Glenn Greenwald is a remarkably good blogger. Today he has defined what he sees as the three main problems with the mainstream media (and, no, they have nothing to do with partisanship).
(1) Mainstream journalists pompously spout claims that are factually, objectively, demonstrably false — and then, in their pomposity, refuse to acknowledge or correct their error…
(2) Journalists mindlessly pass on government statements without bothering to investigate if they are true. And they grant anonymity to government sources to do nothing but spew false government propaganda with impunity…
(3) National journalists wallow endlessly in vacuous, vapid, empty-headed, petty gossip, obsessed with meaningless chatter and snide, personality-based assaults more appropriate for a junior high clique than anything else. And they do so while ignoring the most substantive and consequential political matters.
If you are into the whole brevity thing, you can’t be much more succinct than that. Greenwald does provide examples to back up each of his claims. And they are good examples. Obsessing over John Edwards’ haircut fits in the third category, while Andrea Mitchell claiming that ‘the people’ want Scooter Libby pardoned fits into the first.
David Broder isn’t much of a gossip, but he routinely says things that are ‘factually, objectively, demonstrably false’. Want an example? This is from his April 26 column:
Here’s a Washington political riddle where you fill in the blanks: As Alberto Gonzales is to the Republicans, Blank Blank is to the Democrats — a continuing embarrassment thanks to his amateurish performance.
If you answered ” Harry Reid,” give yourself an A. And join the long list of senators of both parties who are ready for these two springtime exhibitions of ineptitude to end.
The ‘long list of Senators of both parties’ turned out not to include a single Democrat. We know this because every one of them (including the infirm Tim Johnson) signed a letter to the Washington Post stating that they are quite pleased with Harry Reid. Did Broder apologize? No.
Broder told E&P that he was “astonished and delighted” that 50 Democratic senators “spontaneously” came up with the letter (adding that he was being “tongue-in-cheek”).
If you think Broder is a gloating son-of-a-bitch, you are correct. His column today is about ‘thankless bipartisanship’. He might have been talking about himself, but he wasn’t. He was talking about all the good bipartisan work that is getting done in the Senate that no one wants to cover in the newspapers. He approvingly quotes Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-TN):
“Last week,” he said, “while the media covered Iraq and U.S. attorneys, the Senate spent three days debating and passing perhaps the most important piece of legislation of this two-year session. Almost no one noticed.”
What might this ‘most important piece of legislation’ be? Why, it is the America Competes Act, and its purpose is to improve the scientific performance of America. Is that important? Sure it is. Has the bill even passed? Yeah, in the Senate, not the House. Call me when the bill is on the President’s desk and then tell me about how it isn’t getting enough coverage. For that matter, call me when we stop seeing crap like this from the cocktail frankfurter set:
Hair today, gone tomorrow
By: Roger Simon
May 2, 2007 05:08 PM ESTSIMI VALLEY, Calif. — It is the haircut that will not die.
He can spin it, he can gel it, he can mousse it. But it is not going away.
John Edwards’ $400 haircuts will live forever.
The Smithsonian Institution is probably trying to find the clippings now. They will be put in a glass case so schoolchildren of the future can learn from them.
