I write. I have, forgive me my sins, written professionally and edited a small regional magazine heavier on fluff than on content.
But on to the daily rant. Journalism vs. Yellow Journalism/Propaganda.
Call me a wild-eyed idealist if you must, but I have certain expectations of an allegedly professional media. Give me the facts, not your panting & breathless opinion. Tell me there's been a killing or an assault at a local establishment - I don't particularly have a need to know what class of implement was used to cause injury - as the injured or deceased remain thus regardless of the mechanism. Leave your opinions and emotionalism either at the doorstep or on the editorial page.
In short, I can think for myself, and don't need to be spoonfed the "right opinion/mindset/phobia group." And this, from our so-called professional media, is what I grow ever more tired of - the deceiptful insertion of opinion for fact, of "feelings" for reality, all delivered in a tone of either breathless "I've never seen anything this bad before, how DREADFUL" or alternatively, some variety of condescending laughter summing as "poor dumb
That's not journalism. Keep my news on the news pages (or the news segment of the broadcast) and clearly identify the editorial content as you place it on the editorial page or segment...or fess up that you're running nothing more than a scandal sheet, whether print or broadcast, and be done with it.
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