David Gregory doesn't think that Journalists should expose lies!!

[annabanana]

I was astonished to find this paragraph in today's Newsday. It was in an editorial discussing Keith's replacement as "anchor" for the election season..

"David Gregory, said recently on "Hardball," "There's a lot of critics ... who think that, if we did not debate the president ... if we did not stand up and say, this is bogus, and you're a liar, and why are you doing this, that we didn't do our job. And I respectfully disagree. It's not our role."
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-opher5842451sep14,0,4441458.story

I wonder what the hell he thinks journalists OUGHT to do ...

(edit to add link)

[Lex]

1. WTF? Is he insane, or just stupid?

:shrug:

[annabanana]

5. I think he should answer for this. I really do.

"David. . .Should journalists repeat statements he knows to be lies without qualifying them?"

[glinda]

44. No, he thinks his job is

to spread them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[JDPriestly]

50. David Gregory is not a journalist. He is an interviewer. There is a huge difference.

A journalist is someone who investigates, discovers and reports on the truth.

David Gregory does not investigate, discover and report on the truth. He interviews people. He is the TV equivalent of a scribe of the Middle Ages. He merely broadcasts (writes down) what people say. Much of what he broadcasts is opinion, not news. There is a huge difference.

David Gregory needs to at least be honest about what he does. Only on rare occasions does he report the news as experienced by those who live it; he simply interviews people and lets them say whatever they want. He does not investigate whether what they are saying is true. At most, he gets people with different opinions on his program to talk about their different opinionns.

Only when he presents live, eye-witness reports, such as reports on the hurricane, is he presenting news, and even then, his reporting often is not complete enough to really qualify as "news." He is just presenting a little snippet of a story -- an entertaining little snippet.

And David Gregory is by no means the only one doing this. I think that Dan Rather was the last of the TV news reporters. Sometimes 60 Minutes reports on something.

Larry King is the main perpetrator of interviewing. It's entertaining, but viewers don't learn much from it.

[shadowknows69]

60. Well the interview is supposed to be a big part of that

Sources or subjects don't usually just send you booklets of information that you want to know. Ya don't ask someone, ya don't find the next piece of the puzzle. A one on one interview can obtain a wealth of information if you just ask the right questions. Even if they don't answer them, you've put it out there.

[JDPriestly]

72. The one on one interview provides some evidence.

But, interviewees lie over and over.

As an attorney, I have interviewed a lot of witnesses. Information obtained from interviews has to be evaluated in the light of other evidence -- other interviews, and especially documentary evidence. TV entertainers like Gregory do not do the grunt work. They don't really sort through the boxes of documents and confront the interviewees with evidence that contradicts what they are saying. They don't confront interviewees with statements of experts or even underlings with facts contradicting the claims of the interviewee. Gregory treats his interviewees like pop stars. He seems to think he is some sort of public relations representative for them. He doesn't go for facts. He goes for ratings (like most TV entertainers).

[shadowknows69]

77. Agreed, I'm not defending him in any way.

[KoKo]

86. Don't you remember him "dancing with "MC (Karl) Rove at that Press Club Dinner?

You could have "wonders" after whatching that gig? :eyes:

[SmileyRose]

76. Christine Amanpour, Ted Koppel, Bob Woodruff

are a few I can think of. Not perfect my any means but they make a solid effort.

[jbnow]

110. He took Colbert seriously evidently and believes that their job

is just what he said at the White House Dinner

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works: the president makes decisions. He's the Decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Just put 'em through a spell check and go home.

By that standard he is just about perfect.

His opinion must be shared. I was so shocked after Palin's speech. I knew they'd praise her style but I thought they would point out many things she said that weren't true...
I knew I was right when they played a clip of her barbs against Obama. I figured they were about to say it's not a good start to attack him with distortions and outright lies.
Instead they praised her, how she could attack with a smile, how people would love that, it didn't seem harsh that way.
In fact in response to the "Obama authored two books and no bills..." one said "I didn't know that". Not "I'll have to check on that one."

Well she was less than 200 off so that's pretty close.

[malaise]

15. Both and Karl Rove is his good friend

Gregory is a fugging Rethug hack, but that's not news on DU.

[EFerrari]

20. Stupid and spoiled. Let's bookmark this thread. n/t

[quiet.american]

52. Try "bought and paid for." nt

[KoKo]

85. You thought that Gregory who "Danced with 'MC Rove' at National Press Club Gala was Honest?

ayyyyy....give me a break!

[Lex]

102. Did I say anything REMOTELY close to that?

:rofl:

[mak3cats]

2. He thinks they should kiss corporate ass...

...so they can keep their jobs, their designer suits, and their expensive Dennis the Menace haircuts. What a tool!

[KoKo]

89. He's a "Class A...MEDIA WHORE!" n/t

[Gidney N Cloyd]

3. That pretty much leaves taking dictation. nt

[graywarrior]

4. They are supposed to report the facts and not comment with a personal opinion.

If there is a lie within the facts, it should be objectively reported without personal comment. That's how I understand it.

[annabanana]

8. umm. . . . . "if there is a lie within the facts"

IT'S NOT A FRIGGEN FACT!!!

[graywarrior]

No need to yell at me. I'm on your side.

[annabanana]

22. sorry...I know you are...

But how would they justify letting a "lie within a fact" slide?

[graywarrior]

63. I don't know

Most journalists today work for corporations.

[shadowknows69]

62. I think you should instantly call a subject on a lie if you have the proof

In an interview setting if McCain says something "inaccurate" and you have the facts on hand you follow up with it right then and there. No reason not to in the information age.

[TahitiNut]

69. Every time they report "The President believes ..." they're failing to report facts.

If Smirky McCodpiece says "I believe..." they should report "The President claims to believe '...'" and to do otherwise is to merely participate in spreading propaganda.

This, of course, is merely one of the simplest examples but the failure of the press to even begin to distinguish between a CLAIM and a FACT is indicative of their fundamental corruption.

[cui bono]

108. I think they should follow it up with "in actuality..."

So "the president believes/says blah blah blah... but in actuality blah blah blah."

[HCE SuiGeneris]

6. His role is to fellate GOP elite.

Fuck him.

[asdjrocky]

7. Karl Roves dancing partner.

Need I say more?

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

Wow.

If Gregory had been working for the Washington Post in 1971 instead of Woodward and Bernstein, we'd probably never have known about Watergate, and that snake Nixon would have served his entire second term. That was journalism, Dave. Not like the virtual fellatio you've been practicing.

[OneGrassRoot]

9. 9/11, Iraq, Katrina, Ike, election fraud.....

Just reading about the restricted news coverage of the aftermath of Ike, and then reading this, I think we all need to watch "V for Vendetta" tonight. I think I saw that it's airing tonight.

Didn't the people in that movie somehow gain control of the airwaves and release people from their government/media-induced comatose state?

Dear God, I wish someone with some authority and some access would take to the airwaves and scream their bloody heads off about all the corruption and manipulation and death being forced upon the masses, not stemmed or curtailed because we no longer have a free press.

[aquamarina]

10. David Gregory is a

FOKR - pronounced F(&cker

Friend Of Karl Rove

[KoKo]

87. Media WHORE!

[progressivebydesign]

11. Mr. Gregory.. Do you have ANY idea WHY our Country was founded on a FREE press??

I thought i'd heard it all. A millionaire journalist doesn't believe it's his job to expose the lies of government?

Perhaps he needs to sit in on a jr. high school government class so he can be educated about WHY the press is here in the first place. Mr. Gregory YOU are the eyes and ears of the common man. YOU are the one that has the education and access meant to protect the common man from corruption by the government.

David Gregory should be fired, or perhaps forced to attend night school to understand the role of the press in society. What an idiot.

[lyonn]

47. Wondered when MSNBC was going to get rid of Olberman.....

Gregory is not worth watching in his new afternoon show, why would he be given Olberman's position during debates. We all know the answer, he bends over for the corp. NBC. And yes, he enjoys Rove and his dancing, buddies you might say.

I didn't know Davy was replacing Keith. The msm has been so bad lately that I barely listen or watch. This is the mindset that will elect our new president mccain. Sorry, I am truly sick of what is happening right before our eyes and no one can see it but A FEW.

[proud patriot]

12. grrr

[Riddler]

13. What we need are a few modern day Drew Pearson's and Jack Anderson's

who weren't afraid of the truth. People like Gregory give journalism a bad name.

[lyonn]

48. When they pop up they get banished immediately,

think of Sy Hearsh. There are several others but their names escape me.

[peace frog]

14. Drunk on the kool aid

David Gregory has turned out to be a HUGE disappointment. And MSNBC throws Keith O and Tweety into the election-coverage dark, but promote this RW hack. Bastidges.

[trumad]

16. Wow!

Then why do we need David when a 30.00 an hour stenographer will do just fine?

[csziggy]

95. Somebody's got to pay for David Gregory's hair stylist

I would bet he gets at least $400 haircuts.

[AtomicKitten]

17. Gregory's job is back-up dancer for MC Rove.

[liberal N proud]

18. That is their fucking job

He obviously should not be considered a journalist.

[BlooInBloo]

19. Greenwald is historically very good on journalists and what they think their job is NOT.

[southern_belle]

21. 5th rec. - off to the greatest you go

We all need to stay on MSNBC's ass about Gregory.

[no_hypocrisy]

23. Unless it's a democrat in the WH getting a BJ.

[peacetalksforall]

24. It is so illogical that there can only be one reason - he's brainwashed

as well as wealthy.

[intheflow]

107. Brainwashed BECAUSE of wealth, more likely.

x(

[hisownpetard]

25. And I suppose he thinks Watergate had nothing to do with two intrepid reporters who

knew, back in the day, what the true importance of journalism is?

[Solly Mack]

26. ass pimple

[Cass]

27. Whoa. For a supposed journalist to argue that he should not point out

lies when he encounters them from officials is extremely disturbing. What is he thinking?

If a public servant can lie with impunity and the media won't call them on it, the government can do whatever it pleases with no accuntability. That is a very scary prospect.

I used to like Gregory but he seems to have gone willingly over to the dark side some time ago.

[mzmolly]

28. Edward R. Murrow, he's not.

:eyes:

[glinda]

29. DG needs to be exposed

David Gregory's cozy relationships need top be exposed big time. Has he taken on the talking head role and given up journalism? He needs to be outed on YouTube and elsewhere.

[lisa58]

30. No wonder

[Oceansaway]

31. he's been lickin Roves balls for eons...n/t...

[spanone]

32. gregory knows very little about real journalism.....

[City Lights]

33. David Gregory is the epitome of a corporate whore.

His pants must have re-enforcements at the knees.

Disgusting.

And he is GETV's definition of unbiased. Fuck them.

[dkf]

34. I guess this is why MSNBC decided David Gregory should anchor the election desk instead of Olbermann

We need to email this to MSNBC and demand David Gregory be replaced.

[KoKo]

92. You got it.... His Corporate Controllers pulled the strings....

figuring DAVID was the perfect puppet for the "handlers of GE Corporate." :puke:

[Cleita]

35. He no doubt is covering for his friend Karl Rove who is at the bottom

of all the lies and who is apparently involved in McCains campaign.

[tsuki]

36. Sell out to the highest bidder. Take care of #1. nt

[lonestarnot]

37. Lick asses, that is all he is fit for and he's fucking creepy.

[scorpiogirl]

38. I think he should have his press credentials pulled!

He clearly has no clue what the fuck he's supposed to be doing at his job. The media always says it's not their fault and yet there's lots of propaganda around and guess how it's disseminated? What a dick!

edit: spelling

[KoKo]

94. Those "Press Credentials" you talk about are a "dime a dozen" /Jeff Gannon ....

sort of shot through that old thing floating around about "Bona Fides" for Press.

[napi21]

39. I suspect he's just trying to keep his job. Matthews & Olberman are

self confident enough to stand up to the crabass boss & say THIS is the way I'm going to do it, and if you don't like it, I know where the door is! Gregory has only recently gained TV recognition, and I'm betting he's too insecure to fight back.

He's WRONG of course, and CM & KO know that! They also know that MSNBC would disappear into oblivion if the two of them were to be fired!

I can't remember what show it was, but yesterday someone was talking about this dustup, and they said the HEAD og NBC is a very strong Pub supporter, but the HEAD of MSNBC (some guy whose name begins with a Z) was VERY supportive of KO & CM. The story is that the Pubs contacted the head of NBC and said "get those two AH's off the air for their disparaging remarks during the Pub Convention. When he contacted MSNBC, there was quite a fight, and they finally reached an agreement that they would be pulled from the anchor desk but remain on air.

I have no way of knowing if any of that is true or not, but it sounds believable to me.

[lyonn]

54. Good points napi, remember Matthews getting into some trouble

with his bosses over his reporting on some dirt on the repubs after the White House had made some threatening calls to NBC. I can see it now, David and Joe Scarborough doing the debates.

C-span will be all we have left to escape the worshipping neo-con "news" org. Worse than sad, I feel like I've lost the game before it began.

[napi21]

81. I dunno about that. I looks like CM & KO will just be off the anchor desk,

but maybe not off commentary. We'll see.

[KoKo]

90. You missed him "dancing with "MC (Karl) Rove at the DC Presser Gala?

No! Don't tell me you missed that big FRU-FAH on DU when he did that....It was disgusting...

But Gregory revealed his "true colors" and no one here trusted him since, then. :puke: on his sorry ass!

[napi21]

99. Oh, I saw it, but I personally dismissed it as just another fun night.

I've certainly spent many party nights with people I opposed during the word day. I don't hold THAT against him.

[Salviati]

40. I wish someone would ask Gregory:

In the light of improving speech to text programs for computers, what DO you feel will be the role of "journalists" such as yourself in the future?

[dkofos]

41. And that's why david gregory will never be a journalist!!

[kayell]

42. "Our job is to repeat whatever our leaders tell us." This way leads to PRAVDA reporting.

The repukes constantly remind me of the Stalin era Soviets in their thinking.

"If this were a dictatorship, it'd be a heck of a lot easier, just so long as I'm the dictator."

[blm]

43. David Gregory's role is to comfort the comfortable and afflict the afflicted. It's not HIS JOB to

challenge the powerful and their lies.

[glinda]

46. It is not his job to

propagate lies. Off with his head!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Not literally of course but symbolically.

[KoKo]

93. GE pays him his money....what the hell do you figure he's gonna do about that?

[MountainMamma]

45. Someone should inform

David Gregory of his job description as a journalist. Maybe Keith Olberman will do it or let's call on Rachael to do it.

[Vinca]

49. That's the difference between a journalist and a shill. nt

[valerief]

51. He's not a journalist. He's a Republican ho bobblehead. nt

[shraby]

53. I've notified MSNBC to reclassify his job description

from reporter/journalist to stenographer and put him at a computer.

[jimshoes]

55. Bzzzzzt,..... Wrong answer David

You may want to look that one up in your Funk & Wagnall's.

[shadowknows69]

56. You're FIRED!!!!

That is your primary role you vile waste of oxygen!!

[omega minimo]

57. "role" as in, he's playing his part in the reality show called "the news"

[rufus dog]

58. Then the only way for him to defend that position

is not to even report on the issue. If someone is lying then it should not get any airtime and he should not be able to report or comment on the lie.

FUCKING TOOL.

[Thegonagle]

59. What the hell do I pay them for then? (Oh wait, I don't...)

But for crying out loud, this is the type of thing that allows crooked politicians stuff the electronic ballot boxes, let terrorists attack, and lie us into self-serving wars!

I'm disgusted with the mainstream media.

[dansolo]

61. Someone should ask him if he thinks Tim Russert would have agreed with this

Isn't David Gregory spitting on the memory of Tim Russert, who gained his reputation by doing exactly what Gregory claims is not his job? I guess he should stop trying for the Meet The Press gig.

[glinda]

79. Tim would not have agreed

That is why he asked such good questions and pursued answers. He would be just sick if he saw what was going on. Huge loss. Huge. I miss him so much.

[La Coliniere]

64. What an idiotic thing to say.

Mr. Gregory is certainly part of the problem. What the hell does he imagine the job of a journalist to be?

[bulloney]

65. He thinks they should dance with Karl Rove at social functions, doncha know?

[KarenS]

66. K & R

I read DU everyday and have for a few years now. I must say that THIS is one of the most disturbing posts I've read in a long long time. Not that David Gregory, in particular, really counts for anything but it does make me wonder why he has chosen this career and how many more like him are out there,,,,

If the "news" we are reading and listening to is simply fiction and not fact then where are we?? If everything now is simply based on PR and not fact then where are we?? :shrug:

As angry as I am about him saying this, I do always take a moment to say Thank You to someone that reveals their True Self,,,, sooooo Thank You David Gregory, I have believed you were just a shill for a long time now and Thank You for validating that fact!!!

Thank Goodness for Olbermann and Maddow AND the internet !! :applause:

[GreenPartyVoter]

67. He got his journalism degree _where_?!

[KoKo]

96. His dad was some Entertainment Big Wig...so "Stretch" got a job...

based on Nepotism.

[GreenPartyVoter]

98. So he's not a real journalist who sold out. He's just some guy who never

got the point of journalism in the first place. And he works on TV in the "news" media.

Lovely!

[ShortnFiery]

68. Yes, and unlike Anderson Cooper, David Gregory likes to dance on-stage with Rove.

:scared: :puke:

Anderson Cooper gets kudos for the above, i.e., NOT wanting to dance on stage with Karl Rove. :applause:

David Gregory is, IMO, a shameless vapid journalistic whore for the Corporate Controlled M$M.

[Forrest Greene]

70. The Job Of Today's Journalist

...is to know which side of the bread the butter's on. 'Twas ever thus:

"As for the pyramids, there is nothing to wonder at in them so much as
the fact that so many men could be found degraded enough to spend their
lives constructing a tomb for some ambitious booby, whom it would have
been wiser and manlier to have drowned in the Nile, and then given his
body to the dogs."

— Henry David Thoreau, Walden

[20score]

71. Then you serve no purpose, Gregory.

[Imagevision]

73. Do you ALL believe what you read? - The M$M also sold us the Iraq war!

[Geek_Girl]

74. I liked him better as part of the WH press core.

What happened? He use to stand up to Bush's press spokesperson all the time and point out lies.

[Marr]

75. I believe he's confusing journalism with stenography.

It's a common misconception among media personalities with obscene salaries.

[live love laugh]

78. Nowhere does he say "journalists"...he says "what we do". They entertain.

They are no longer considered journalists, they follow their scripts.

[CreekDog]

80. he finally said what we thought he was thinking all along

of course, he only criticizes that view of his role when it involves covering McCain. :eyes:

[Hubert Flottz]

82. I guess he likes W because they both look like chimps?

[MadMaddie]

83. David Gregory should hang up his reporting credentials.

He is worthless....

Once Obama gets in let's make sure that david gregory's ratings are so low that he doesn't have a career.

[KoKo]

84. What do you expect from a guy that "Danced with "MC Rove" at the DC National Press Club Gala?

:eyes: you think he's Goldilocks? OY!

[MrMickeysMom]

88. No, he thinks they should expose themselves to old ladies, instead

What a waste of the camera's time - Fuck David Fucking Gregory

[WhiteTara]

91. Karl Rove's but buddy

they are sickening.

[Canuckistanian]

97. Seems David Gregory is comfortable on that lap

Oh sure, he lets out a pathetic "yip, yip!" every now and then, just to let the other lap dogs know he's boss.



But we all know who owns him, feeds him and brushes his lustrous coat of hair.

[Bread and Circus]

100. I gotta ask, what is the 1st Amendment for if not for challenging the abuse of power?

I think Gregory might have forgotten what this country was founded upon (the Constitution) and what we were revolting from.

[warren pease]

101. "It's not our role." Well, he's right in a sick sort of way...

It's really not their job to practice journalism any more. So this asshole is technically correct -- which doesn't make him any less despicable.

Corporate mass media is now in the marketing and PR business and its main clients are the Bush administration and the RNC. They also do peripheral shilling for the seamy collection of Bushie cronies in compatible businesses like war profiteering, oil extortion, Wall St. grand theft, insurance industry parasitism, raising mercenary armies, outsourcing intel functions and the rest of the hideously corrupt practices of the world's worst scumbags trying to pass as human.

For the truth, read Pravda.


wp

[AtomicKitten]

103. David Gregory is a useless toadie.

[Usrename]

104. He's a propagandist.

If there were any justice he would be tried with the others at the Hague.

[Cell Whitman]

105. LIES AGREED UPON: GEORGE SELDES AND THE AMERICAN PRESS

Gregory should quit dancing with the devil/Rove and watch Mr. Seldes, a real reporter.

If case any of you have not seen this - it is a three part 1983 interview with Seldes. It's long but damn it is worth the time...do it in hour gulps once you start it I bet you will finish it. Just a great communicator. Reporters such as Robert Parry who are like this are out there but the corp whores won't put them on the payroll. Olberman and Rachel will do their best to get the info out but absent people will dig it up...well check it out...

http://www.archive.org/details/AV_175_176_177-LIES_AGREED_UPON-_GEORGE_SELDES_AND_THE_AMERICAN_PRESS

[DefenseLawyer]

106. Obviously his role is to dance, Like Spider in Goodfellas. n/t

[harun]

109. LOL. I would love to hear what their role is. They seem like

entertainer/propagandists to me. That is the Corporate Media, many good journalists out there besides them.

[Skwmom]

111. David Gregory is no a journalist. He's just a stupid man who's more than willing

to aid the self serving idiots in flushing this country down the toilet as long as he's paid $$$$$$$$$ and gets his air time.

God, he is SUCH a dumb-ass.

[SalmonChantedEvening]

112. The first 4 words of your post say it all. anna n/t

[tom_paine]

113. Well, that's about as shocking as a Nazi "journalist" saying the same.

Which is to say quite expected and predicted.

It wouldn't surprise me if virtually ALL TV "jounalists" (with the tiniest handfuls of exceptions) feel the exact same way. And, like Gregory, were proud of being, in essence, the quinitessential totalitarian journalist-propagandist.

Like everything else, the Bushies uttery neutralized, vaporized and rebuilt basically from the ground up, what was once one of the greatest, if not the greatest, Free Press' in world history, the post-WWII American Free Press.

But it fell as easily as if the Bushies were stealing candy from babies. Like the rest of it.