Who are the real reporters?

[hyphenate]

The last time we had any truly intrepid reporters was in the early 1970s when Woodward and Bernstein did all their level best to get to the bottom of Watergate. Now, thirty--yes, 30!-- years later, it appears the only real reporters are the humorists (I kind of dislike "comedians" as it has been so overused) and the bloggers. Few MSM "writers" have crossed the great divide between truth, and fantasy and spin, and that is a shame. If we can not and will not give our reporting the objectivity it once was celebrated for, we lose in a free world.

I've commented elsewhere on Stephen Colbert and Jon Stewart in the past, but frankly, it offends me to see our world of news crushed by an editorial hammer. Once, I dreamed of being a reporter--today, I bow my head in shame at what passes now for "reporting" and for the condescending attitude that is prevalent in todays "news" world. If Edward R. Murrow were alive today, he would likely have died from shame and the debasement of this once noble profession.

We really need to distinguish (once again) the difference between entertainment and news. We need to take the jobs away from those whose most critical quality is that they look good in studio lighting and whose stature as a "news person" has somehow sold us on their so-called "objectivity" but in fact are nothing less than mannikins on a stage, uttering words which were scripted instead of discovered. Until we can get back that sense of sincerity in journalism, it remains that those who can give us reality on a plate are the ones least likely to have planned it that way.

[pinto]

1. I think the Washington Bureau of Knight-Ridder does a real good job.

[Viva_La_Revolution]

2. Amy Goodman

leaps to mind immediately.

[CrazyOrangeCat]

3. Helen Thomas.

Remember how she hounded Reagan? She still has the touch, just ask the Shrub.

[jaysunb]

4. Schuster & Gregory

come to mind.

[walldude]

5. Greg Palast

He's got a new book coming. If you think you are pissed off now, read his book.

http://www.gregpalast.com/

[magellan]

6. Sy Hersh