What I worry about is that this sort of commentary is what journalism is turning into. While anybody can turn on the television and get the headlines of today's top stories, the hard facts of global happenings are being replaced by tabloids and "celebutante" journalists' opinions. What happened to the Walter Kronkites of the world? Where are the Peter Jennings that would report, unbiased to the world to decide their own standpoints on the work done by administrators and politicians?
I fear that Glenn Beck, the loud, ranting "offspring" of Bill O'Reilly, is the next generation of journalist. The type of journalist, unlike Anderson Cooper, the stoic investigative journalist of CNN, that tells the news as told to him by his advertisers and corporate heads. If you don't believe me, youtube any Glenn Beck video and bask in the finely-tuned (pardon the French) bullshit regurgitated by cable new's antihero.
Glenn beck is swaying the minds and killing the thinking souls of the American public.
I agree with your view points of Glenn Beck. He is a journalist with a viewpoint and is willing to share it at any cost. The Glenn Beck show is not meant to be a hard new segment, instead it is a segment meant to show the viewpoints of a conservative.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I think that Glenn Beck is a extreme example, I would hope that this is not foreshadowing future journalism because a bunch of Glenn Becks would be frustrating to say the least.
I do believe that there are still some true journalists reporting without bias, and I hope they keep it up!
While I am sympathetic to your claim, accusing Beck of destroying American is giving him too much credit. It is unfortunate that people like this have so much power in mainstream media, but it also shows how important new media industries are. Something is going to have to be introduced to Americans as a pragmatic alternative to this kind of news source-- so the real question is, how do we get people like Beck and O'reily out of the spotlight?
ReplyDeleteAlso, thanks for the input on my previous blog. I'll make sure and deflate some of the language next time.
Good post. We need to work on that personal voice (and identity), but we'll talk about it in class.
ReplyDeleteMake sure when you reference the work of a person or media outlet that you provide specific examples for the sake of context.
Keep at it.