Why I Hate the Media
Jack Shafer has a bone to pick with the reading public, or, more likely, the mainly non-reading public.
I would divide the press haters into two classes, and in order to avoid emotionally loaded terms just refer to them respectively by initials: 'i' (for the 'intelligensia') on the one hand and 's' (for the 'stupidigensia') on the other. Members of the 's' don't read news, they listen to Rush and Fox News. They hate the press because Rush, inSeanity, and Bill tell them to. Members of the 'i' (my readers, and, I hope, your humble correspondent) hate the media because it's so ****ing stupid. My reasons:
Trying for ten would be tedious, so you need to settle for 7. (Seven is the most powerful magical number - TMR)
7) Morons who don't prepare well enough for interviews to catch obvious falsehoods
6) Tim Russert
5) Other Sunday Talk show Hosts
4) Network News
3) The WaPo Editorial Board
2) The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page
1) Fox News
Of course there are some guys I like - a half a dozen or so reporters each on the NYT and WaPo, and a few great reporters scattered among other publications, Paul Krugman on the NYT OpEd, and of course the great Seymour Hersh.
Over the last two decades, the Pew people have plotted a steady decline in the credibility of newspapers among its survey respondents. In 1985, 84 percent said they could believe most of what they read in their daily newspaper, but by 2004 that number was down to 54 percent.Jack claims that the press is actually better than ever. I'm going to guess that a lot of the press haters don't read the press they hate.
These findings are enough to sicken the heart of any journalist—until he reads the rest of the survey. Over nearly the same interval, survey respondents gave consistently favorable marks to their own daily newspaper! In 1984, 88 percent of those familiar enough with a daily newspaper to give it a rating gave it a favorable grade. In 2005, 80 percent still did.
I would divide the press haters into two classes, and in order to avoid emotionally loaded terms just refer to them respectively by initials: 'i' (for the 'intelligensia') on the one hand and 's' (for the 'stupidigensia') on the other. Members of the 's' don't read news, they listen to Rush and Fox News. They hate the press because Rush, inSeanity, and Bill tell them to. Members of the 'i' (my readers, and, I hope, your humble correspondent) hate the media because it's so ****ing stupid. My reasons:
Trying for ten would be tedious, so you need to settle for 7. (Seven is the most powerful magical number - TMR)
7) Morons who don't prepare well enough for interviews to catch obvious falsehoods
6) Tim Russert
5) Other Sunday Talk show Hosts
4) Network News
3) The WaPo Editorial Board
2) The Wall Street Journal Editorial Page
1) Fox News
Of course there are some guys I like - a half a dozen or so reporters each on the NYT and WaPo, and a few great reporters scattered among other publications, Paul Krugman on the NYT OpEd, and of course the great Seymour Hersh.
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