Call me old school. If a newspaper holds judges accountable for their actions, then its journalists need to be held accountable as well.If anything has become more than crystal-clear since 9/11, it's been that journalists routinely pretend to be objective when they are anything but! Journalists are the most reactionary elite society has to offer!
For journalists, the goal is to be accurate and fair, and as objective as humanly possible. Behavior matters because perception matters.
When extremists hold governmental office (these days, practically anywhere Republicans hold sway), and journalists present stories with a false equivalence between those supporting the government and those opposed (rather than as a few powerful thugs vs. the rest of society), they do the powerful thugs immense favors, for which they receive excellent, indirect compensation in the form of pay and privilege. Willy Horton, Vince Foster, Wen Ho Lee, Judith Miller, Valerie Plame, FOX News: on and on and on and on; the outrages abound! 'Fair and Balanced' indeed!
Yes, journalists need to be held accountable, but that won't happen without the help of outside bloggers and journalists who don't pretend to objectivity and are finally willing to call the dictators to account.
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