Making The Press Rethink DSM

[Ronbrynaert]

NYU's Jay Rosen schools the press on the 21st century's Worldwide hierarchy in his latest post at Press Think entitled "The Downing Street Memo and the Court of Appeal in News Judgment":

"News judgment used to be king. If the press ruled against you, you just weren't news. But if you weren't news how would anyone know enough about you to contest the ruling? Today, the World Wide Web is the sovereign force, and journalists live and work according to its rules."

Rosen examines how the British press, aided by left-leaning bloggers and the heroic efforts of Congressman John Conyers, were able to finally get America's mainstream media to recognize the importance of the Downing Street minutes which were leaked nearly a month-and-a-half ago (and more keep coming: Ten Briefcases Full!).

Although the entire article is worth reading (and reading again) I'd like to draw attention to one particular sentence from Jay Rosen's wonderful article:

"For if the news judgment of journalists is not final anymore, this only reminds us that it was never good enough to be as final as once it was."

To tell the truth, I'm not sure that there ever was an "as once it was" time but there's no doubt that the standards of the press have fallen in recent years. This hold true for both sides: the right and the left (and everyone else to the left and the right of the "established" sides).

No. The blogosphere will never replace the mainstream media. But what we can do is influence the press, criticize them when necessary, disprove them with research, and condemn them or belittle them when they just don't seem to get it.

There really isn't anything included in the Downing Street minutes which wasn't known years ago, but the press didn't do its job. They allowed the Bush Administration to "fix" facts and helped promote "wild-eyed" claims that had no basis in reality (such as threats about Iraq's nuclear capabilities which were at odds with the factual evidence provided by the work of United Nations weapons inspectors).

To willfully protect access, the press allowed the Bush Administration (and Blair's regime) to conflate the war on terrorism with what any reasonable person realizes is mostly just an effort to secure the oil fields in the Middle East (not just Iraq; we had to pull our troops out of Saudi Arabia, and we needed somewhere nearby to station them).

Is impeachment lurking in the horizon? I'm not sure.

But I have little doubt that the Bush Administration will soon be forced to reveal more details about why and when it really went to war and why - for instance - that was more important than concentrating on the capture of Osama bin Laden and the rest of al Qaeda.

There probably isn't any chance that Bush (or Cheney or Rumsfeld) will be removed from office because of this...but that's not what impeachment is all about. Don't forget...Clinton was impeached though he retained the presidency.

The more we push this, the more that intrepid politicians such as Congressman Conyers demand answers, the more that the mainstream media reports on this: the higher the chances that impeachment proceedings will commence.

All Americans - those with blogs, those that only read blogs, and those that take the time to care about the political world - should have a voice on what constitutes news in this country. The corporate consolidation of most of our media has done a lot to muffle our voices, but citizen journalism can play a big role in getting the press to take notice.

This wasn't the first time nor will it be near the last. But it's the organization of many on the left-leaning side of the blogosphere that helped make this happen. The right side of the blogosphere has done a far better job in pushing their stories and promoting each other. For many reasons, we haven't.

If the top bloggers for the left won't work with us, then we need to work with those that will.

Together we have tremendous power. Separate we are doomed to flail in the wind.

Let that be the lesson: united we stand, divided we flail.

by Ron Brynaert

Crossposted at Why Are We Back In Iraq?

[autorank]

1. That presumes that they were ever able to think! Not likely.

They need to have the story written for them and the subsequent follow ups; they need someone to do the investigating and analysis; and they really need someone to think about how it all fits together.

They are a pathetic lot. My RICO theory is that "management," a collection of very powerful financial interests controlling much of the economy, wants * out. Their problem is that the press has been so neutered it is now run by a bunch of "prep-schoolers with no street cred." They'll probably get ghost reporters and the blogs are an excellent place to start.

NEW LEADERS FOR A NEW DEMOCRATIC PARTY

Contact the DNC and Tell Them to PREVENT Election Fraud

[Ronbrynaert]

2. yeah but

while I'm not pleased with the press' performance...we're stuck with them...and we need to work hard to get them to do their jobs...I know that sounds silly but it's the way that it is...there are a large number of excellent journalists out there....we shouldn't condemn all of them.

[autorank]

3. You're right. I was being rash. Check these articls out from a real paper

http://toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050612/NEWS24/506120370


http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050609/NEWS09/506090443

http://www.toledoblade.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050619/NEWS24/50619020

If more of them would do that, we'd all be happy.

:hi:

[Ronbrynaert]

4. heh

I don't need to follow those links cause I've already read them. The Toledo Blade has been doing a fine job..and they haven't gotten the recognition they deserve.

[Karenina]

7. Perhaps a bit of guerrilla advertising

might help in some communities. Interesting idea:


Make A Difference… Right Now… & Pass It On

1. Paint Cardboard White - Then Print ( DOWNING STREET ) On Cardboard

2. Then Tape SIGN To Your Local… Street, Road, Highway Sign - NOW – Repeat

3. Hang ( DOWNING ST. ) Sign Under Your Mail Box

4. Downing Street - On A Stick - As A Yard Sign - What-Ever

Inspired by: snowho. Let’s do it People… ECs

Help Make Every Street… ” Downing Street ”

Until Bush Is Impeached !

Paste… ( Downing Street ) Over Every Street Sign… Across America

[Ronbrynaert]

8. all wonderful ideas

We need to reach the people that don't read blogs but care about what's going on in the world. A campaign like this could really help get the truth out.

[GTonkin]

5. The CIA Got Played

Hi there. It's my first post at DU (long time lurker). Is impeachment on the horizon? You're damn right it is. This past week I've been blogging my analysis of the Senate Intelligence Report, the Robb-Silberman Report and the infamous forged Niger docs. You can check it out at http://www.TheCIAGotPlayed.blogspot.com

The DSM shows that Bush and Cheney et al pulled a fast one somewhere, just no one's quite sure where. 'Cept me that is.

Someone was given classified intelligence so they could fake WMD evidence that would fool the CIA. The CIA got played. But don't take my word for it. Click the link and read my posts. If you think I'm wrong, off track, talking out of my ass - that's fine. No harm, no foul. But if you think I'm right and I've made the case, then tell your friends, write some posts, make some noise. Do something. This makes Watergate look like a parking ticket.

Since it's a blog, you've got to start at the bottom and work your way up. You want a story to push, Ron? Push mine. The bastards will be indicted by December.

G.

[Ronbrynaert]

6. interesting stuff

I like the way you're pulling everything together...but I'd like to offer you a couple of words of advice. It's hard to read your blog...since you have to read it from bottom to top...you need to figure out a better way to make it readable.

I think you're title is a little too provocative...but that's not as bad as your use of the word "cabal." It would be better to find a better word to describe them. I can't remember the names right now...but Cheney had his own people working on the fixed evidence...they are almost certainly the ones behind the forged documents (but you need to find a way to work them in somewhere anyway even if you disagree).

Keep up the good work...I think you're on to something. If you can find a way to make the blog more readable...perhaps you could recap all of your points in one long post...I'll definitely blog about you. Otherwise....I'll definitely add you to my blogroll when I redo my template sometime in the next week.

peace