newspeople- bleurgh!
news is getting confused- the role that reporters and journalists play has become convoluted. on the washingtonpost.com yesterday, a journalist, Dan Balz, wrote a post on ‘the trail.’ balz seemed taken aback by the way the media has treated Barack Obama. he claims that it is high time to ask this candidate some important questions. his questions were all undeniably good questions for a reporter to ask a presidential candidate. they were specific policy questions that would reveal a candidates position and idealogy.
i think there is one step that is missing here- and in a lot of articles and newspapers countrywide- and that step is actually asking the questions. instead of decrying the lack of questioning -gasp- ask some questions. Balz’s post was counter-productive and a waste of time. posting drivel like “why aren’t journalists asking people questions” (which seems to me a huge part of writing a story) just makes readers more aware that you’re a lazy writer. what’s more is that HAVING the right questions and not actually asking them is a disservice to everyone. is he depending on the other (apparently also dumb) journalists to ask the questions he is asking them why they aren’t asking?
another problem i have with balz’s post, which extends to media and journalists in general, is the fact that it focused on obama. humbly, i believe that all politicians and people in power should be asked similar questions. that they should be tested in a public forum. i mean, this whiny post annoyed me in a lot of ways. complaining about questions not getting asked WHEN YOU ARE IN A POSITION TO ASK THEM is childish and like, what my mom did when she’d be mad at me for not doing her laundry. she knew where our washer and dryer were.