One of the problems with “objective” journalism is that reporters report stuff like this…
Olympics safe from foreign prostitutes, Day says
…with straight faces.
The Canadian Press article, about the appearance of Canada’s Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day before a Commons committee reports exactly what he said. And that’s it. No one followed up to ask how it is, exactly, that we will be kept safe from the scourge of foreign bawdies. They let him get away with this statement…
But tight security at the Canadian border is likely to deter undesirable foreigners from pouring in for the 2010 Games, Mr. Day said Thursday.
…and left it at that. No follow-up, no word from border security folk, nothing other than the minister’s statement to the committee.
Ridiculously weak reporting, but all too standard in a journalistic environment that treats government events as newsworthy simply because they happen, and sees no need to go any further than the event itself in far too many cases.
Globe & Mail readers are having a field day in the comments, of course. Included in the more than 200 comments:
LOL. One of the funniest stories I’ve heard in a while. Makes me a wee bit embarrassed that anyone feels the need to make this news.
Exactly.
Tags: Media criticism
Another example was in the Globe yesterday:
Charles, Camilla rent yacht in eco-friendly move
http://www.theglobeandmail.com.....ional/home
It also elicited scathing criticism. I filed one of them (Austin Whitten) to focus on what The Globe is doing – printing PR releases without comment – and another on the issue itself.
Are we seeing lazy journalism at G & M or perhaps something else. There is a current school of journalism that thinks generating controversy by printing outrageous statements is ‘good’ reporting, i.e., good for selling papers. This comes from the same ‘villain-victim’ model journos are encouraged to follow, i.e., every story must have a ‘villain and a ‘victim’, again, to enhance sales. This is what journalism has descended to and why polls show journalists are below used car salesmen these days in popularity. What do you think?
Agreed. Have you checked out NewsTrust.net, where in full disclosure I am a contributing editor?
It tries to rate the news based on journalistic quality — keeping journalists and news organizations accountable. Might actually be a good tool to teach media literacy to students.