Where does the news begin?????

As of late there has been a lot of press surrounding the potential closing of the Boston Globe. This has prompted me to ask: Who gets the news? What I suspect is that all the smart talented and already underpaid reporters of the Globe will be out of work. The more radio I listen to and the more TV I watch I notice that the sorce material of a lot of stories is generated from the reporters on the street working for the newspaper business. Additionally the internet is a repository for pieces that have been written in various papers from around the world. So maybe a better question is: What's going to happen to those hard hitting investigative reporters when there is no one there to pay them for their work? Maybe a new paradiqm will emerge that will be better over time but there will be a lot of talent that goes by the way side. Although I agree that change is inevitable and that the only constant is change, in this case we may suffer the slings and arrows along with the actual reporters that will be on the street. The Globe needs to stay but like many other institutions needs reform. When they do not report on a public rally in their own backyard but perfer to take a story out of the middle of Kentucky to suffice...that puts the credibility of the paper's independence in question. Backed up with the recent rally where by an associate editor stated that without the Globe the Herald would become more irrelavant than it already is. This type of posturing when the Herald is flush and being sold at a brisk pace not having to fight closure smacks of a lack of self awareness.

Solutions:

Reform the Globe to go back to the center or at least center/left

Stop allowing tenure to dictate power or leadership in the organization. Tenure is necessary in legacy type environments such as educational institutions but not in private business

Pay a higher rate for freelance and restructure those with fulltime positions.

In short I want the Globe to stay and I want it to get its credibility back.

Media War...the next biggest war

Over the last month or so I have noticed a rise in the polarity of the different news media. It seems as though there is a distinct effort from both the conservative media and the liberal media to attack each other.

On tax day there were small tea parties beign held through out the nation. The conservative media came out first and said the liberal media refused to cover these events. The liberal media came out and said these tea parties were manifested by the right wing media and son on...

This media environment is starting to look more like the WWE (WWF) wrestling programs than it does like news outlets.

Here is a Youtube clip of the conversation that was had after a reporter from CNN was caught whipping up partisan controversy. If you can get past the initial Libertarian spin and understand what is going on, this video has some interesting points...especially the "republicans suck too sign" In the background.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U1nRYw-OQ_E

Mind Junk TV

I am writing this watching one of those current affair shows showing Lindsy Lohan Crying. This stuff reminds me of the scene with Robert Downey Jr. in the movie "Natural Born Killers," when he played the character Wayne Gale. Downey's character in response to one of the producers saying they have no new footage of a story says something to the effect of: "Do you think those zombies out there can tell the difference in the mind junk we pump at them? Just mix up the shots we have and I'll over lay some new dialogue."

Too funny but seemingly true.

Question to the media: What happend to the War in IRAQ?

I am amazed that the general American public has such a short attention span. There is an old saying that: a person is smart...people are stupid. That just may be the case when it comes to consumption of the media.

During the previous administration every day, hour, minute there were negative reports on our involvement in IRAQ. Where are these daily reports now? There was reporting on the tally of soldiers lives that were being lost. There were reports on one failed operation after another.

So I asked the question: What has changed? We still have soldiers in the same numbers doing what they were doing before in IRAQ.

I say shame on the media for capitalizing on the deaths of our soldiers that fight and die all in an effort to advance an ideaology. Without those soldiers they would not have the freedom they enjoy.

I say shame on the media for not keeping the same level of coverage and spin and apply that to the efforts of the current administration.

Finally, I say shame on the consumers that don't demand more objectivity regardless of the current administration and their ideals.

Final question is this: How quickly do you think a true, objective independent news media organization would get frozen out of all communication if one were to actually exist...

Answer: Less than a nano-second.

I leave you with this: Don't just consider the information you are getting now from your chosen news outlet but rather compare the tone and tenner of that information with prior reports and ask critical questions as to what has changed if anything.