Journalistic Credibility

Something caught my attention while browsing news articles on the internet this morning, a story explaining why CNN got rid of a journalist who’d been with them for 20 years because she wrote something on Twitter which was politically incorrect, something which might put her work ethic in a bad light. Imagine that; CNN’s concerned about journalistic credibility; kind of makes me all teary eyed.

“CNN has fired Octavia Nasr, a senior Mideast editor, after her post on Twitter about the death of one of the forefathers of Hezbollah raised concerns at the network about her journalistic credibility.”

Maybe MSNBC should be taking notes, do a little house cleaning; very few would miss Keith “I’m not a liberal; I’m an American” Olbermann’s fair and unbiased political journalism as memories of the last presidential coverage come to mind. (You have no idea how hard it was to write the last half of that line without choking.)

There is a difference between reporting the news and journalism; I don’t think there’s been anything close to the news in years; each “news outlet” puts a spin on every story to achieve an objective, biased in some way toward an agenda which favors the station’s view. If all the big news media outlets fired everyone for a lack of journalistic credibility we’d be watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island or Leave it to Beaver; there certainly wouldn’t be much else to watch in the evening.

This past week KPRC in Houston has been showing tar balls on the Texas coast, a never ending environmental waste of time to let everyone know that drilling for oil has destroyed your trip to the beach. What would we do without having several minutes on each newscast dedicated to showing a reporter picking a tar ball from the water’s edge, one that came from BP’s Deepwater Horizon disaster?

A red flag’s waving in the back of my mind, one which asks, if the news media is spending so much time driving home this one point, showing me their right hand; then what are they not showing me, the information not being shared that’s in the left hand? Forgive my skepticism; it’s come from years of observing human nature. When somebody wastes an inordinate amount of time repeating a known fact; most of the time there is a much more important fact, one they don’t want to be well known.

During the last presidential election coverage major news outlets would talk on and on about was how smooth, how articulate and sharp Obama came across while avoiding mention of his ties to American hating social radicals, communists and home grown terrorists. Once Obama was elected they pretended to be surprised that his closest friends shared a common thread; they all hated main stream American values based on the free market and constitution, amazing!

There’s a “translate” button on my monitor which presents itself when surfing the internet, “This page is in English – Translate it using Google Toolbar?” Why it’s there is beyond me; English is the language I already speak.

I still need to figure out a way to stop a couple of Japanese porn distributors from leaving spam in the comment section of my articles. I didn’t know what they were selling for the longest; even the free translation into English sounded like instructions on how to put a bicycle together, “Possession section in resident in Mo non fixed law…fixed law... During one organizing…three minutes such as large…two.” If you click on their link it takes you to a “Girl Sex” page with pictures of half naked oriental babes; sorry, no bicycles offered.

Bruce Willis had a line in the movie The Fifth Element that came to mind. He used it when the woman with orange hair fell out of the air, punched a hole in his cab and started jibber-jabbering in some language he didn’t understand, “Lady, I only speak two languages, English and bad English”. Wouldn’t it be nice to hit the translate button when it came to the news?

“Today beach goers have to be careful as hundreds of tar balls washed ashore. Samples were taken and sent off for testing to verify if they came from BP’s Deepwater Horizon oil disaster.” Now hit the translate button, “We’ve been telling you for years how evil capitalists like BP don’t give a rat’s hind end about the environment. All they care about is making money. If we don’t stop Big Oil companies from drilling in the Gulf you won’t be able to go swimming any more. Sea Gulls and endangered turtles will be covered in slime until they die a slow painful death while your little children are forced to watch”.

Let’s try that with Obama’s recent statement regarding illegal immigration , “I’m ready to move forward, the majority of Democrats are ready to move forward, and I believe the majority of Americans are ready to move forward. But the fact is without bipartisan support, as we had just a few years ago, we cannot solve this problem,”

Now hit that translate button, the one that we all wish worked to clarify what’s been offered, “I’m going to ignore ‘fly over America” because I don’t really care what their views are regarding the protection of our borders and the sovereignty of the United States of America. I’m speaking on behalf of our world citizens who look to the American tax payer to support a life style they had only dreamed about while escaping their own corrupt third world government regimes. I’m talking about registering 15 million or more future Democrat voters who will become a permanent lower class dependent on big government for nearly anything they need. I’m talking about holding power until my buddy George Soros and the New World Order folks get hold of this sad excuse of a nation and turn it into just another mediocre member state, a chance to atone for all that democracy crap we’ve been spreading over the last two hundred years.”

You can see why that translate button has yet to be fully implemented; “You want the truth, you can’t handle the truth!” There I go again, borrowing lines from movies to make a point; interesting since the topic had to do with guarding a wall.

A Few Good Men touched on the subject of border protection; but clouded the issue by linking that necessary function of government with a homicide that had been covered up. The fact remains, guarding the border is necessary and yet Obama and many others in positions of power have avoided doing what the public expects and demands.

“You can’t handle the truth! Son, we live in a world that has walls. And those walls have to be guarded by men with guns. Who’s gonna do it? You? You, Lt. Weinberg? I have a greater responsibility than you can possibly fathom. You weep for Santiago and you curse the Marines. You have that luxury. You have the luxury of not knowing what I know: that Santiago's death, while tragic, probably saved lives. And my existence, while grotesque and incomprehensible to you, saves lives...You don't want the truth. Because deep down, in places you don't talk about at parties, you want me on that wall. You need me on that wall. We use words like honor, code, loyalty...we use these words as the backbone to a life spent defending something. You use ‘em as a punchline. I have neither the time nor the inclination to explain myself to a man who rises and sleeps under the blanket of the very freedom I provide, then questions the manner in which I provide it! I'd rather you just said thank you and went on your way. Otherwise, I suggest you pick up a weapon and stand a post. Either way, I don't give a damn what you think you’re entitled to!”

Obama and his administration don’t like America because it stands for individual freedom and liberty and they certainly don’t intend to pick up a weapon and stand post to defend our borders. They want Change in the worst way, and I really do mean in the worst way. They don’t want Arizona enforcing laws intended to keep illegal aliens out of the country, keeping future “amnesty granted Democrat voters” from reaching the polls.

The news media makes it all sound like Republicans are trying to keep the poor in their place, deporting families, closing the border and generally being mean spirited. Starving children living in third world squalor could be American citizens enjoying the blessing we take for granted if not for conservatives depriving them of their rights, Tea Party members full of hate who lack compassion.

I’m still asking myself why CNN fired one of their journalists; because she admitted to admiring a founder of Hezbollah, a terrorist organization determined to exterminate Israel? She should have gotten a regular news anchor spot, a chance to express the prevailing attitude of the left. CNN might not say it out loud or in public; but the way they take sides it would appear they like Muslims more than Jews, or could I be mistaken?

Obama’s White House Communications Director, Anita Dunn, stood in front of a microphone and camera where she announced Mao Tse Tung was one of her “favorite political philosophers”, a man responsible for murdering millions in the name of progressive government. Obama didn’t call for her resignation or demand she be fired. It would appear Dunn fits in quite well; being a revolutionary communist makes her a perfect spokesperson for the Obama administration. Who needs a translation button when the message comes in crystal clear? Now that’s journalistic credibility!

This article has been cross posted to The Moral Liberal , a publication whose banner reads, “Defending The Judeo-Christian Ethic, Limited Government, & The American Constitution”.