Sep. 22nd, 2004 05:33 pm
Reputation can't hide poor journalism
It really irks me how Dan Rather got away with a stupid tactic that would had gotten stopped in a basic journalism 101 course.
It's the latest in a series of public blunders that causes people to lose faith in the media and make unfair assumptions on the thousands of reporters who do check their sources and try to report the right way.
The latest trend got started with Jayson Blair's story fabrications, then tried to make it a race issue. The sad fact is that his race caused him to get into the position where he was allowed to make those mistakes. If Blair had been a white journalist, he would had never gotten to the New York Times as young as he did.
Blair's blatant flatulence undermines the achievements of some very hard-working black journalists in the newspaper business. I've had the pleasure of working with some of them. Blair had the gall to lean back and shout, "Race!" I shout back, "Idiot!" Blair could had been black, white or purple with pink polka dots. It doesn't change what he did or make it any less wrong, as Rather proved recently.
In a sense, Rather also made up his story. By failing to check the veracity of the documents provided to him about Bush, he failed at his job just as much as Blair failed in his. In a post-Jayson Blair world, this should not have happened. Somewhere at CBS News, enough voices were not raised to prevent this story from going out.
Reporter Jack Shafer with "The Slate" said in a 2003 article, "My guess is that Blair made stuff up because he didn't know how to wheedle gossip out of prosecutors and cops, he didn't know how to put two and two together and make the next call to find news, and he didn't know how to take notes and report the facts straight."
But Rather did know how to put two and two together. He did know who to make the next call to and with decades of journalism behind him, we have seen where he can report the facts straight. Yet, he failed us in this instance.
Rather's error might cause John Kerry the entire race. Take a look at news headlines for the past 10 days. Most of them revolved around Hurricane Ivan and CBS News. Kerry's already embattled and if the CBS News report was accurate, it would had given his campaign a boost. Instead, it was shoved to the sidelines.
But when the campaign is over, what remains is Dan Rather's shattered reputation at the end of a long career dedicated to good journalism. Is he human and does he make mistakes? Of course he does.
As Shafer said, "When an editor gives somebody a notebook and pencil and tells him to go out and report, it's a little bit like giving somebody you barely know a loaded gun. You expect him to use it wisely and honestly. But one slip, and there's hamburger all over the wallpaper! Hence, most reporters don't make things up because 1) they're as ethical as Jesus Christ or 2) they know they'll get caught."
Dan knew that with a story this huge, it was all too easy to get caught. But facing stiff competition from the cable news networks, he decided to go ahead anyhow. Maybe he thought that the strength of his reputation would carry him through this one.
But he knows now that no reputation can hide a poorly-researched, fabricated story.
It's the latest in a series of public blunders that causes people to lose faith in the media and make unfair assumptions on the thousands of reporters who do check their sources and try to report the right way.
The latest trend got started with Jayson Blair's story fabrications, then tried to make it a race issue. The sad fact is that his race caused him to get into the position where he was allowed to make those mistakes. If Blair had been a white journalist, he would had never gotten to the New York Times as young as he did.
Blair's blatant flatulence undermines the achievements of some very hard-working black journalists in the newspaper business. I've had the pleasure of working with some of them. Blair had the gall to lean back and shout, "Race!" I shout back, "Idiot!" Blair could had been black, white or purple with pink polka dots. It doesn't change what he did or make it any less wrong, as Rather proved recently.
In a sense, Rather also made up his story. By failing to check the veracity of the documents provided to him about Bush, he failed at his job just as much as Blair failed in his. In a post-Jayson Blair world, this should not have happened. Somewhere at CBS News, enough voices were not raised to prevent this story from going out.
Reporter Jack Shafer with "The Slate" said in a 2003 article, "My guess is that Blair made stuff up because he didn't know how to wheedle gossip out of prosecutors and cops, he didn't know how to put two and two together and make the next call to find news, and he didn't know how to take notes and report the facts straight."
But Rather did know how to put two and two together. He did know who to make the next call to and with decades of journalism behind him, we have seen where he can report the facts straight. Yet, he failed us in this instance.
Rather's error might cause John Kerry the entire race. Take a look at news headlines for the past 10 days. Most of them revolved around Hurricane Ivan and CBS News. Kerry's already embattled and if the CBS News report was accurate, it would had given his campaign a boost. Instead, it was shoved to the sidelines.
But when the campaign is over, what remains is Dan Rather's shattered reputation at the end of a long career dedicated to good journalism. Is he human and does he make mistakes? Of course he does.
As Shafer said, "When an editor gives somebody a notebook and pencil and tells him to go out and report, it's a little bit like giving somebody you barely know a loaded gun. You expect him to use it wisely and honestly. But one slip, and there's hamburger all over the wallpaper! Hence, most reporters don't make things up because 1) they're as ethical as Jesus Christ or 2) they know they'll get caught."
Dan knew that with a story this huge, it was all too easy to get caught. But facing stiff competition from the cable news networks, he decided to go ahead anyhow. Maybe he thought that the strength of his reputation would carry him through this one.
But he knows now that no reputation can hide a poorly-researched, fabricated story.
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