Paid Partisan Hacks Versus Unadulterated Journalism
20 April 2024 By Abiodun Kareem Giwa
Once upon a time, I loved the York Times. I always cuddled the newspaper and ran after its online edition. Not because I once had a brother who worked in the newspaper as a reporter, returned to Nigeria, and became a star journalist, but for the love of the written word. The Times and other liberal and conservative media's partisanship have almost killed my affection for Journalism. What happens to finding your first love crushed? How would you find, or would you ever see an alternative? The only available recourse is to stand by as a nonpartisan observer.
Journalism is my first love. It gave me a love for the Times. However, once a media flagship, the New York Times can no longer claim leadership. It has changed over the years. It is no longer the bastion of free speech but the home of liberal defense along NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CNN, and other liberal fighters.
What has happened to debating culture and allowing the best argument? In debate and seeing the prevalence of the best analysis, most literary-inclined people honed their love for the written word. It leads to an interest in newspaper reading and writing. It is my first love for me as a Journalist. It taught me to present all ideas and allow the most prudent to prevail. I couldn't care less about your religion, political dogma, or lifestyle. It pains to see a day here when a newspaper house cares more about your liberalism or conservatism than your writing ability. It is not new. You saw it even in Banana Republics, where governments invest in newspapers and television to project an image in competition with private newspapers. You also see fine Journalists running away from government-controlled media to private ones to maintain independence of thought. However, they must discover that private newspaper owners have the political sense they want journalists to follow. Newspaper proprietors assumed a larger-than-life role in command. Does it mean successful Journalists are Zombie? Not necessarily. It is that those who stay longer in employment follow the political dictates of their owner.
It is the first picture you see that crushes your love for Journalism. The television show called News is another. It characterizes the television's partisan information delivery in advanced or backwater countries. Viewers get carried away and need help to distinguish between shows and news. It is pleasant to know that television is still the king of the news media, with just 13 percent of news coverage. The shows make television and cable networks popular. Any employee or prospective employee who loses out in a partisan media is fortunate, like Ronna McDonell, who was ousted from NBC when the partisan hacks opposed her inclusion. Media ethics classes in journalism schools address the dilemma by showing that some who glorified themselves over others became unsung following unprofessional accusations - A pitfall to avoid. The worst often rise as challengers to authority's rightful path and always become the most amateurish. A media organization's chief executive on the side of a partisan workforce, as demonstrated in NBC against McDonnell, is unwanted in the media.
Before the ink could dry off discussions on NBC and McDonnell issue, the National Public Radio, NPR, joined the queue, making a laughingstock of the media. Uri Berliner's experience should interest all trained media practitioners about the evil of partisanship. The partisan culture that has gripped all mainstream media outlets must teach a lesson on the need to return to allowing the superior argument to reign rather than kill it. Fox News presents a sterling example where another voice is permitted even in the middle of loud conservatism. You have Harold Ford Jr., Jessica Tarlov, and Juan Williams all making strides and creating alternative liberal viewpoints on Fox. Williams is NPR's loss, but Fox's gain was formerly in NPR but left out of frustration because the organization disallowed balanced reporting. Why cannot the leading liberal media outlets allow balanced coverage? It is a shame watching the so-called mainstream media making cases for Trump to go to jail but disallowing alternative voices capable of Trump's defense. Is Journalism a one-way argument without an opposite argument? Not every trained Journalist has Berliner's accommodating spirit for the nonsense at the NPR. There are uncountable Journalists out of the media to avoid the mess of following the organizational dictate in the liberal media.
Journalism is the only practice that allows other professionals to mix with trained media practitioners because the profession requires knowledge from all fields. Trained Journalists who have decided not to let the inhuman treatment in the liberal media are doing well in other fields since they have a good education. The system has created a situation where they are better off as independent observers. I am one of such trained Journalists. I will never submit to be anyone's rubber stamp. I will wait until I have the resources. If I have to work towards owning my organization where Journalists can be unrestricted, better judgment reigns supreme in an open debate.
Journalism is my first love. It gave me a love for the Times. However, once a media flagship, the New York Times can no longer claim leadership. It has changed over the years. It is no longer the bastion of free speech but the home of liberal defense along NBC, MSNBC, ABC, CNN, and other liberal fighters.
What has happened to debating culture and allowing the best argument? In debate and seeing the prevalence of the best analysis, most literary-inclined people honed their love for the written word. It leads to an interest in newspaper reading and writing. It is my first love for me as a Journalist. It taught me to present all ideas and allow the most prudent to prevail. I couldn't care less about your religion, political dogma, or lifestyle. It pains to see a day here when a newspaper house cares more about your liberalism or conservatism than your writing ability. It is not new. You saw it even in Banana Republics, where governments invest in newspapers and television to project an image in competition with private newspapers. You also see fine Journalists running away from government-controlled media to private ones to maintain independence of thought. However, they must discover that private newspaper owners have the political sense they want journalists to follow. Newspaper proprietors assumed a larger-than-life role in command. Does it mean successful Journalists are Zombie? Not necessarily. It is that those who stay longer in employment follow the political dictates of their owner.
It is the first picture you see that crushes your love for Journalism. The television show called News is another. It characterizes the television's partisan information delivery in advanced or backwater countries. Viewers get carried away and need help to distinguish between shows and news. It is pleasant to know that television is still the king of the news media, with just 13 percent of news coverage. The shows make television and cable networks popular. Any employee or prospective employee who loses out in a partisan media is fortunate, like Ronna McDonell, who was ousted from NBC when the partisan hacks opposed her inclusion. Media ethics classes in journalism schools address the dilemma by showing that some who glorified themselves over others became unsung following unprofessional accusations - A pitfall to avoid. The worst often rise as challengers to authority's rightful path and always become the most amateurish. A media organization's chief executive on the side of a partisan workforce, as demonstrated in NBC against McDonnell, is unwanted in the media.
Before the ink could dry off discussions on NBC and McDonnell issue, the National Public Radio, NPR, joined the queue, making a laughingstock of the media. Uri Berliner's experience should interest all trained media practitioners about the evil of partisanship. The partisan culture that has gripped all mainstream media outlets must teach a lesson on the need to return to allowing the superior argument to reign rather than kill it. Fox News presents a sterling example where another voice is permitted even in the middle of loud conservatism. You have Harold Ford Jr., Jessica Tarlov, and Juan Williams all making strides and creating alternative liberal viewpoints on Fox. Williams is NPR's loss, but Fox's gain was formerly in NPR but left out of frustration because the organization disallowed balanced reporting. Why cannot the leading liberal media outlets allow balanced coverage? It is a shame watching the so-called mainstream media making cases for Trump to go to jail but disallowing alternative voices capable of Trump's defense. Is Journalism a one-way argument without an opposite argument? Not every trained Journalist has Berliner's accommodating spirit for the nonsense at the NPR. There are uncountable Journalists out of the media to avoid the mess of following the organizational dictate in the liberal media.
Journalism is the only practice that allows other professionals to mix with trained media practitioners because the profession requires knowledge from all fields. Trained Journalists who have decided not to let the inhuman treatment in the liberal media are doing well in other fields since they have a good education. The system has created a situation where they are better off as independent observers. I am one of such trained Journalists. I will never submit to be anyone's rubber stamp. I will wait until I have the resources. If I have to work towards owning my organization where Journalists can be unrestricted, better judgment reigns supreme in an open debate.
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