Sep 16

Written by: Karie Dozer
9/16/2009 6:56 AM

OBAMA - KANYE?     

Sometimes you just have to call things the way you see them. And, whether you find yourself siding with President Barack Obama on healthcare, the economy, or the war in Afghanistan, you have to hand it to him for speaking his mind and getting it right when he called Kanye West a jackass. Now, unfortunately, he was speaking to a small group around him before the start of a press conference. He never intended for the world to hear his comments. But, in today's world, not much goes unnoticed, and some ABC news employees overheard the comments and posted them on Twitter. They have since deleted the tweets, after discovering their "off the record" source. But I for one am happy that the news got out. It is such a relief when a politician speaks his mind about something that Americans are talking about. SO many people in positions of power hold their opinions for fear they will offend someone and lose a vote or two. President Obama may not have used the word "jackass" if he knew all of America would hear it... But I hope he would-- he was right on. 

BIASED MEDIA?

      Other sad news from the media world this week.... A Pew Research center poll released this week finds that only 29% of the adults surveyed say they think news organizations get it right when it comes to the facts. Sixty percent of those polled say the press is biased, and 74% say that news organizations tend to favor one side in dealing with social and political issues. As crazy as I think those numbers are, here is the last statistic, which perhaps explains those numbers. Seventy one percent of those polled say their primary or sole source of news is television. That's a lot of Americans who have no other perspective on the news media than perhaps Fox News or MSNBC. I agree, many of the midday and evening programming on those 24-Hour news networks are more than half opinion. I can't figure out why anyone would take those programs for fact, when the anchors openly give their opinions following the presentation of hard news. It used to be that you had to be named to the editorial board of a newpaper before you could use the word "I" in your work. Obviously, every human being sees a situation through their own eyes, and thus, has some particular perspective on it. But, a journalists job is to answer the questions who, what, where, when, why, and how. They should do it like a camera capturing an image; as neutrally as possible. And I belive most journalists do. Opinionated anchors, reality TV, and 24 hour news producers with too many hours to fill are clouding our judgement. To those who have lost faith in the news media in 2009, I say pick up a good newspaper or magazine. If paper is too old-fashioned for you, go to that publication's website. Read the NEWS portion. And be careful about the rest.

Tags: