In this post, I dissect a single tweet by a senior Washington Post reporter. This tweet provides insight into the problems plaguing how the news media covers public safety, and also some overlooked ethical problems in corporate journalism: Ethics and discretion in institutional bureaucracy
How do you explain it? Do these people ever explain themselves? Does anyone say 'hey, you're a reporter. Statistically speaking is crime up? Are certain crimes up? What do you mean here?' When most people say this, I assume it's because they watch 6 o'clock TV news, etc. This gives one a feeling of imminent chaos. But when a reporter says it, it seems like they are positioning themselves politically, flashing a certain signal or something like this & in this case, being deceptive about facts. So it's especially egregious. WAPO policy is a good one given that. Reporters words carry weight. This is a FACTUAL statement. It's vague but it's empirical enough to be called out as false and she's capable enough to know it is false.
Another outstanding and important/necessary perspective. I hope Parker & the other journalist actually do themselves a professional service and read this analysis and not only learn something about critical ,analytic journalism but refresh themselves with their responsibility they have to the people who read what they write to report the truth in a full objective manner without an agenda.
Most people didn’t understand what the changes were that the DC Council made. Had they truly understood the true and full scope of their decisions Biden may not have felt so torn as to what side of this issue to come down on.
I understand WHY he made the decision he made going into a campaign season but it was the wrong one. The other decision was bold but would have required much more communication about why and Democrats and messaging have never seemed to pair up well.
Personally I think it was a missed opportunity.
The Democrats had BETTER get comfortable with messaging because they’re going to need to be doing A LOT of it and they’re going to have to start doing it well otherwise…. Dark days
Once again you are meticulous in your thinking and explanations. Thank you. I think our particular society was built to create and protect profit-making at all costs and has been, step by step, decade by decade, pulling everything in that direction (defense, housing, healthcare, food, higher education, soon K12 education). And to preserve this profit-making apparatus requires a base of exploitation--vulnerable people--squishy policies. Once police and jails and prisons were set apart from profit-making but now they have been fully absorbed in it. I think that is also happening to media (print, TV, radio, on-line). Even though I am encouraged when I read clear thinking like yours I am still cynical about turning our society back toward empathy. Journalists are allowing their discipline to be fully absorbed into this same apparatus of profit-making. Most are just punching in and out. Thinking will not change without journalists dedicated to questioning authority and the status quo. But I am discouraged because our community of journalists has mostly been sucked into the profit-making apparatus.
How do you explain it? Do these people ever explain themselves? Does anyone say 'hey, you're a reporter. Statistically speaking is crime up? Are certain crimes up? What do you mean here?' When most people say this, I assume it's because they watch 6 o'clock TV news, etc. This gives one a feeling of imminent chaos. But when a reporter says it, it seems like they are positioning themselves politically, flashing a certain signal or something like this & in this case, being deceptive about facts. So it's especially egregious. WAPO policy is a good one given that. Reporters words carry weight. This is a FACTUAL statement. It's vague but it's empirical enough to be called out as false and she's capable enough to know it is false.
Another outstanding and important/necessary perspective. I hope Parker & the other journalist actually do themselves a professional service and read this analysis and not only learn something about critical ,analytic journalism but refresh themselves with their responsibility they have to the people who read what they write to report the truth in a full objective manner without an agenda.
Most people didn’t understand what the changes were that the DC Council made. Had they truly understood the true and full scope of their decisions Biden may not have felt so torn as to what side of this issue to come down on.
I understand WHY he made the decision he made going into a campaign season but it was the wrong one. The other decision was bold but would have required much more communication about why and Democrats and messaging have never seemed to pair up well.
Personally I think it was a missed opportunity.
The Democrats had BETTER get comfortable with messaging because they’re going to need to be doing A LOT of it and they’re going to have to start doing it well otherwise…. Dark days
Once again you are meticulous in your thinking and explanations. Thank you. I think our particular society was built to create and protect profit-making at all costs and has been, step by step, decade by decade, pulling everything in that direction (defense, housing, healthcare, food, higher education, soon K12 education). And to preserve this profit-making apparatus requires a base of exploitation--vulnerable people--squishy policies. Once police and jails and prisons were set apart from profit-making but now they have been fully absorbed in it. I think that is also happening to media (print, TV, radio, on-line). Even though I am encouraged when I read clear thinking like yours I am still cynical about turning our society back toward empathy. Journalists are allowing their discipline to be fully absorbed into this same apparatus of profit-making. Most are just punching in and out. Thinking will not change without journalists dedicated to questioning authority and the status quo. But I am discouraged because our community of journalists has mostly been sucked into the profit-making apparatus.