I don't think that Glenn was taking a dig at NASCAR or its fans, but rather at Williams' trying to come aross as some sort of man o' the people because he supposedly watches it. Not unlike how Bush tried to come across as a brush-clearing regular guy you'd like to have a beer with.

And we all know about Maverick McCain's admiral's son and grandson, 8 house-owning, wife's jet-flying, beer distribution empire attempts at regular guyism.

Anyone recall what happened with the VT shooter's papers? he mailed them to NBC, and they refused to repeat one word of it. Maybe the FCC needs to come into the 21th century.

Yes, she was definitely trying to be poetic and folksy, but so what?

She can start and end with "I love puppies" and it doesn't excuse the insulting garbage in the middle.

And, seriously, Henry Ford??

Glenn, I know that you've said many times that the reason the GOP owns our major news media..radio and television...is because the people who work for these companies like their cushy gigs and don't want to piss anyone off.

Maybe.

But let's review:

CBS: Owned by Westinghouse. Any questions?

NBC: Owned by GE. Again, do we really need to try to figure out which ideological world with which GE's Executive Suite is most comfortable?

ABC: Owned by Disney. No questions, right?

CNN: Time/Warner-AOL. Time/Warner. Need I say more?

source: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20070805214608AABHcMI An interesting site.

We can blame "you-scratch-my-back-I'll-scratch-yours" culture of the Village forever. But that's not really the problem.

I don't know how many here have worked in big corporations, or even little ones. But executives at major corporations are VERY aware of the public-relations elements involved in cash-flows of billions of dollars. And those same executives love to be on the same side as the Federal Government, since the Feds can help--or harm--the bottom line in major ways.

The Executive cadre in a corporation like GE may not know every detail of every subsidiary. But you can bet your ass they know EVERYTHING about their media holdings. Everything.

The GOP spent the last 20 years making life ever easier, and fortunes every larger, for the people who run these big corporations. Very much by design too. So, aside from ideology--a plutocratic-fascism that is very congenial to these executives--the GOP is the obvious choice to run the country. Now, and forever.

The monied aristocrats in this country have staged a coup. Whether we allow that coup to stand... I have a feeling there's not shit we can do about it.

Glenn, I liked your suggestion of a "Barack Obama Watch" style countdown (or, count-up) clock. I know a couple of folks have posted theirs, and I'm a little late to the game, but I made one, too, and am hosting it here:

http://www.noiselabs.com/pentagon/

As always, I enjoy your work immensely.

I can't even think about John McBush now without an image of his swinging ball sack coming to mind.

Pro- I have been laughing hysterically all day.

Con- really, I don't think I need to spell that out.

Oh, and lookie lookie, Mr. Brian Williams has responded (sorta) to the NYT Military Analyst story...

I've commented here before that it's a point of pride that Williams refused to publish my comments on his blog after I repeatedly insisted that he and the administrative staff provided full disclosure on the MSNBC website as to the actual and potential conflicts of interest of all reporters, editors and news readers. He did not like my comments demanding contextual and accurate sourcing of stories which were newsworthy instead of using up airtime with infotainment. Indeed, the comment I wrote criticizing him for spending much more time on the blog chronicling his comedy show appearances and prepping instead of news stories garnered lots of rotten tomatoes from his devotees.

In fact, many months ago, I wrote a post about another Williams post which fawned over Noonan's Republican poison pen. My post link is at my name and contains links back to the offending Daily Nightly blog post.

Some of my NBC News critical posts are at this link:

http://universalhealth.wordpress.com/category/writing/journalism/reporting/nbc-news/

One side note - for a time, there was a news write who produced Tuesday and Thursday posts there about news tracked from the blogosphere. Chris Colvin was excellent, had her thumb on the fiscal crisis story, and covered the market failures while Williams mooned over Springsteen, NASCAR and his volunteer firefighting days....

Thursday, September 13, 2007

Journalism Under Bush's Off-The-Record Briefing Ground Rules

Open post to Brian Williams of NBC News:

In response to this from your Daily Nightly blog, in which you wrote

A number of television journalists gathered for lunch with the president at the White House today -- a practice becoming more and more common when this president has a major speech to deliver. The following is a review of my notes, and is offered here under the ground rules established by the assembled White House senior aides. Vice President Cheney attended but did not speak.

I realize that you don't publish my comments, pointed and critical as they are, but I hope that you are at least reading and considering them in the spirit in which they are offered.

Journalists are considered the 4th estate. To that end, the public relies on you (the plural you) to be assertive in pursuing clear, accurate and comprehensive information from reliable sources, and that you perform adequate fact-checking. Moreover, the public expects you to refrain from editorializing to the extent that is possible for educated humans to accomplish.

That translates into questioning and protesting such intolerable conditions as the "ground rules" that the White House is mandating for off-the-record briefings.

We, the people, supposedly elect those occupants of that branch, and we have full rights to know what the president and his cabinet (and whatever the heck the VP is calling his position in the branches these days) are doing, what his plans are, what his rationale is, what resources he is actually using, who his advisers are, etc.

It is not acceptable for NBC News, a la Tim Russert's court testimony, to assert that everything is assumed to be off the record as baseline, and that only when express permission is obtained, that sources are revealed.

To be blunt, that is un-American.

We now live in a topsy Orwellian world of doublespeak.

I am no politico, no genius and no one of import. But I highly recommend that you reacquaint yourself with Orwell's 1984 and Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here. Read some Morrow. Read some 1930's history.

Speak with your international print and television news colleagues. Try to step outside the US media market and look at it from a global point of view.

It's frightening. And you, your counterparts at ABC and CBS, and the anchors of the political commentary cable "news" shows are not meeting the public need.

What would be a good start?

In the transcripts, include the citations for all presented facts and sources.

In the NBC News Division, include professional CVs for all anchors, reporters, correspondents and news writers and researchers. Tell us your academic credentials, your professional experience, and even jobs held in other industries to help us understand your perspective.

Most important, provide full disclosure for any and all relationships between you and your subjects.