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The Harmful "Emptiness" of Political Reporting

Jamison Foser details how the Media, especially its political reporters, are simply incompetent. I especially like the Frederick of Dollywood red pickup story:

So when longtime lobbyist and Hollywood actor Fred Thompson -- a man who once rented a red pickup truck in order to campaign in Tennessee as a man of the people -- indicated this week that he would seek the Republican presidential nomination, we knew how the media would describe him: Authentic. Folksy.
Let's back up a moment: Thompson didn't even drive the rented pickup, as The Washington Monthly reported in 1996[.] . . . . The pickup was, literally, a rented prop designed to help a wealthy actor/Washington lobbyist/trial lawyer play the role of salt-of-the-earth populist. . . .

The point of the story is how the political Media will just swallow it all:

But Chris Matthews and the Beltway pundit crowd don't encounter many actual working-class voters as they stroll the dunes of Nantucket. A wealthy lobbyist/actor who rents a red pickup truck to play the role of a regular guy strikes them as "authentic" and "folksy." Mark Halperin wrote this week that Thompson won his first Senate race "after driving his trademark red pickup truck all over Tennessee."

But this is really the least of it. The Freak Show of political reporting would be less harmful if the political reporters actually knew something about the issues that they are supposed to be covering. Thus, Newt Gingrich is portrayed as a man of new ideas:

In a media landscape where nobody bothers to explain policies, all policies may be new, or they may be old, or they may be stolen, or unworkable, or brilliant. All that matters is the appended adjectives. Given that there aren't media protocols for routinely talking through the details and evaluating the worth of policy proposals, they exist entirely in terms of their throwaway descriptors, which are in turn functions of candidate narratives, atmospherics, the reporter's familiarity with the concepts at hand, etc. And because fairly few reporters are actually policy experts, it's sadly easy to construct a reputation for big thinking out of loud talking. Newt can spin old ideas into new ones because we have a media that doesn't much traffic in ideas, and thus doesn't know how to tell the difference. What they do know is that most candidates don't talk about policies, and Newt does, and that makes him different. That his policies are generally bad is, again, a level of analysis we rarely reach.

I would go further, WHETHER the policies even are coherent are questions our political Media does not even ask. The reason? They simply are incompetent and not very smart. People are quick to charge the Media with bias. I think that is wrong. Bias implies intention. The Media is not biased. It is incompetent. Political reporters are not qualified to report. They simply do not have the intellect, knowledge, predispostion or ability to actually report on substance.

Chris Matthews, et al. are not capable of reporting on actual substance. So they go to their "strengths" - Matt Drudge issues.

There is a reason he rules their world.

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  • Display: Sort:
    ohh, look! (5.00 / 1) (#44)
    by Sailor on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:52:37 PM EST
    yet another thread hijacked by ppj.

    Why does TL continue to allow this complete violation of TLs rules?

    TalkLeft will limit commenters to four comments a day if, in its sole discretion, the commenter is a "chatterer," loosely defined as one who both holds opposing views from those expressed by TalkLeft and :
    Posts numerous times a day with the intent of dominating, re-directing or hijacking the thread; or

    Posts numerous times a day and insults or calls other commenters names or repeatedly makes the same point with the effect of annoying other commenters.



    Sailor (1.00 / 0) (#47)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:56:47 PM EST
    Well, we are talking about the emptiness of political reporting...

    Try something different.

    Read the thread.

    Parent

    Posing? (5.00 / 1) (#60)
    by Molly Bloom on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 05:12:26 PM EST


    cp (1.00 / 0) (#2)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 11:26:15 AM EST
    You know, Kerry himself started the election's Vietnam tango with his "reporting for duty..." and the whole false claims of Bush being AWOL, etc... That was followed by the fake memo broacasted on CBS.... In the meantime the MSM ignored Kerry's Xmas in Cambodia false claims and ignored what he said about Clinton:

    In the 1992 campaign, Mr. Kerry, who has equated Mr. Bush's National Guard service to running away to Canada, took to the Senate floor to denounce Republicans who questioned candidate Bill Clinton's draft record. Mr. Kerry said it was time to stop re-examining how people did or did not serve during the Vietnam War. Mr. Clinton has never served in the military. As a university student, Mr. Clinton wrote a letter to the commander of the Reserve Officers Training Corps at the University of Arkansas, expressing a "loathing" for the military.

    So I didn't see much positive slant re Bush, and saw some for Kerry..

    Maybe we watch different news... I do FNC.

    ;-)

    PPJ Figures it out! (5.00 / 3) (#3)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 11:38:17 AM EST
    Maybe we watch different news... I do FNC.

    I think you have just figured out why you are never right about anything.  Do you ever change to another station to see news?

    Odd, isn't it, that you claim not to be a Republican, but then you say the FNC is a "news" channel.  Your indiscretion gave away the secret.

    If it were not for the tragedy that a small, and still shrinking, minority of the population agrees with you, your silliness would merely be amusing.

    Unfortunately, your chosen form of ignorance (yes, it IS a choice) has killed tens of thousands of people in Iraq and allowed criminals to loot the treasury, and that is not amusing.

    Your hatred of America is duly noted, but inexplicable to me.

    Parent

    Jim does FNC? (5.00 / 3) (#4)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 11:47:32 AM EST
    Well this explains your complete ignorance on Iraq. I'll bet you still think WMD was found in Iraq...



    Parent

    et al and FNC (1.00 / 0) (#7)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 12:51:06 PM EST
    Yes, I know it is sad, but Shep Smith is a southern boy, and I just can't resist watching him charm the damnyankees...

    And here I thought Molly B was a southern girl... oh well, live and learn....sigh...

    Even worse, the quote was from the Washington Times.........gasp....

    Wonder why it took the Times to report that, while CBS was running with a fake memo...and it was FNC who gave us the Rice iterviews....

    But now, THE TRUTH. I read only TalkLeft. Why bother with a news channel when I have you guys to tell me what it means...??

    And then... (1.00 / 0) (#8)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 12:52:47 PM EST
    Sometimes I watch Glen Beck on CNN... does that wash any of my sins away??

    Parent
    PPJ skews further to the nutwing! (5.00 / 2) (#15)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 03:38:18 PM EST
    I watch Glen Beck on CNN... does that wash any of my sins away??

    Watching another right-wing moron does not exactly balance the right wing morons on FOX.  It means you have tipped the balance even further to the nutwing.

    How do people like Kristol, Cavuto and O'Reilly get away with being wrong about everything, all the time, and keep their jobs?  If I screwed up at work EVERY DAY FOR YEARS, why would I have a job?  Why do they?  It must be some form of nutwing welfare.

    At least we know you are up on the latest doings of Paris Hilton, who gets far more coverage on FOX than Iraq, which is so UNIMPORTANT next to Ms. Hilton's indiscretions.

    Parent

    But haven't you heard? (5.00 / 2) (#16)
    by Warren Terrer on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 04:24:45 PM EST
    jim is entitle to street cred with us because he's really 'socially liberal'. Even though he's never said a socially liberal thing here, he gets his news from FNC and Glenn Beck, can't stand criticism of Fred Thompson, etc etc.

    But hey, if jim says he's socially liberal then I guess we have to believe him, in spite of the complete lack of evidence. Which means he has credibility because anyone who is socially liberal couldn't possibly be a kool-aid drinker, even if he walks and talks like one.

    Parent

    WT - Nope, that's far enough (1.00 / 1) (#18)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:30:55 PM EST
    Even though he's never said a socially liberal thing here,

    That's BS new boy. And I invite you to try the archives...

    If you can't use Google yourself, for every $20.00 contrubut to TL I will provide them for you.

    Your problem is an inability to understand it is possible to be a LIBERAL and be for the war. This is brought on, of course, by the fact you aren't Liberal, but merely a memeber of the Left.

    As for me.....

    Think Kennedy, Johnson, Truman, FDR, Scoop Jackson, Humphrey.....

    Parent

    Most Southerners I know bristle in (5.00 / 0) (#33)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:15:54 PM EST
    the stero-type of being dumb rednecks. Why on earth would you try to live down to such a low standard?



    Parent

    MB (1.00 / 0) (#41)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:48:23 PM EST
    You think watching Shep Smith is being a red neck??

    Wow. Who knew.

    I bet when you travel to New York City that you tell everyone you don't eat grits...

    Parent

    If it dumbs you down.... (5.00 / 0) (#49)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 07:09:35 PM EST
    MB (1.00 / 0) (#51)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 10:19:37 AM EST
    Are you saying eating grits dumbs you down??

    Sounds like a damnyankee plot to me.

    Parent

    Generally speaking eating grits makes you smart (5.00 / 0) (#55)
    by Molly Bloom on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 10:47:42 AM EST
    not sure why it didn't work out for you



    Parent

    DA, Have I told you lately that.... (1.00 / 0) (#22)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:46:57 PM EST
    yaddda yadda

    Parent
    DA (1.00 / 0) (#30)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:05:31 PM EST
    What don't you understand about "yadda yadda?"

    Parent
    DA (1.00 / 0) (#35)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:36:24 PM EST
    What don't you understand about "yadda yadda?"

    Parent
    OFF TOPIC TROLL POST (5.00 / 0) (#42)
    by Sailor on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:48:39 PM EST
    topic: The Harmful "Emptiness" of Political Reporting

    Parent
    RePack (1.00 / 0) (#24)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:49:05 PM EST
    If you keep doing the same thing and aren't winning...

    Have you considered you aren't doing things correctly??/

    Parent

    Look in the mirror (5.00 / 1) (#32)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:12:14 PM EST
    If you keep doing the same thing and aren't winning...

    Define "winning."  

    I am healthy, happy, and surrounded by a loving family.  If I am missing something from my life, it is certainly unimportant.

    Your bitterness creeps through your posts.  I suspect your neighbors do not like you, and that you live alone, except for the cat, who also hates you.

    If you had a dog, it would run away.

    Parent

    RePack (1.00 / 0) (#40)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:45:52 PM EST
    Well, it is my observation that those who are winning don't complain all of the time.

    Not feel to protest their contentment with life.

    Parent

    RePack (none / 0) (#19)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:32:01 PM EST
    You don't watch Glen Beck???

    No wonder you act so strange...

    Parent

    Jim channels a mystic (none / 0) (#23)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:47:36 PM EST
    No wonder you act so strange...

    Jim, you do not have a clue about how I act.  You have never seen me in meatspace.

    Any implication that you know how I act is just another of your strawmen, the only debate tactic you use since facts and logic are unavailable to you.

    Do you have a fact or a logical inference to contribute here, or is the insult above all you have to offer?

    Parent

    How you act??? (1.00 / 0) (#38)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:42:22 PM EST
    Well of course I was referring to your post...

    I thought that was a given.. why do you protest so?

    Parent

    PPJ clarifies that he had nothing to say (5.00 / 1) (#43)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:49:07 PM EST
    Well of course I was referring to your post...

    The word "act" does not mean the same thing as "write."  So we can just blame any miscommunication on your usual incoherence.  

    I thought that was a given.. why do you protest so?

    I guess you are right.  Since you have nothing to offer, I should ignore your moronic comments.

    Is that what you meant?

    Parent

    Not sure what being Southern has to do with FNC (none / 0) (#29)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:05:27 PM EST
    Just another Jim non sequiter I suppose. Just because I am a Southernor doesn't mean I have to fall for every idiot with a Southern accent.



    Parent

    Didn't you vote for Clinton?? (1.00 / 0) (#52)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 10:20:14 AM EST
    I rest my case.

    Parent
    You can call WJC a lot of things (none / 0) (#56)
    by Molly Bloom on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 10:48:32 AM EST
    idiot isn't one of them.



    Parent

    DA (1.00 / 1) (#59)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 03:28:13 PM EST
    yadda yadda

    BTD (none / 0) (#1)
    by cpinva on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 11:00:58 AM EST
    see bob somerby's "daily howler" site, he's been covering this gross ineptitude for years. interestingly, most of it seems focussed on making dems look bad, and repubs look good.

    case in point: al gore, during the 2000 election (and john kerry too, for that matter) is portrayed as a rich eastern elitest. george bush, equally, if not wealthier, and sent to the same "elitest" schools, is portrayed by this same media as some kind of nascar watching good ol' boy.

    case in point 2: both al gore and john kerry, actual vietnam vets, are somehow portrayed as unpatriotic slackards. george bush, alcoholic draft dodger, is portrayed as the second coming of john wayne or rambo.

    sure, you can blame the "swift boat vets for truth", in part, for some of the yak against kerry. however, the failure of the media to actively investigate and report the misrepresentations of this group, or to even take them seriously, contributed to their success.

    right now, their doing the same thing with hillary, and no one in the "progressive" camp is doing a hell of a lot to stop them.

    I'm sure he's linked to Somerby before n/t (none / 0) (#5)
    by andgarden on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 12:03:49 PM EST
    While There Is (none / 0) (#9)
    by talex on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 01:00:52 PM EST
    certainly enough to howl about at the MSM but this diary makes it sound like 100% of them are inept.

    I guess through the years all those Pulitzers awarded for political reporting were a mistake?

    So far I haven't seen any Pulitzers awarded to the Blogosphere. Although if there ever was one awarded it will probably go to Josh Marshal whose shoulders lesser bloggers often stand on.

    Parent

    bear in mind (none / 0) (#39)
    by cpinva on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:44:27 PM EST
    gerth received a pulitzer, for political reporting. all it means is that he writes great (well, mediocre) fiction, and was duly recognized for it.

    and, of course, who could forget rush's "pulitzer"? fred pulitzer, that is. :)

    i don't even waste valuable time on jim anymore, time i'll never recover, because he's intellectually vacant. behind that empty stare (at FNC, no doubt), lies a empty space.

    btw jim, molly ivin was southern also. go figure.

    Parent

    Bob is one of the great ones (none / 0) (#12)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 02:06:32 PM EST
    He is a friend of mine.

    We have buttedheads on occasion however.

    Parent

    butthead (1.00 / 1) (#13)
    by talex on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 02:25:51 PM EST
    LOL

    Parent
    Sports Journalists are Great (none / 0) (#6)
    by MetaData on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 12:20:23 PM EST
    I've often thought we should trade in the political journalists for the sports writers. The depth of analysis of the broncos back bench, the detailed memories of the 1947 Yankees-Brooklyn world series, the implications of a 4th round draft trade.

    Imagine if political pundits cared so deeply about their subject as the sports page writers?

    Sports are real. Politics isn't. (none / 0) (#25)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:53:52 PM EST
    I've often thought we should trade in the political journalists for the sports writers.

    Sports writers labor under a handicap that does not affect political writers.  You can't tell everyone a guy is a great hitter when millions of people have seen him go 0-for the season.

    Political writers can say that Bush is a great leader, and 28% of the people will actually believe them, even if he has never had a base hit in his life.

    Parent

    One more thing (none / 0) (#26)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:54:56 PM EST
    In sports, everyone knows how to define "victory," and when to go home.

    Parent
    Two repubs in your post (none / 0) (#10)
    by Lora on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 01:59:29 PM EST
    reported on more positively than their merits...and yet you don't see bias.  Funny, that.

    I'll tell you why (none / 0) (#11)
    by Big Tent Democrat on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 02:04:57 PM EST
    Because the GOP knows their quarry and play them like fiddles.

    Matt Drudge is biased. The Media is incompetent and gets played.

    Intent is my point.

    Parent

    BTD (1.00 / 0) (#21)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:44:32 PM EST
    And the majority here don't have the ability to know when their legs have been pulled...

    And my pulling was just gentle fun to watch how easily I could make you jump by throwing out a few buzz words... FNC.....

    But I am a piker as compare to the Demo Pols who used you like a monkey wrench in '06 and have great plans for you '08. Don't act ugly. You have no place else to go.

    Parent

    Are you saying (none / 0) (#27)
    by Repack Rider on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:57:43 PM EST
    that when you write something exceedingly dumb, it's just an act?

    Did you ever see the Anthony Hopkins movie, "Magic?"

    Bet you can't stop "acting dumb" for five minutes.

    Parent

    Hey. You're the one reacting... (1.00 / 0) (#53)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 10:21:39 AM EST
    The Teddy White Syndrome - in the 80s (none / 0) (#14)
    by seabos84 on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 02:49:57 PM EST
    I remember watching the big boys from the late 60's / early 70's on ... PBS ?

    and they'd sit there and pontificate, and clear their throats, and look profound adn this one day I saw Teddy White on the tube, and it clicked!

    I had read 'Making of The President 1960' as a teenager in the 70's, so I sure knew Teddy White was

    and I realized that becoming a sage like Teddy was what these guys were all about.

    of course, let me be upfront about my biases - I cooked in fine dining in Boston in the 80's, and in hash houses, and I grew up on welfare, $o I have $ome per$pective$ on $ocial cla$$ that aren't exactly happy happy.

    eliti$t$ are $cum, to $um$ them up.

    I've got no problem with the praises and prizes earned by those who are better than any of us in come endeavor -

    but I really could care less about those who claw their way to the top of some dung heap to take all the praises and prized, AND, who have the audacity to think that they are better at anything more than clawing their way to the top of some dung heap.

    hey mathews! hey nagourney!

    rmm.

    seabos84 (1.00 / 0) (#20)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 05:40:05 PM EST
    Well, congrats on being raised poor.

    My parents were sharecroppers, the lowest of the low in southern agriculture.... But somehow they wound up owning their own farm.. Hard work and a belief in the Democratic Party was the baseline I stood on all through my life...Then one day I discovered that all the elites, to use your words, were Demos, and willing to let the radical Left destroy the country and lose the Vietnam war if only they could win the election.

    God. The more things change the more they remain the same.

    Parent

    Dolchstosslegende (none / 0) (#31)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:12:03 PM EST
    Are you familiar with that term Jim?

    Your homework is too look it up and report back to the rest of us the history of the term and the politicians and political movements associated with it.



    Parent

    MB (1.00 / 0) (#36)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:38:05 PM EST
    Oh really???

    I think I had rather lay back and grin at you.

    Parent

    Says a lot about you Jim (5.00 / 1) (#37)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:41:53 PM EST
    MB (1.00 / 0) (#46)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 06:54:50 PM EST
    Yes, it does.

    I'm a pretty easy going guy who doesn't think it necessary to tell everyone I wouldn't watch FNC, or CNN, or that I never miss MSNBC. Fads bore me and I never did power lunches or power naps.

    I enjoy some good exchanges and don't mind taking a wack... Problem is, there's nobody around who can do that.

    Parent

    That's not what it says about you Jim (5.00 / 1) (#50)
    by Molly Bloom on Sat Jun 02, 2007 at 07:11:15 PM EST
    You'ld know that if you had bothered to do to the research. Your ego has run amok tonight- had a few?



    Parent

    Unfortunately, no. You?? (1.00 / 0) (#54)
    by jimakaPPJ on Sun Jun 03, 2007 at 10:23:28 AM EST
    Let's do a power breakfast and eat some grits.

    Parent