ThinkProgress.org: Right Wing Mocks Reporters In Egypt: Not "A Great Deal Of Sympathy For Those Who’ve Been Attacked"

[Larry]

deleted post.

[twa]

And I'll believe that only the lunatic fringes of the Republican Party approve of reporters being beaten, when we have a thread like this, and it doesn't get defended.

Somebody defend the reporters being beaten?

Understanding why it happens and not crying crocodile tears over a hack piece is another matter

[Burgold]

I think news is cyclic, SS. I think we are in an age of yellow journalism and I think that only a few groups are immune to the fever (and even the ones who seem to be immune suffer a couple of symptoms). So, how do we treat this disease. We can encourage the plague. We can study it. We can isolate it. Eventually, if enough people get honestly sick of the hyperbole and propaganda based media shows (I don't think we're all that close to that point yet sadly) the producers will pull the plug and return to better practices because honestly, the journalism of twenty, thirty, and fifty years ago is superior to what we get today.

However, if we give up or worse if we keep feeding the beast then we'll continue to get hate, bias, lies, and propaganda in the place of news, but the answer is money... because that's what drives the news business. It's much more important than ideology. Right now, FOX and MSNBC are making money by developing cults. That's what they are. Rabid, brainwashed followers. You can choose not to be that. You can choose to fight that and when there's enough of us... they will change.

You guys have seen me criticize Krugman and Olberman and many others. If you read the Juan Williams' threads you even saw me criticize NPR. Deal with each problem as it comes up. If this article highlights something you approve of than support it. If you think the actors are behaving poorly than give them what for. Each of us needs to try to be color blind. Don't just support a guy because he is supposedly on your side because he isn't on your side. He's on his paycheck's side.

:soapbox:

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think news is cyclic, SS. I think we are in an age of yellow journalism and I think that only a few groups are immune to the fever (and even the ones who seem to be immune suffer a couple of symptoms). So, how do we treat this disease. We can encourage the plague. We can study it. We can isolate it. Eventually, if enough people get honestly sick of the hyperbole and propaganda based media shows (I don't think we're all that close to that point yet sadly) the producers will pull the plug and return to better practices because honestly, the journalism of twenty, thirty, and fifty years ago is superior to what we get today.

However, if we give up or worse if we keep feeding the beast then we'll continue to get hate, bias, lies, and propaganda in the place of news, but the answer is money... because that's what drives the news business. It's much more important than ideology. Right now, FOX and MSNBC are making money by developing cults. That's what they are. Rabid, brainwashed followers. You can choose not to be that. You can choose to fight that and when there's enough of us... they will change.

You guys have seen me criticize Krugman and Olberman and many others. If you read the Juan Williams' threads you even saw me criticize NPR. Deal with each problem as it comes up. If this article highlights something you approve of than support it. If you think the actors are behaving poorly than give them what for. Each of us needs to try to be color blind. Don't just support a guy because he is supposedly on your side because he isn't on your side. He's on his paycheck's side.

:soapbox:

Agreed on all points.

And I don't feed the beast by not watching Fox News or not watching MSNBC.

Which bugs me because it leaves me more uninformed than I'd like to be. I don't like politics as much as much as you guys do on here, but I'd like to be informed. But what troubles me more than anything else is that I can't turn on the tv or read something online without wondering who wrote it and what they'd like me to believe.

You can say "Well, you have to decide for yourself" which is totally true. But I don't have the time or interest to check out all the viewpoints and decide for myself. I just want to get a few facts without worrying what slant they have so I can stay informed. Unfortunately it's all too much of a turnoff for me to even really care anymore.

[Burgold]

I think that the best strategy if you have time is to read a wide range. Read the Wall Street Journal. Listen to NPR. Watch CNN or one of the Networks (ABC, NBC, CBS). Then for a specific issue go to the people who only cover that. They're going to have a deeper understanding and thus ask better questions and be able to write or speak more thoughtfully. If you don't have that kind of time... go with NPR or PBS. They're not perfect, but I think they are the purest that we have at the moment.

[Spaceman Spiff]

I think that the best strategy if you have time is to read a wide range. Read the Wall Street Journal. Listen to NPR. Watch CNN or one of the Networks (ABC, NBC, CBS). Then for a specific issue go to the people who only cover that. They're going to have a deeper understanding and thus ask better questions and be able to write or speak more thoughtfully. If you don't have that kind of time... go with NPR or PBS. They're not perfect, but I think they are the purest that we have at the moment.

From what I know, I'd agree.

[Baculus]

And I should feel sympathy when he was used in a illegal and immoral war for oil....oh and oppressing or murdering civilians?

Selective outrage is such the rage.

I am sorry, but what?

The author of Generation Kill, Evan Wright, presented the marines, their actions, and their mission, with all the courage and ugliness of that conflict. That includes questionable actions, including the death of civilians, and heroic efforts to save others. So what sort of "selective outrage" are you talking about?!

Are you going to actually add something to the discussion?

[GoSkins561]

Bac is this thread about bashing the Right or concern for the news crews?

You'll forgive me for being confused?

Bac Leftbaugh

[GoSkins561]

I will say it, any white American that is stupid enough to walk the streets of Cairo with a news camera in their hands is a ****ing idiot.

[Baculus]

Bac Leftbaugh

Yeah, because how dare I criticize and question right-wingers on this issue. That sure does make me like Limbaugh.

Whatever, Beavis.

---------- Post added February-5th-2011 at 04:36 AM ----------

I will say it, any white American that is stupid enough to walk the streets of Cairo with a news camera in their hands is a ****ing idiot.

Either that, or they are journalists doing their job.

But you wouldn't understand that, would you?

---------- Post added February-5th-2011 at 04:43 AM ----------

After eight pages, I have yet to hear any good arguments to why the situation in Egypt is any different than the proceeding hundred and fifty years of what war correspondents have experienced. It seems as if the greatest insight into this is that "white Westerners should not be in Egypt with a camera in their hand."

As a detail for the more obtuse-minded among us, many Egyptians WANT Western reporters there, so we, the rest of the world, can see what's going and what's taking place, especially since our money, American money, goes to fund that government. Yes, I know you and the real Rush Limbaughs of the world don't want to hear that, but for the rest of us, we want to know about these events, and we appreciate those people who are trying to inform the rest of us.

[GoSkins561]

Did you miss the part where I said I appreciate Anderson Cooper, I know I can't prove this, but when I'm running in the evening, I watch CNN, when I watching the news in the evening, CNN is on, I honestly appreciate Cooper and I think Gupta is a beast. At this point in time, Cooper is being a complete moron by putting himself in these situations. You're a really smart dude bac, but I must say, it's Coopers situation behind enemy lines is very different from a war correspondent fighting beside our warriors. Did Dan Rather casually walk amongst the North Vietnamese?

[G.A.C.O.L.B.]

Did you miss the part where I said I appreciate Anderson Cooper, I know I can't prove this, but when I'm running in the evening, I watch CNN, when I watching the news in the evening, CNN is on, I honestly appreciate Cooper and I think Gupta is a beast. At this point in time, Cooper is being a complete moron by putting himself in these situations. You're a really smart dude bac, but I must say, it's Coopers situation behind enemy lines is very different from a war correspondent fighting beside our warriors. Did Dan Rather casually walk amongst the North Vietnamese?

What? The media has been in Tahrir Square all week. With the demonstrators. With no problems. Then pro-Mubarak thugs violently rushed the Square and they got caught up in it. How is that "behind enemy lines"?

[Baculus]

[/color]

Did you miss the part where I said I appreciate Anderson Cooper, I know I can't prove this, but when I'm running in the evening, I watch CNN, when I watching the news in the evening, CNN is on, I honestly appreciate Cooper and I think Gupta is a beast. At this point in time, Cooper is being a complete moron by putting himself in these situations. You're a really smart dude bac, but I must say, it's Coopers situation behind enemy lines is very different from a war correspondent fighting beside our warriors. Did Dan Rather casually walk amongst the North Vietnamese?

Here is the problem -- things got really crazy, really fast. It isn't as if he sauntered up to a random crowd and they attacked him. The same folks, paramilitary guys (which one Egyptian described as "leather jacket-wearing thick guys that you immediately knew were the police") who attacked the Fox crew, who screamed at Amanpour, also attacked Cooper as well. As I have said previously, the protesters want the media to be present so that others, outside of Egypt, know what is happening. Perhaps you haven't quite followed the details to the whos and whys of the two sides, but most of the protesters are young, mostly secular, and pro-democratic.

Street uprisings are always messy affairs, but those sort of situations also produce some of the most amazing stories. Look at some of the reporting that came out of El Salvador during the 80s, or out of Cambodia.

[thebluefood]

Boy, I tell ya, there are some people in here that really think they know how to be a journalist.

Tell ya what. Why don't we give some of you guys an editor, have that editor send you to Egypt or Afghanistan and have said editor tell you to get an eyewitness account of what's going on at any cost?

That's what you're asked to do. Just as Murrow had to go to London during the Blitz and Brady had to go to Antietam, journalists today have to go into the most hostile environments and tell their readers/listeners/viewers what's going on. That's our job, and quite honestly, I don't appreciate the tone some of you are taking. It reeks of ignorance and close-mindedness.

[Jumbo]

It reeks of ignorance and close-mindedness.

Well, you've correctly identified two familiar key ingredients of the well-known tailgate ambiance and since I know you're not new, why so taken aback?

[thebluefood]

Well, you've correctly identified two familiar key ingredients of the well-known tailgate ambiance and since I know you're not new, why so taken aback?

I guess my optimism sometimes clouds my better judgment. :pfft:

[Burgold]

Some people work so hard to find fault. Sigh...

---------- Post added February-5th-2011 at 06:44 AM ----------

I will say it, any white American that is stupid enough to walk the streets of Cairo with a news camera in their hands is a ****ing idiot.

Hate to hear what you think of the Red Cross. After all, they not only go into warzones, but they put a big red bullseye on all of their vehicles. How stupid is that!

[aREDSKIN]

Well, you've correctly identified two familiar key ingredients of the well-known tailgate ambiance and since I know you're not new, why so taken aback?

LMAO. :rotflmao:

It does seems that it's a prerequisite for the posters here. I know I qualify especially on some issues.

[NickGiaquinto1]

We get it. You hate the right... A few radio guys crack some jokes in bad taste and the world is coming to an end, yet again. Talk about whiny drama queens.

I do question the thought process of reporting from the middle of a violent mob... Kinda stupid if u ask me....

Where was the radio-tv police when Cooper called the tea party tea baggers? I assume that is a gay slur.

[aREDSKIN]

We get it. You hate the right... A few radio guys crack some jokes in bad taste and the world is coming to an end, yet again. Talk about whiny drama queens.

I do question the thought process of reporting from the middle of a violent mob... Kinda stupid if u ask me....

Where was the radio-tv police when Cooper called the tea party tea baggers? I assume that is a gay slur.

I don't know about that. I'd suspect it's an activity he's has researched quite a bit and has covered quite a few tea bagger events. Maybe not as dangerous as a war zone but........

[Burgold]

We get it. A few radio guys crack some jokes in bad taste. I do question the thought process of reporting from the middle of a violent mob...

This is the post I wish you would have made. Otherwise, we do get it. A ready excuse for every act of bad behavior. Zero accountability.

[Baculus]

We get it. You hate the right... A few radio guys crack some jokes in bad taste and the world is coming to an end, yet again. Talk about whiny drama queens.

Yeah, because all those jokes coming from the Right sure shows how much love they have, right?

I guess this is about as far as your introspection goes:

"You hate the right."

"Whiny drama queens."

Deep thinking, there.

By the way, I think someone else already used "whiny drama queens," so you are going to have to oodle something else from your noodle. Good luck with that effort.

Where was the radio-tv police when Cooper called the tea party tea baggers? I assume that is a gay slur.

Well, maybe if the Tea Parties had a teeny, tiny bit of "pop culture" knowledge, and they didn't actually call themselves that name first, then they would have avoided all of that "teabagger" stuff. But after all of the ad hominems the tea partiers like to throw out, I would think you could be a little less "whiny" about the whole affair, eh?

[GoSkins561]

Some people work so hard to find fault. Sigh...

---------- Post added February-5th-2011 at 06:44 AM ----------

Hate to hear what you think of the Red Cross. After all, they not only go into warzones, but they put a big red bullseye on all of their vehicles. How stupid is that!

So now the media goes into warzones for the same reasons as the Red Cross?

[Burgold]

So now the media goes into warzones for the same reasons as the Red Cross?

:doh:

Purposeful stupidity isn't attractive.

[GoSkins561]

What? The media has been in Tahrir Square all week. With the demonstrators. With no problems. Then pro-Mubarak thugs violently rushed the Square and they got caught up in it. How is that "behind enemy lines"?

Cooper went into the Pro Mubarak crowd after they bum rushed the protesters on their camels. If getting punched on the first day wasn't enough, Cooper went back the next day to the Pro Mubarak crowd and got punched again.