Linking to a great blog, and a bit of editorializing

The person who runs cdd.blogstop has had it with the media! Read this great blog: Media, this one is for you. I thought about writing on this topic, but the writer of this blog has all the points are covered, including some examples of the kind of crap that ended up being "reported" by some media outlets about the Great Airline Debacle of '07.

The only thing I have to add is a link to a blog I wrote last August when Clay's presidential appointment was announced: Is it asking too much?

I understand that celebrity gossip is big business these days, and scandal draws hits, but whatever happened to reporting? You know, fact-checking and stuff? Working to get the information right? OK, so Clay's only a celebrity, and who cares about being fair to them? So what if he's assaulted in his sleep on a plane and ends up getting slammed in the media for it because AP deliberately chose to leave out an integral part of the story, sensationalizing it and creating the impression that the incident was his fault. So what? He's just a celebrity and he's icky and probably gay anyway, right? So who cares?

Well, the same distorted kinds of misinformation are being published about politics, wars, and other vital national and international issues every day. Sure, I care about what the media has done to a pop star with humanitarian ideals and a big heart because I'm a fan, but it's about much more than that. It bugs the hell out of me to see the truth manipulated for the sake of hits, rating, and attention. As someone who used to idolize Bernstein and Woodward back in the day, who felt that journalism succeeded where other checks on government corruption had failed, I find the state of the media today appalling. Back then we had Bernstein and Woodward, today we've got Perez Hilton. 'Nuff said.