PRESS: In Ojai, Ventura, and Beyond?

by Joel Anderson

Aug. 2011, VIEW #39: If you answered “NO,” get ready to ride the roller coaster, and hold onto your wallet.... we ain’t hit bottom yet!

New Kid in the 'Cell' Block: With recent developments in local self-congratulatory hack publishing (community power players) easily crushing stories, glossy repetitive quick hit 'catalogs' hyped as “the press” but preoccupied with overhead profits above news accountability and content, save [LINK] the theft, lying and ultimate criminal conviction of alleged publisher Sheldon Brown, outsourcing, and government owned-founded media presented as ‘real,’ it’s no wonder there are so many “real” world problems here not being addressed by “The Press.”

The day-to-day woes continue on despite the oft pipe-dream-promises of a majority of the local officials and business gurus peddling their “It’s gonna be ok.... I’m gonna fix it.....” brilliancies like patients in a mental ward... The 'fake' Press' negative impacts on the fiber of the local communities are immeasurable, and nationally, internationally it’s epidemic.

The people, the ones who do the work; and the same ones who represent the lions share of the financial wealth and leverage, are the ones being sold the bill of goods and pay the price in overhead.

"...passed off by the “Fake Press” as everything is just fine.... business as usual.... “happy news” packaged for mass consumption like bread on a shelf."

What is the real price? Real Problems, never solved! No accountability of government resulting in more corrupt government, failing infrastructures, unchecked bureaucracy, unchecked corporate greed ([Link] ie: Golden State Water), loss of citizen rights, loss of property rights, unchecked unethical business practices all get passed off by the “Fake Press” as everything is just fine.... business as usual.... “happy news” packaged for mass consumption like bread on a shelf.

The whole while the party drags on.... governments exhibit huge failing deficits while continuing to receive gigantic public salaries/pensions/benefits, coddle to self-important special interests and continue taxing the people into the poor house. And there you sit, wondering why you can’t pay your water bill?

“Independent reporting not only reveals what government or private interests appear to be doing but also what lies behind their actions. This is the watchdog function of the press — reporting that holds government officials accountable...."

The complex web of overspending, inefficiency, mismanagement and corrupt procedure follows suit. You Vote with your wallet; pay the high price, get the cheap seats. The following 2009 excerpt/study by arguably (if not in action, in theory...) the most 'credible' news watch, the Columbia Journalism Review, summed it up quite rightly.

“What is under threat is independent reporting that provides information, investigation, analysis, and community knowledge, particularly in the coverage of local affairs. Reporting the news means telling citizens what they would not otherwise know. “It’s so simple it sounds stupid at first, but when you think about it, it is our fundamental advantage,” says Tim McGuire, a former editor of the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “We’ve got to tell people stuff they don’t know.

“Reporting is not something to be taken for granted. Even late in the nineteenth century, when American news reporting was well established, European journalists looked askance, particularly at the suspicious practice of interviewing. One French critic lamented disdainfully that the “spirit of inquiry and espionage” in America might be seeping into French journalism. “Independent reporting not only reveals what government or private interests appear to be doing but also what lies behind their actions. This is the watchdog function of the press—reporting that holds government officials accountable to the legal and moral standards of public service and keeps business and professional leaders accountable to society’s expectations of integrity and fairness.”

Source: The Reconstruction of American Journalism - A report by Leonard Downie, Jr., and Michael Schudson - Columbia Journalism Review

Are you angry yet?

– Joel Anderson, editor

This Story: http://bit.ly/2eM3yVX


Story Source: Aug. 2011, VIEW #39
Related Article: 2009: Bankrupt Mainstream Media... the pitiful abducted hostage?

Related Outside Article: Twitter is not Killing Journalism, Journalists are Killing Journalism

LINK: NewVIEWWebsite


LINK: Classic VIEW Website


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