An unpopular truth about the news you read

[unixronin]

Orson Scott Card on lies, damned lies, and election campaign reporting

OK, so you think Card is a religious fundamentalist.  In many ways, you may be right.

You may consider Card a homophobe.  I doubt he sees it that way, but you're within your rights to say that too.  If you're gay, I doubt the practical distinction matters to you.

Neither of those change the fact that what he has to say on this particular issue — honesty and objectivity in journalism — is perfectly true.  Judge the message, not the messenger.

Comments

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

OSC complains about bias, but somehow gets through the entire piece without mentioning Phil Gramm's contribution to the mess. Bad mortgages were only part of the problem. The other part is deregulation: the bad mortgages were not confined to the banks that wrote them but were bundled by the thousands into mortgage-backed securities which were then traded as investments in themselves. It was impossible to know the risk/profitability of these securities or the even more sophisticated variations on them that followed, but they looked good on paper, so no investment officer who valued his job could pass them up. Similarly, a lot of mortgage brokers were making money as fast as they could -- because they knew it wouldn't last forever -- writing mortgage applications that were out-and-out frauds. "This American Life" ran the story of a borrower who was amazed to learn that the broker had set down his income as about $15,000 a month; the guy had rarely made that much in a year. The broker could do that because he'd sell that mortgage as soon as it was signed. He HAD to do it to stay in business, because everyone else was doing it.

p.s.

[jmkelly.livejournal.com]

Before someone beats me to it, I'll mention that Bill Clinton and his appointees were equally deeply involved in deregulation of the finance industry.

Re: p.s.

[unixronin.livejournal.com]

I think that was half Card's point. The press is managing to almost completely avoid covering that part of the problem, just like they're managing to almost completely avoid covering any campaign gaffes from Obama and Biden, like Joe Biden not actually knowing what the duties and responsibilities of the Vice-President are, or Obama's missteps when he's not working from a prepared speech. (But they're going all out to crucify "Joe the Plumber" for daring to publicly question their idol's Plan For America.)

Re: p.s.

[jilara.livejournal.com]

No, they're crucifying "Joe the Plumber" because dirt is news. Or should I say, dirt sells papers.

I'm in an extremely cynical mood right now. I've just watched "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" again, and it doesn't present a flattering image of the press, even when they're the "good guys."