Thoughts on the "Meyer" readings

OK, round two of day-late, dollar-short commentary, this time on the two articles that Phil Meyer wanted to discuss last Wednesday, when half of us (including myself) decided to miss class.

I liked the Saul Friedman piece, though I thought if was fairly obvious. I mean, when *are* the MSM going to get the freakin' picture on this?! It was one thing to see MSM cave into the sort of phony baloney "fair and balanced reporting" in the wake of 9/11, where suddenly every major media outlet seemed hellbent on positioning itself as somehow more patriotic than the next (i.e., by NOT disagreeing too too much with any of the B.S. emanating from Washington). However, it's been 6 long years since then, and only now, a year after the opposing party made it hip and safe again for MSM to paint the administration in a bad light, do we see a significant shift away from the kind of faux-objective journalism Friedman disparages.

On the other hand, I think Friedman and I are being too broad here...the MSM reports on a whole lot more than just politics, and they often do offer intelligent, bold reporting on many other topics, where they may qualify assertions with counter opinions but do enough investigating to effectively squash specious arguments and "take a stand" on a given topic. I think in that sense the criticism of the MSM has gone a bit far of late.

The climate change piece by Steve Outing didn't sit quite as well with me. While I agree that climate change is a critical issue that deserves all the well-investigated press and MSM coverage it can get, I don't think it is the job of a MSM outlet--be it print newspaper, weekly newsmagazine, or online paper--to serve as the champion for any particular cause, constantly reminding its readers of that cause's importance and devoting inordinate amounts of space to convincing readers to "make a difference." Just give me the facts, please, mixed with a healthy dose of informed opinion, yes. But leave the persuasive advocacy to the Oxfams, Greenpeaces, Doctors Without Borders, and (on the other side of the political spectrum) NRAs or Focus on the Families of the world. You can avoid bogus "objectivity" without becoming a mouthpiece for the cause of the moment.