Monday, June 23, 2008

More unbiased, objective journalism from the mainstream media

One of the constant gripes from the practitioners of the mainstream media's brand of commercial journalism is that bloggers and citizen journalists are biased and don't practice objective journalism.

Kudos to Rich Miler for pointing out two instances in which a members of the MSM demonstrate failed to live up to these lofty goals.

In the first case, the Chicago Tribune was so eager to make a case for a so-called "pardon backlog," they trumped up the case of a man jailed for a rape he didn't commit and buried details about his conviction for a different rape, one based on a witness identification.

Also, Miller points out that all it takes to get favorable treatment from the Chicago Sun-Times is hire a public relations company that wines and dines* the newspaper's bosses.

Feh.

The only difference between bloggers/citizen journalists and the MSM is that we proudly announce our biases and our conflicts of interest. We have to, because the Blogosphere won't let is hide them.

If you work for a newspaper or a broadcaster, you've probably attended journalism school, where they teach you how to trick yourself and your audience into thinking you don't have biases and practice "objectivity." This class is called "Journalism Ethics 101." They have another class that teaches the media how to say things they suspect might not be true, but still avoid libel. This is is called "Communication Law 101."

Throughout my former career as a journalist is that newspapers small and medium-sized, daily and weekly are filled with editors and reporters who had friends they propped up, enemies they attacked with glee, and causes they promoted. They selected stories based on their biases regarding race, religion and politics. They added and removed information based on these biases.

In other words, they practiced a form of journalism that looked like it followed the unbiased, objective model. Hell, they even won awards doing so. But it was advocacy journalism. In stealth mode.

Publishers? They didn't give a rat's ass, as long as money came in and their pals down at the country club didn't bitch too much.

Blogging doesn't pay much. But at least it's honest.

* In the interest of full disclosure: Peoria City Council member Gary Sandberg let me have a slice of his pizza a couple of weeks ago. Perhaps if he hadn't, my criticism of the Library Board's plan would have been somewhat less severe than it has been. I leave it up to my readers to decide if I've been compromised.

Cross posted to The Blog Peoria Network.

1 comments:

Anonymous,  6:41 PM  

I am the Second Chance Act of 2007
By Fred Nance Jr.
June 23, 2008

By re-opening Sheridan Correctional Center with the goal of becoming a national model drug prison and reentry program, Governor Blagojevich is taking on a root cause of repeat crime in Illinois. While this project will not resolve a drug problem overnight that took decades to develop, it is the Governor’s hope that it will establish a successful model for giving the state and its communities the tools they need to address a leading cause of recidivism with an approach that balances both tough law enforcement as well as common sense prevention. In building this model, the Governor established a team of national, state and local experts that built a program based on national best practices, community input and recommendations about how to improve upon lessons learned in other states. This group will continue an ongoing dialogue and seek outside evaluation to track the performance and improve upon the program to help it earn its status as a national model.

The Second Chance Act is a modest, commonsense response to the increasing number of people who return to their communities from prison and jail. There are currently 2.2. million people serving time in our federal and state prisons, and millions of people cycling through local jails every year. Ninety-five percent of all prisoners incarcerated today will eventually be released. The Second Chance Act will help ensure the transition people make from prison or jail to the community is safe and successful.

President George Bush signed the Second Chance Act of 2007 into law on April 9, 2008. Sheridan Correctional Center is supposed to support the Second Chance Act of 2007. I am the Second Chance Act. I developed C.L.I.C.K. Services, NFP in my PhD program in 2002. Please go to my company’s website at www.clickservices.org. and click on the “President’s Corner” to view who I am.

On May 12, 2008 I wrote a letter to Governor Rod Blagojevich informing him I had been locked out for the 3rd time from my employment at Sheridan Correctional Center by Warden Rothwell. On May 14, 2008 I wrote a letter to President George Bush informing him of the issues at Sheridan Correctional Center and the Second Chance Act of 2007. These letters and updates can be viewed on my blogs at http://clickforjusticeandequality.blogspot.com/ and http://click.townhall.com/.

Brief Statement of Sheridan Correctional Center’s fiasco

On May 1, 2006 I began working for Gateway Foundation, Inc. (Gateway) at Sheridan Correctional Center (Sheridan). On June 6, 2006 AFSCME Union Local 31 began a strike at Sheridan. Warden Rothwell, the union and the Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) locked me out from my employment stating I could not cross the picket lines. The Illinois Department of Employment Security uncovered in their investigation that IDOC illegally locked me out. I was granted my unemployment compensation in January or February of 2007.
The strike was over on September 6, 2006. I reentered Sheridan on September 6, 2006. On or about November 1, 2006, Gateway refused the unions demands and relinquished its State contract. On November 1, 2006 WestCare Foundation, Inc., based in Las Vegas, Nevada, took over the Illinois State contract and began working at Sheridan.

In November of 2007 I was locked out from my employment at Sheridan by WestCare and IDOC for the 2nd time. I was informed that 2 white females made accusations against me. One of the white female’s stated I was creating a hostile work environment. The other white female stated I had sexually harassed her. I have a part time job at EMAGES, INC. where I have been a sex offense counselor since November 2001.

When it was time for me to face my accusers, both females did not show up for the scheduled interview with WestCare. Therefore, WestCare claimed the accusations were unfounded, and proceeded to write me up stating I had communication problems. Nevertheless, I was allowed to reenter Sheridan and work.

On May 11, 2008 (Mother’s Day), I was contacted by the Director of WestCare telling me that Warden Rothwell had locked me out of Sheridan for the 3rd time. On May 14, 2008 WestCare sent me a letter stating I was terminated because IDOC was not going to allow me to enter Sheridan to work. I filed for unemployment compensation. The unemployment office sent me a letter stating I had been terminated for misconduct. I challenged the misconduct. I was awarded my unemployment benefits on or about June 9, 2008. The Supervisor of my local unemployment office informed me she requested documents from WestCare to support their charge of misconduct and they did not produce them.

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