Keep each of the following on speed dial:
... a wacko religious leader who believes that God loves all his children, except the ones who skip church once in awhile; a gun nut who put semiautomatic weapons on his baby registry; an anti-weapons nut who thinks there should be a 10-day waiting period before buying steak knives; a legendary, highly quotable politician who has not been sober past noon since 1991, and a self-designated leader of each of the following minority groups: African Americans, Asians, Latinos, American Indians, homosexuals, transsexuals, fat people, skinny people, people with absolutely no distinguishing physical attributes, and foot fetishists.
I think you nailed this one down Kate. It never cease's to amaze me the panels that these clowns can put together on a moments notice. I think they have a nut of nuts jar that they pull names from just to mix it up a bit, then they hit the speed dial botton.
Timothy Coderre
The only thing I might ad is that they probably have a dedicated cell phone paid for by te network to secure their contact.
Timothy Coderre
Would like to see some of these journo's contact lists.
Uh........this foot fetish thing- could you put me onto the address of that? (It's not for me-you understand- one of my buds is interested in that). Haw!
But is it illegal, to have photos of feet on one's computer? (To all of those Victorians out there: Yes, you can now uncover the feet of your chairs.
What about dippers and libbers?
Why has the media got so bad the last few years ?
There is usually a reason for everything, sooooo ..
A theory;
The Internet and blogs have provided a major group of citizens with a much better source of news.
To try and stay in business the media had to find more customers. So they crowed into the 'Tabloid' market share.
In other words, the MSM 'dumbed-it-down'.
Could it be that simple ??
:)
Ron...you got it. Preach to the lowest common denominator(dumb it down) and Bingo, Bob's your uncle,and the herd follows.
"Keep each of the following on speed dial:"
...hmmm, may explain why I keep getting these wierd phone calls from journalists asking for my opinion...
Opinion? Didn't know I had one.
;-)
A Rolodex of nuts, easy. One credentialed scientist blasting the GW nutters or one thoughtful imam blasting the ROP is not to be found.
That's where we are with the MSM rot today.
ron's right, the serious vs the silly person bailed years ago. The internet has provided the alternative.
Our duty as responsible citizens is to hold the MSM's feet to the fire and starve them out financially when and where we can.
Regarding the sundy whackos kept on speed dial for comment:
These must be the sources for the often published/broadcast nebulous; "experts say" or "studies show" or "critics have said" or "experts claim" or "it has been said before".
The nebulous sources that sanctify journalistic innuendo have been revealed...a rolodex/speed-dial bank of outspoken whackos and social misfits...we always suspected ;-)
A wonderful high school English teacher whom I was fortunate to have as a teacher told us that newspaper writing is done with the goal of being fully understandable by the average person with only two years of high school.
I've never read anything to dispute this teacher's wise observation. Moreover, with the general decline of liberal arts education in the West in the last generation, I'd opine that the average journalist today only has critical thinking and writing skills slightly higher than the previous generation two-years-of-HS target reader. As far as professional ethics-a sense of obligation to be honest, to include all the facts, to present the news in an unbiased way allowing the reader to make his/her own informed conclusions - this is long gone.
This has made me have as little regard for the vast majority of the MSM - all the ostensibly respectable, "quality" newspapers and broadcast news networks - as I do for the likes of the National Enquirer. They serve us more or less equally poorly and I really consider them only marginally different.
So .... are we throwing the likes of Mark Styn, Andrew Coyne, George Will, Paul Wells et al into this bag of good-for-nothings? I agree the MSM is terribly biased and and has degenerated relative to a few years ago but let's not broadbrush to mean anyone who is in the employ of the MSM.
Fair and balanced:
"The Guidebook for Taking a Life"
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/10/weekinreview/10moss.html?adxnnl=1&adxnnlx=1181523870-q7vvh7dW6TJbgMnGQjvFDw
'But militant Islamists including extremists in Jordan who embrace Al Qaeda’s ideology teach recruits that children receive special consideration in death. They are not held accountable for any sins until puberty, and if they are killed in a jihad operation they will go straight to heaven. There, they will instantly age to their late 20s, and enjoy the same access to virgins and other benefits as martyrs receive.
Islamic militants are hardly alone in seeking to rationalize innocent deaths, says John O. Voll, a professor of Islamic history at Georgetown University. “Whether you are talking about leftist radicals here in the 1960s, or the apologies for civilian collateral damage in Iraq that you get from the Pentagon, the argument is that if the action is just, the collateral damage is justifiable,” he says.' [What about dead girls?]
Mark
Ottawa
Unfortunately in a world dominated by moronic leftism being an idiot is not a bar to being a professor. This guy pretends that there is an equivalence between Islamic militants (who strategically target civilians) and American soldiers (who inadvertently kill civilans while fighting Islamic militants)
Bcer --- true. not everyone. Yours are good examples. There are more.
"When the eagles are silent, the parrots will jabber".
Sir Winston Churchill
Where are our Leaders?