Nancy Clark does not know her ass from her mouth. Is that assertive enough?
Boi From Troy (USC and lots of other subjects) and FanBlogs air out the rantings of an apparently highly defensive reporter.
The State of the News Media Report is an annual review by the Project for Excellence in Journalism, part of the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism in New York.
The conclusion of the 600-page report was that the traditional “journalism of verification,” in which reporters check facts, is being infringed upon by a new model of journalism that is “faster, looser and cheaper.”
In the new “journalism of assertion,” as the report calls it, information is offered with little time and little attempt to independently verify its voracity.
In other words, bloggers and some radio and cable talk show hosts make up stories and spread rumors. Too often, consumers don’t know the difference between these lies and mainstream news reports.
Because of this shift, there is no longer widespread agreement on basic facts. We don’t all know the same thing.
…
But I think “journalism of assertion” is just as pervasive in sports. Lies and rumors about coaches and players in Iowa City – accepted as fact until proven otherwise by the mainstream media – have sadly become routine. Ask Steve Alford. Ask Jennie Lillis.Read the blogs if you want. Read the message boards. But do it for entertainment, not information. Don’t accept anything you read on them as truth unless it has been independently verified.
Usual scenario: A loser tries to make himself seem important by posting information that makes him appear to be an insider, “in the know.”
Worse case scenario: Gambling interests, bookies, the mob pass off inaccurate information about a player or team as truth to try to influence wagering or the outcome of a contest. They’re counting on readers and viewers to be gullible.
Speaking of journalism of the assertion, does she have anything to back up these accusations of blogs? They seem rather serious. Libelous as these statements may seem to blogs, they don’t reach it since she doesn’t actually accuse anyone, just an entire form of communication. All she does is imply and suggest that bloggers are actually trying to eff the readers and make money for gambling interests.
One can only trust properly credentialed media beings such as herself. For they, truly are, the truth bringers. All other heretics must be stopped and destroyed.
A few things. Here’s the report she is basing her own assertions upon, since it never dawned on her to provide a link or where to find it for others.
There’s a real retro feel to this sort of complaint. Many of you may be aware that I have a couple other blogs going, and actually have been at blogging for over 3 years. Others have claimed similar things about blogs years ago. The classic was a Boston Globe reporter, Alex Beam who made the mistake (April 2 entry) of trying to write about blogs (and their dangers) by looking in on them on April 1, 2002.
There is a complete South Park logic from this reporter from the Des Moines newspaper. For those of you unfamiliar with Prehistoric Ice Man, a man frozen in 1996 is thawed out in 1999. Stan and Kyle realize the only place where he can fit in is Des Moines, Iowa. A place 3 years behind the rest of the country.
Suddenly, it all makes sense.
