Elements of Style
Ugh. The status of journalism in this country.First paragraph, in part: "In an Oval Office meeting with lawmakers on Thursday, President Trump described Haiti and African countries as 'shithole' countries."
Ok. Second paragraph lets us in finally on the source of the information. Kind of. "Sources told Washington Post." Got it. Nobody goes on the record, but of course we're not going to let that slow us down. It's been a long time since we let something like that slow us down. Intelligence sources tell us Russian operatives interfered with our election. No names. No evidence yet presented and it's been a full year. Trust us.
Are you worried yet that the "shithole" statement is not true? Is it just me? Third paragraph: "The exchange was confirmed by NBC News, BuzzFeed, and CNN." Was it now? Did their reporters hear it? If they did, it's beyond curious that none of them would put their name on the story or rush to do it.
The answer is that they didn't hear it and so they can't confirm it. The anonymous reporting of the exchange was confirmed by NBC News, BuzzFeed, and CNN. The exchange was not actually confirmed because those news organizations are relying on an unnamed source that did the confirming.
And then of course the routine ends with every news outlet in the nation joining the herd and reporting that Trump has said this.
Well, his hacks had a chance later in the day to dispute that he said it, and didn't. That means he certainly did say it and they're worried somebody recorded it (although they've been known to dispute even things he said that were recorded and heard by everybody). But this is journalism sloppier than shit. It's not just me, right? "Sources" got us into Iraq, and lapdog news agencies help prop up the unaccountable intelligence wing of the government. Abandoning the pretense of impartiality, as most news outlets have now done, is not the same thing as abandoning the holy discipline of verification.
Trump's a menace. He respects no rules. But it doesn't mean you do the same in the fourth estate. Tighten up your game. The president is deeply unpopular, historically so, but his poll numbers are still running neck-and-neck with that of the national news media.
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Here's a tautly-written news story by a reporter right here in Iowa and worthy of a news outlet with a much larger circulation: A new series of lawsuits have speed cameras on the run.
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The Cardinals have a new 23-year-old statistical analyst in their baseball operations department. And she's a lady.
posted by CM @ 11:32 PM
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