructive behavior of the People Pleaser. "Doormat" comes to mind.
What's a great job idea for Brian Williams? Forget the traditional news agencies. NBC intentionally poisoned that well. He should appear on comedy shows displaying his own creative brand of, you guessed it, mocking the news. Williams certainly knows all the dirt of the news business and their corporate suits. Stay tuned. It could be a wild ride most amusing.
Hey, CBS and Oprah over at OWN, start poaching some damn good journalists because the whole crowd will soon be moved out over the next year or two as bad management cleans house on every person friends with - or any who ever said a civil greeting to - Brian Williams. Those whom Williams mentored will be dumped unceremoniously at a faster rate. Rival networks and news agencies will enjoy a good field from which to choose a lot of good people.
The journalism industry is in desperate need of reform but to first do that the management needs to quit worshiping at the altar of Money instead of Integrity and Truth. The journalists themselves need to grow some courage and start protesting against terrible policies like promoting a book and a movie that promote sexual violence as glamorous just because they don't want to lose out on the big money they are already making, too afraid to rock the boat.
Media execs have steered news networks away from responsible journalism - sometimes a bit dull because they are so responsible - to favor the trending "infotainment." Infotainment is a combination of real news information merely highlighted, rather than steeped in details and perspective, that is quickly glossed over with upbeat music, generous amounts of unsupported opinion and commentary as if it's fact, and plenty of eye candy reading and reporting the news. Yes, American journalism is in a very sad state, in dire need of a complete overhaul.
It would help if Congress and this President grew some courage and would reinstate journalism standards on the public airwaves since the 1987 law was struck down but there is no movement afoot to do what is in the public interest. It's all about greed and making money. The Fourth Estate as the last generation knew it, defender of the whole truth and upholding ethics, is presently in the rear view mirror. Even President Obama muzzled and stalked the media during the NSA scandal. The NSA still continues to harass and watch every online movement and phone call the media does all over the world in their daily jobs. Freedom of the press as guaranteed under the Constitution? Hah! That's a laugh!
Girl Power! "I am a Woman: treat me with the same respect you want for yourself and I will return the favor."
Brian Williams may have some issues but so do the rest of you in the journalism community, especially the vociferous Haters and the passive-aggressive mean-spirited among you. You believe your own lies so strongly that you actually are convinced that no one has caught on. Come on, seriously?
It's past due time for a reset in the journalism community. With the Brian Williams' debacle surfacing now is as good a time as any for a return to real standards of professionalism for everyone in the industry from the top to the bottom, network owners, management and the everyday journalists.
What is passing for journalism these days is a far cry from the class act of Walter Cronkite who didn't have a mean-spirited thing to relate about anyone. He reported the news as news, not squeezed in as merely skimmed headlines before and after some gossip on Twitter, slapstick comedy as journalists perform like dancing dogs at their networks' command, yelling yet more story lineups like circus barkers at a county fair.
Tell me; just where did the news go? Show me the Integrity. Show me the Truth; just don't show me yet more BS.
Girl Power! "I am a Woman: treat me with the same respect you want for yourself and I will return the favor."
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