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Longtime Whitehouse correspondent Helen Thomas (George Washington referred to her as the "olde woman in scarlet in the front row") is complaining that the downsizing of "old media" may result in journalism that is "less reliable" than what she's helped spoonfeed the public.
And she's right in the sense that oldschool, mainstream media really can be relied on...to get the story wrong. A recent study shows that only 29% of Americans think that journalists get their facts straight, and only 26% of Americans think the mainstream media is politically unbiased.
Still, rather than having a bunch of "citizen journalists" using computer technology to bring stories (especially conservative stories) to light, Helen thinks the American people would be better served by relying on good old-fashioned presidential press conferences. Unfortunately, the president of "transparency" has refused to give such a press conference for over nine months now.
That's long enough for a woman to have a baby. Or, and we don't want to name any names, several thousand tadpoles.
"Gibbs-it! Gibbs-it! Gibbs-it!"
You just HAD to trot out the picture of Helen Thomas didn't you. There goes breakfast *and lunch*
ReplyDeleteBuzz- Sorry. But without the picture, I couldn't have used the "Gibbs-it, Gibbs-it" gag... and once it got stuck in my head, I had to get it out!
ReplyDeleteThe Prez is just avoiding any situation where he can't have a teleprompter feed him pre-prepared bull**** answers.
ReplyDeleteOne of the basic tenets of public speaking is the ability to speak at the level your audience understands. In this, our ever eloquent prez completely fails except when throwing insults and blame at Republicans.
It really makes me sick. I tend to favor politicians like Sarah Palin who aren't afraid to sit down at the bar with their constituents and discuss matters.
Anonymous- Good comment! However, it's hard to call the president's public speaking a failure, exactly, since it's his intent to confuse and obfuscate. If he were as plain-spoken and truthful as Sarah Palin or George Bush, he would never have gotten near the Whitehouse.
ReplyDeleteYou're right. Obama always has to have complete control. When he doesn't have the teleprompter, he just keeps talking like he's emptying his head. He debates all sides of a point and throws out endless anecdotes and straw men. He uses lots of words but they often have the substance of cotton candy. I wish the consequences of his decisions were that light weight.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous- I like the "cotton candy" analogy; the president uses words that are sweet - sickeningly sweet - that immediately dissolve into nothingness.
ReplyDelete