On Journalism...

I sometimes write. For two years I edited a now-defunct magazine out in the Palm Springs area. I still knock out the occasional article for Absolute Palm Springs (Umm...still waiting for that check....), and do layout for church and organizational newsletters as a sideline. I like to think I have some faint vague clue of journalistic ethics...

That said, and spurred by another blog (what can I say, my inspiration is needing the occasional kick in the slats of late), I'm forced to agree...after aspiring to far more, news coverage is descending to the late 19th century levels of yellow journalism.

I'd commented on this prior to the recent Anna Nicole Smith/Don Imus/Virginia Tech incidents, but this last is kind of a final straw for me.

To me, good journalism means objective journalism with opinion pieces (Human Interest, Editorial, etc) clearly labeled as such and well separated from factual content. Good journalism is not advocacy, pandering, or propaganda - it's "that's the facts, ma'am".

And that "good journalism" is what I am consistently failing to see from todays media....and frankly I don't know what we can do about it.