Friday, May 23, 2008

Here's who all of the fuss is about...

Emily Gould on CNN's Larry King Live (hosted by Jimmy Kimmel).



I'm believe she referenced this appearance in the NYT piece, but, frankly, I only skimmed it. And apparently Belle's Carrie Bradshaw reference wasn't coincidental.

One of the major issues I have with her is her total distortion of the term "citizen journalism". There is such a thing as real "citizen journalism" - which involves citizens exposing and vetting issues within their own communities that have meaning to those who live within those communities. Tracking celebrity whereabouts is not "citizen journalism" - and describing it as such is an insult to real citizen journalists. Of course, angry celebrities aren't going to confront her on that point (because they, too, are part of the problem), so now it's an entire waste of time on two fronts.

Incidentally, JRO could go on at length regarding the price real community journalists pay in politically unfriendly climates - but why bother going somewhere useful with this discussion.

Gould is clearly in WAY WAY WAY over head, in both the NYT and on CNN - and criticizing her is like shooting fish in a barrel. Ultimately, the issue has nothing to do with Gould. Case in point - where was the outrage when the New York Times, in covering the 5th anniversary of the Iraq War last March, asked nine "military and foreign affairs" experts to reflect on their perspectives in 2003?

Quoting
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting:

The neoconservative American Enterprise Institute provided three columnists: Richard Perle, Fred Kagan and Danielle Pletka, all of them among the strongest advocates for the invasion. The Times also gave space to the Brookings Institution's Kenneth Pollack, another strong supporter of the invasion.

Featured as well were former Iraq envoy L. Paul Bremer and Paul D. Eaton, a retired general who served as a trainer of the Iraqi military early in the war. Former Marine Nathaniel Fick of the Center for a New American Security, who took part in the invasion of Iraq as a platoon leader, also weighed in.

Another columnist was Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who served as an on-air defense analyst for ABC News. Cordesman often warned of planning or logistics problems with the invasion, but nonetheless suuported the Iraq War: "I endorse this war, but I do so with reluctance and considerable uncertainty," Cordesman declared in testimony prepared for the Senate Foreign Relations Committee (2/12/03).

Emily Gould and her narcissistic angst are piddle's feet. Under the current political circumstances, it's a total waste of space that could have been devoted to anyone more deserving.

On a side note - any of my fellow Santa Barbarians care to chime in on the failures of a local media and the destructive role it plays in the community?

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