Certainly at the national level, especially in Washington, DC, we see journalists too concerned with access to the powerful instead of fulfilling the reason why they have a mention in the First Amendment – a free press – which was to enable them to ride herd on government outside of government itself:
“Here in the United States,” he told Politico, “you turn on the TV, and you see very bland interviews.”
He added:
Journalists in the United States are very cozy with power, very close to those in power. They laugh with them. They go to the [White House] correspondents’ dinner with them. They have lunch together. They marry each other. They’re way too close to each other. I think as journalists we have to keep our distance from power.
This from Jorge Ramos, a Univision news anchor. Frankly, I believe him to be right – their old adages use to be “comfort the afflicted and afflict the comfortable” – dig in, report the news honestly, and let the chips fall where they may. Unfortunately, especially with Democrat administration, we aren’t always aware of situations like Jay Carney, former journalist and recently departed Presidential spoxpeep married to Claire Shipman, a senior level journalist and anchor with ABC. Dig a bit and there are tons of interconnections between the politicos and media folks – producing and adding to the Ruling Class bubble in which you get:
“Pauline Kael famously commented, after the 1972 Presidential election, ‘I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.’”
A monoculture that denies that it exists – or worse, believes it is normal and the rest of us poor, uneducated, unenlightened schlubs that haven’t clues what’s best for ourselves.
Which, if you think about it, is the worst exhibition of hubris and condescension…
(H/T: Big Journalism)
