“Howell Raines: Why don’t honest journalists take on Roger Ailes and Fox News?”
I’m sure Dan Rather would love to. It might get him off HD-Net and onto MSNBC. Though in terms of ratings, that might be more of a lateral move.
I’d like to think there’s an editor at the Washington Post who had some fun writing this headline, because the answer immediately recalls Raines’ worst moments at the New York Times: because “honest” journalists like Jayson Blair (whom Raines hired because, as he said, his priorities were to make his newspaper and its staff better and “more importantly, more diverse”, were busy cranking out stories such as the 95 articles they generated about the Augusta Country Club from 2002 until 2003, a period when 9/11, Afghanistan and Iraq were still very much fresh, breaking stories.)
Raines writes, “For the first time since the yellow journalism of a century ago, the United States has a major news organization devoted to the promotion of one political party.”
Well, yes. The Times admitted they were in the tank back in 2005.
In the meantime, I’ll be right back — I have to take an on-air phone call from the White House, then coordinate on best not to respond to the ACORN sting via the Journolist, before I pick up the cake my TV network had made to celebrate the first year of the “Stimulus” program.
Related: Here’s what passes for “non-partisan” in the deeply intertwined world of the state and the state-run media.
Meanwhile, back at the Times, the Gray Lady can happily compare small government Republicans to Stalinists. But to have some fun with the Eric Massa scandal? That’s “somewhat subtle homophobia,” baby!
(Of course, this is the same paper that recently heard racism in Jason Mattera’s Brooklyn accent, so perhaps their Duranty-era radar systems might need a recalibration or two for the 21st century.)
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