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Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
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Newsgirl
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
She has a great point about blogs and this "everyone's a photographer" phenomenon. Of course, blogs exist that make an effort to be correct and ethical and informative, but those aren't the problem. The problem comes from blogs that incorrectly - whether on purpose or carelessly - report news to readers who may or may not ever go on to find a legitimate news source to verify the information.

This is the same issue I see with 24-hour cable news network opinion shows like Glenn Beck at al. People can watch these shows, assume the information is correct and go on about their lives in blissful ignorance.

And of course it's great to have opinionated views and debates in the media - but what happens when audience members don't recognize - or CARE to recognize - the difference from fact-checked information? Or when news outlets don't make an effort to clearly distinguish opinion from fact? Slippery slope there. #helenthomas
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banana_grabber
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
I think one aspect in which she is correct about blogs is that it has changed journalism as well. In order to compete with the news blogs, news organizations are using sensationalism (they always have, but goodness, it has gotten out of control!). I mean, has anyone checked out Newsweek lately? Just the covers alone (Pulling the Plug on Granny/ Is your Baby a Racist; for example) are all sensational and the articles in them are almost 100% opinion pieces and not reporting. The NYT is doing this as well to some degree--they blog as much as report. I appreciate both formats, but I just hope we don't lose old-time journalism in the process. #helenthomas
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carinamarie
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
if a camera makes me a photographer and a keyboard a journalist, then i exercise some (small) control of the information and that's a good thing.

if we waited for the mainstream media to catch on to what we're *actaully* interested in or to blow the whistle when there's trouble, we'd be SOL...and ralph lauren would still be removing pelvic bones. #helenthomas
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Newsgirl
10/15/09

@carinamarie: What do you consider the "mainstream media" to be? Are blogs not included? #helenthomas
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carinamarie
10/15/09

@Newsgirl: [en.wikipedia.org]

i consider mainstream to be the old-school sources of info: cable news, nightly news, newspapers and magazines.

i wouldn't include blogs on the list but that isn't meant to denigrate their influence--in fact, that's my point.

that blogs (and normal people on the street) have the power to influence and chronicle events without a mainstream filter is pretty sweet and helen thomas, bless her, love her, needn't underestimate the "people's" ability to report truthfully.

even if we don't *always* get it right, neither do the people who get paid to report. (except for the national enquirer, lol) #helenthomas
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cait98
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
Blog aren't subject to the same ethical standards as traditional news sources. Even thoughtful well-edited blogs like Jezebel. But, I think this is a benefit.

Here, we have news stories or studies presented to us a certain way. A lot is opinion. And then we react or criticize or whatever in the comments. We get to speculate on breaking news and share additional information.

I think of blogs and traditional news sources as supplementing each other, not replacing. #helenthomas
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NefariousNewt
10/15/09

@cait98: The problem is, traditional news sources are no longer about actual news, in the Murrow/Cronkite sense, but news in the flashy, controversial, entertainment sense. The fact is, the profusion of blogs is leading to an overall watering-down of honest-to-god news, which makes what true journalists do that much more valuable. They have standards (and hopefully, they live by them) that a blogger, even myself, does not have to live by, because there is no editor, no board of directors, to say "no, we can't say that." #helenthomas
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cait98
10/15/09

@NefariousNewt: I think you have a point, but I don't know if it'd say it's solely blogs watering down honest-to-goodness traditional news. I think it's also just the like entertainment-industrial complex (made that term up! prob doesn't make sense! but I think you know what I mean!) People don't want to see depth, they want to be entertained and spoonfed. #helenthomas
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sportz.star
10/15/09

@NefariousNewt: Agreed. And beyond that, fact checking has given way to first to the net, which is not an acceptable approach for a news outlet that is not a blog. Blogs - as I see it - are aggregators, opinion sites, and analysis. The "news" has to come from somewhere credible first. I worry it often does not. #helenthomas
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Newsgirl
10/15/09

@NefariousNewt: "The fact is, the profusion of blogs is leading to an overall watering-down of honest-to-god news"

I wish I could heart you 23984 more times. Helen Thomas talks about this in her book "Watchdogs of Democracy?" There's a news-circle issue here where if a popular blog reports something, other news agencies feel obligated to pick it up and post their own versions to somehow show that they're covering all the bases, regardless of whether or not they SHOULD be doing this. For example, how the LA Times will post their own version of a TMZ story. Should they be doing that? No. And, the 24-hour news cycle makes this problem worse because there's a never-ending news hole to fill. #helenthomas
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Grim Reaper of the Forest
10/15/09

@cait98 That is true, but there is something to be said for having to eat your vegetables before you have dessert. It is condescending for the intellectual elite to tell the masses what they need to watch, but when everyone is competing for the lowest common denominator, will there be a place left for factual, boring news that people can trust? I like being able to skim the NYT headlines before I watch The Daily Show. #helenthomas
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badmutha
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
"There's no turning back. No editors. No standards. No ethics." I believe this to be a slight overstatement. However, I am sure that it is amazingly different than when she was starting out. #helenthomas
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Apollonia
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
While Helen Thomas is a legend and role model for journalists, she is flat out wrong about anything having to do with "new technology." It's a frequent misconception by the olds that any blog on the Internets is run by illiterate busy bodies who don't have a clue about editing standards and journalism ethics. Those types of bloggers exist, but there is also a wealth of news and commentary (I include Jezebel in this) coming from people with their minds in the right place: they want to report on the truth, get frank discussions going, ask the hard questions and move the industry forward.

I don't think she gets that the Web can and will make journalism better, but the way to do that hasn't been fully realized yet. We're getting there, but it's sad when an icon like Helen doesn't get it and just puts the whole medium down. As an under-30 in the industry, I see her narrow-minded opinion all the damn time and it's doing more harm than good.

I still love her, though. #helenthomas
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whynotshesaid
10/15/09

@Apollonia: I totally agree that the internet/web 2.0 means some really amazing things are taking place in the world of news, but I do have to say that I don't see as much in the way of reporting coming from blogs as I do commentary. Some blogs and online organizations are reporting (ProPublica, TPM, etc.) but far and away blogs are dedicated to analysis and commentary. That's because reporting requires a commitment of time and resources that most bloggers don't have access to. I mean, look at institutional support. It's a lot easier to go do serious investigative journalism that targets powerful interests if you know you have a similarly powerful entity backing you up and willing to pay any legal fees should it come to that point.

I will be interested to see how it all plays out in the future. #helenthomas
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Grim Reaper of the Forest
10/15/09

@whynotshesaid: Agreed. The Gawker empire has occasional "scoops" but mostly it comments on things in other newspapers. It is good analysis and commentary, but depends on the primary news source to do actual news gathering. #helenthomas
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Apollonia
10/15/09

@whynotshesaid: Very true. It's much easier (meaning, less time consuming) to go the commentary route and a lot of the good investigative stuff is coming from larger newspapers who are hurting financially. The Rocky Mountain News (R.I.P.) used to do some great reporting with even greater presentation on the web. #helenthomas
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bluebears
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
I like being able to get news from a variety of sources. I think it adds to and enriches the public discourse. I like being able to read someone's blog about what's going on in some other part of the world rather than read a generic paragraph or two that comes from the AP. #helenthomas
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cait98
10/15/09

Wrote comment agreeing with you, tried to edit unsuccessfully, not really sure where my comments are...
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Lymed promoted this comment Edited by cait98 at 10/15/09 12:34 PM cait98 was starred cait98 was unstarred

Lymed
10/15/09

@cait98: You need to hit "show hidden threads" If you have it in your profile settings marked that way, on another thread it was suggested to change it, save it, change it back and save it again. Now my hiddens are showing.
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Edited by Lymed at 10/15/09 12:58 PM Lymed was starred Lymed was unstarred

Kivrin
10/15/09

In reply to Helen Thomas On Bloggers, The Press, And Obama's Failings
I was lucky enough to hear her speak at a local university last year, and it was such a great experience. She is awesome.

Re: the blogs, I do think it's unfortunate that some people dismiss them as if they're a single entity -- there's a wide spectrum of blogging on the Internet, and some blogs are more respectable/respected than others. Kinda like how some newspapers have always been more respectable/respected than others.

Still, I don't hold Helen's blog comments against her. She gets a pass on that based on the overwhelming abundance of awesomeness she displays in other areas. #helenthomas
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