[10398] in Commercialization & Privatization of the Internet
Re: Journalism and the Net
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Dick St.Peters)
Mon Feb 21 11:27:16 1994
Date: Mon, 21 Feb 94 11:21:53 EST
From: stpeters@spare-parts.crd.ge.com (Dick St.Peters)
To: sean@dsl.pitt.edu
Cc: com-priv@psi.com
Reply-To: <stpeters@dawn.crd.ge.com>
Sean,
Whew! You are a holder of strong opinions! A bit overdone, I would
say. Well, you always say you welcome argument ...
>A statistic that was published around the election reported that only 13
>seconds out of every video minute of candidate coverage was actually the
>candidate.
Did you by any chance learn that from the press?
> Most newspapers
>and news magazines belong on the fiction shelf or, at best, entertainment
>(or is it true that the most newsworthy activity to happen this week is the
>rivalry between Tonya Harding and Nancy Kerrigan?).
>
>If you don't expect too much, you won't be disappointed.
Uh, I don't have today's paper here, but our local paper's front page
yesterday had these headlines, with subheadlines in []:
---
Serb guns moving out [Bad weather slows progress]
Croatian-Bosnian peace talks stall
Bacterial threats growing [New strains are antibiotic-resistant]
...fold...
Crack cocaine binges of '80s haunting classrooms of '90s
Abstinence becoming a sexy thing [Schools, churches, media adopt stance]
---
There were four pictures, one of the flight deck of the USS Saratoga,
one of French UN troops near Sarajevo, one of an adopted child born
addicted to heroin, and one of Bonnie Blair on her victory lap.
I think they did pretty well.
Forty or so years ago, I learned to believe scientists were dedicated
people foregoing material rewards and cooperating with each other to
advance knowledge just for the satisfaction of it. I learned to believe
physicians were caring healers who helped the sick simply because they
needed help. I learned to believe we had honest government and a free
and trustworthy press.
Somewhere along the line, I grew up a bit. As a scientist I expect to
be paid for my work, and I learned to compete to be first to discover
something and that sometimes my competitors cheats. I learned I have
to pay the doctor, that sometimes he doesn't seem to care much, that
he's out golfing on Thursdays. I learned our government can be for
sale and that the press is censored by both advertisers and government,
and that what it says isn't always the truth.
But I also know that I work hard for my pay and that the competition
produces more and better science, and that real cheating is rare. I
have found that most doctors really do care, work hard, and are
entitled to some reward. I recognize that government is a necessity
and that ours is better than most, perhaps than any other. I've
learned much the same thing about the press.
In particular, I came to realize that in almost every case where I wish
the press had said more about X instead of so much about Y, the only
reason I know about X at all is from the press.
The press isn't perfect, Sean, but neither are we. I think the
mainstream press is pretty good, and I take issue with the harshness
of your criticism.
../dick
