Comments on: After the Deluge:Things I’ve Learned from Writing about a Rumor http://pjmedia.com/ronrosenbaum/2007/11/02/after_the_delugethings_ive_lea/ Fri, 02 Apr 2010 00:15:41 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.2.1 By: chery http://pjmedia.com/ronrosenbaum/2007/11/02/after_the_delugethings_ive_lea/#comment-659 chery Mon, 05 Nov 2007 22:44:25 +0000 http://pajamasmedia.com/ronrosenbaum/2007/11/02/after-the-delugethings-ive-learned-from-writing-about-a-rumor/#comment-659 Interesting conundrum! Lots of ethical angles and twists to explore. If the rumor as a standalone issue is all one has to be concerned about, then simply hand it over to someone savvy with anonymizers and let go the flurry of speculation on numerous boards. True or false, the boards will be discovered by the msm, and the story will end in Spain or some other country that won't turn over their records. If the story is true, then it floats and if it's not then it sinks. The journalist who wants to win the day in ratings can be the one with the best investigative powers. The more interesting twists to this story is what happens when you learn about something that virtually ends up having power associated with it! It's a make or break 'um sort of story. Facts are the key where journalism is concerned. At least that was the premise in journalism. There's a confusion today between what is journalism and what is entertainment gossip. That line has blurred what was once ethics in journalism. Now days its all about ratings and ad sales. Strange story, a story about a story that may or not be a story. Or maybe I spent too much time on the east coast for my own good. <strong>I agree it's complicated, but it's refreshing to find a commenter such as yourself who doesn't flee from complexity to simplemindedness. Thanks. </strong> Interesting conundrum! Lots of ethical angles and twists to explore. If the rumor as a standalone issue is all one has to be concerned about, then simply hand it over to someone savvy with anonymizers and let go the flurry of speculation on numerous boards. True or false, the boards will be discovered by the msm, and the story will end in Spain or some other country that won’t turn over their records. If the story is true, then it floats and if it’s not then it sinks. The journalist who wants to win the day in ratings can be the one with the best investigative powers. The more interesting twists to this story is what happens when you learn about something that virtually ends up having power associated with it! It’s a make or break ‘um sort of story. Facts are the key where journalism is concerned. At least that was the premise in journalism. There’s a confusion today between what is journalism and what is entertainment gossip. That line has blurred what was once ethics in journalism. Now days its all about ratings and ad sales. Strange story, a story about a story that may or not be a story. Or maybe I spent too much time on the east coast for my own good.

I agree it’s complicated, but it’s refreshing to find a commenter such as yourself who doesn’t flee from complexity to simplemindedness. Thanks.

]]>