Thursday, May 27, 2004
The New York Times Gets Even More Pathetic
Not to be bothered with the 5-W's--the who, what, when, where, and why basic building blocks of good straight journalism, the New York Times manages to run a news article that the FBI is putting out an APB for the following suspects, and then doesn't even mention a single suspect by name!!!!
What's more, Cori Dauber is now reporting that the New York Times teases the Ashcroft Press conference, buries the story on page A-14, and somehow doesn't bother to run the mugshots!?!?
If this is true, this is a major failing of public responsibility. I mean, they missed the central point of the freaking press conference!
Well, they did see fit to use their precious webspace on a photo of Ashcroft and Mueller. Oh, and they did publish two of the mugshots. Oh, wait...you can't see them! You can't see them because rather than publish something actually useful, the self-absorbed navel-gazers at the New York Times decided they would publish not the mugshots, but a photograph of a photographer photographing the mugshots!
I mean, how dumb is that?
Is Obtuseness 300 now a requirement at J-school now? (Apparently, but you have to have had the prerequisite Opaqueness 201 before you can enroll.)
And the headline is a parody of itself:
As Ashcroft Warns of Attack, Some Question Threat and Its Timing
I guess it's too much to ask of the New York Times to play it straight.
Can't say I didn't warn you, though.
There's nothing wrong with giving the critics some play in the article. Or even the subhead. But the critics are not the story. So let's not pretend they are by giving them equal prominence, you know, at the expense of the very point of the story itself.
Maybe next time Ashcroft asks the media for help he'll have better luck making the front page of the New York Times by photoshopping some hoods over the mugshots.
Splash, out
Jason
What's more, Cori Dauber is now reporting that the New York Times teases the Ashcroft Press conference, buries the story on page A-14, and somehow doesn't bother to run the mugshots!?!?
If this is true, this is a major failing of public responsibility. I mean, they missed the central point of the freaking press conference!
Well, they did see fit to use their precious webspace on a photo of Ashcroft and Mueller. Oh, and they did publish two of the mugshots. Oh, wait...you can't see them! You can't see them because rather than publish something actually useful, the self-absorbed navel-gazers at the New York Times decided they would publish not the mugshots, but a photograph of a photographer photographing the mugshots!
I mean, how dumb is that?
Is Obtuseness 300 now a requirement at J-school now? (Apparently, but you have to have had the prerequisite Opaqueness 201 before you can enroll.)
And the headline is a parody of itself:
As Ashcroft Warns of Attack, Some Question Threat and Its Timing
I guess it's too much to ask of the New York Times to play it straight.
Can't say I didn't warn you, though.
There's nothing wrong with giving the critics some play in the article. Or even the subhead. But the critics are not the story. So let's not pretend they are by giving them equal prominence, you know, at the expense of the very point of the story itself.
Maybe next time Ashcroft asks the media for help he'll have better luck making the front page of the New York Times by photoshopping some hoods over the mugshots.
Splash, out
Jason
Comments:
Post a Comment
