American journalism has gone rogue.  Gone are the days of Edward R. Murrow, Cronkite, Ed Bradley, Harry K. Smith,  Huntley & Brinkley, & Max Robinson.  Please feel free to add to this elite list of REAL time journalist.

For the most part, the playing field is not level.  Corporations rule the day and that includes the media.

Investigative journalism is no more.  It has been replaced with infotainment, masquerading as news.  Good looking folks are given a script, placed before the camera, and charged to read what they’ve been given.  We’re fed snippets /soundbites of  misleading information, speculations, “GOTCHA” questioning, claims, and they’re all delivered by a strategically placed panel of so-called credentialed pundits.

After watching the president’s press conference today, it was clear that the intellect in the White House East room was sorely lacking.  None of these folks really wanted TRUTH;  it was evident in the questions they asked.  It’s a good thing the POTUS gives his opening statement.  Without fail, I actually learn something whenever the President speaks.  And yes, I am going to name names.  Here’s example of a question:

Chuck Todd:  “How do you change Washington?”  WTF?

Ed Henry:  “Do you still believe it’s a critical part of your policy to capture or kill him?  And do you think — isn’t it a failure of your administration that here it’s almost two years in — you campaigned saying you were going to run a smarter war on terror than the Bush administration.  You haven’t captured him and you don’t seem to know where he is.”  

Let me translate this gibberish for you.  You FAIL Mr. President!  Here, Ed;  you win a free T-shirt for the second dumbest question of the presser.

I challenge those of you with a strong constitution to peruse the networks and cable stations.  Observe the folks delivering the so-called news.  Listen to them carefully.  Watch the commercials they air during the programs.  Look for diversity, listen for tone of delivery.  What ethnic groups are being reported on in a more positive light, negative light?

***And 3Chics would be remiss, if we didn’t acknowledge that we KNOW that the media created the whole Terry Jones Koran burning fiasco to parallel with the 911 anniversary.  You ASS CLOWNS gave this nutcase a platform to rise up and spew the hateful sacrilege message.  We’r sure the GOP was silently clapping on the sidelines.

We’ve noticed that Fox has an array of these folks on their news programs.

Where do I go to audition for a spot on these cable shows?  These folks are window dressings, and nothing more.  Hell, give me a talking points memo and I’ll stick to script too.  Of course, if I want to get phat paid I’d probably have to wear my skirts up to my neck, smile real wide, nod in agreement, and look like the pics on the sides. 

And heaven forbid 3Chics should leave out the illustrious slave-catchers or rent-a-Negro.  Cable networks are fond of pulling these fixtures off the shelf when they need them to speak on the topic of RACE.  3Chics refers to them as the “Top-shelfers” **looking at you Ron Christie, Eugene Robinson, Stephen A. Smith, Jonathan Capehart.  MSNBC loves these folks. 

And occasionally Rachel Maddow will have Melissa Lacewell-Harris on her show, which surprises me, because Rachel’s a Rhodes Scholar,  and I get the feeling that she just doesn’t want anybody on the show smarter than her.  However, Melissa breaks it down for the white folks, because lord knows blacks don’t need to be schooled in racism by the all white crew at MSNBC. 

Question:  Where are the WOMEN OF COLOR reporting REAL news?

I wanted to how real journalism looks and sounds.  I’ve almost forgotten. I long for the days of fair & balanced, unbiased, unvarnished,  just the facts mam!  So I perused some sources and found a list of pretty straight forward attributes and behaviors to look for.  Here’s my list of unwavering must haves:

Journalism 101:  16 Things  You Learn In J-School    by Jeremy Porter on May 20, 2009

6. Don’t Censor – don’t leave a company out of a report because you don’t like their PR rep. Don’t be selective about the information you include, unless you’re confident your giving your audience the best of what you’ve got. They will figure it out, and it will tarnish your reputation.

7. Get It Right – better to be accurate than first. Many journalists face this challenge today; they need to be first with a story. Haste makes waste in reporting. Take your time to get the facts straight. Don’t let the pressure of a deadline jeopardize your journalistic integrity.

8. Don’t plagiarize – it’s easier than ever to catch a copycat. A simple Google search will yield “cut and pasted” content. Don’t steal content from someone else. You wouldn’t like it if it happened to you. Why jeopardize your career like that? If you really like something somebody wrote, and you can’t say it better yourself, quote them on it.

9. Report the Facts – there’s no room for guesswork in journalism. If you don’t know the answer, find it. Go to your expert sources, your local library or your favorite search engine. There is no excuse for lazy reporting. If you don’t have facts, you don’t have a story.

10. Don’t Be Nasty – you’ve got influence, don’t abuse it. Avoid getting personal in your reporting. If it’s not relevant to your story, don’t attack the character of another individual. Keep it classy, not sassy.

11. Don’t believe everything – if it’s your byline, it’s your job to fact check. Don’t believe those stats sent to you by a PR firm. And don’t believe every quote you get. Does the legwork, verify the information, and save yourself from writing corrections later on.

And one of the points is DON’T PLAGIARIZE AKA STEAL!  So here’s the source for the list above.

LOL I’m going to work on #10, since I’m far from mastering that behavior. HA!  It’s my damn blog, and I’ll be nasty if I want too!

Dont’ forget the Sunday morning gabfest, where everyone including the moderators are self-proclaimed experts on ALL planetary events. 

3Chics loves Jon Stewart’s journalism tutorial too!

WE must demand REAL news!  No IFS, and certainly NO BUTS  about it, because FACTS do NOT require the conjunction BUT.