Will the Ethical, Honest and Competent Members of the Mainstream Press Please...
By ParaTed2k
@ParaTed2k (22940)
Sheboygan, Wisconsin
January 19, 2009 7:28am CST
Make yourselves known!
I've been very hard on what I call the "incompetent press" here in Mylot. It isn't just about the 2008 election, it goes all the way back to the 90s.
I've known that you can't believe everything you hear, see and read in the press as long as I can remember. Howeever, I didn't know how bad it was intil the 90s. I spent much of the 90s hopping from one natural disaster to another. As part of the US Regular Army and the National Guards of 3 states, I responded to hurricanes, floods, disaster level snow packs, and fought wild land fires. In civilian life, I was a paramedic in both rural and urban areas and did Search and Rescue training in the Teton Mountains.
In all that, I never once watched a reporter on the scene give a factual report of what was going on. It wasn't merely a difference of opinion, I could understand that. It was complete and total disregard for the facts on the ground. We would listen to the answers the reporter got from the interviews, then listen as the imcompetent monkey just said whatever they wanted once the cameras were rolling.
After major disasters, I have looked up the Emergency Management protocols for the area and compared what the local government was supposed to do with what really happened. I've noticed that the press never holds any city or county responsible for not following their protocols. In the case of Hurricane Katrina, that fool Mayor Nagin sent people to their deaths because he was too stupid, too greedy or just to drunk to follow the New Orleans Comprehensive Disaster Plan...
Of course, the incompetent press didn't give a flying flip about the truth. The orders were given and they followed like maggots to a dying corps... Blame Bush!
The upshot of all this is, with all that, I am still sure there are ethical, honest and competent people in the press. What I am asking of you is make yourselves known. Stand up and be counted.
Mostly though I'm asking you to stand up to the powers that be in the incompetent press and clean up your profession.
If you are out there, I'd love to hear from you!
2 responses
@ElicBxn (64176)
• United States
19 Jan 09
I'm sure the mayor or New Orleans was also just following his marching orders from the Democrats and allowed it to happen.
I saw a doctor during that time who's parents were from New Orleans, they have left when they heard the storm was coming, taking care to board up their house.
Granted, it was on higher ground, but he said they didn't have anything good to say about the mayor and that if he had ordered the city there wouldn't have been quite as much problem
1 person likes this
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
19 Jan 09
Yup, all he had to do was follow the plan they already had. Admittedly, the plan wasn't complete, but it was better than sending people home from the shelters to die.
2 people like this
@anniepa (27955)
• United States
21 Jan 09
Are you saying NOTHING we hear from the media is true? I mean, I'm sure you have witnessed a lot of things in your experiences to show the press in a negative light; I've felt that way about our local media on several occasions, they seem to be willing to do or say anything for ratings, sales and sensationalism. However, there has to be someone we can trust, doesn't there? I guess that's what I'm asking you, Ted - who should I believe, where should I get my information if all in the mainstream media are unethical, dishonest and incompetent? There has to be some good journalists still out there, I hope!
Annie
@ParaTed2k (22940)
• Sheboygan, Wisconsin
21 Jan 09
That's why I wrote this. I hope there are some ethical, honest and competent members of the mainstream press out there as much as you do. Actually, I do know a few, but to get real facts out they always seem to have to do a documentary, run a blog or take some other "out of the mainstream" way to get past the cencors they work for.
I've found that the basic story is usually true. For example, Hurricane Katrina did happen and it was devastating. The lies and propaganda are in the details. Hurricane Katrina happened, but there weren't murders committed in the Superdome, no one shot at the National Guardsmen. FEMA did screw up, but only because they were expected to do things that they aren't supposed to have to do, in fact, a lot of what that fool Nagin and the worthless Gov. Blanco wanted them to do is patently illegal.
Another example would be the reporter that "interviewed" me at the Obama campaign rally. She was only interested in me as long as she thought I would fill in the blanks for the story she had already written. Yes, there are Army vets who are pro Obama and anti Bush... so that part of the story she was doing was fact... but when I didn't fit into her preconcieved notions, I was worthless to her.
When I was a paramedic and parachute rigger we went out of our way to ensure that the general public maintained trust in us and what we did. We agreed to recertify our skills periodically, we added layers of safety beyond what was necessary, we even came up with tests for each other as peers.
In other words, we worked hard to maintain the integrity of our profession. Not only do I wonder when journalists will start doing that, I challenge them to do so... and if they won't, then well.. that speaks for itself.
1 person likes this
