Being the Media-A Philosophy about Corporate Media Priesthood versus

Individual News gathering.

Phil Donahue was (and is) a journalist. Amy Goodman is a journalist. Many anchors on television are not journalists, nor do they have journalism degrees. To me, a journalist is someone who reports the news as it is, without spin adjectives to slant it one way or the other (basic high school journalism class 101). Does it require a journalism degree to be a journalist? No, but you have to have the tools and desire to do it and be as honest and objective as you can, unless, in my opinion, you state that what's coming up is your own opinion.

The slant in tv news comes from, first, what stories are covered, and second, how the information is edited and presented. We don't all live in Washington DC, but we do all have local and state governments, and events that are of interest to us in the local communities. And we can cover them. I advocate the idea of designated videographer at an event-others are marching, one person is recording. Does it have to be great footage? No, but it has to be real, and it can be edited.

On how the information is edited and presented. I remember when I realized that watching, say, the Presidential debates on corporate news channels, was not satisfying. Why? Because the talking heads felt the need to talk over what was being said, or analyze it, or, in 3rd person, talk *for* the person. That's when I switched to Cspan, because it just... shows... the...event. But that's the problem with most of corporate news. The event, such as a press conference, occurs. If you don't happen to see it at that moment in time, you will NEVER SEE IT REPLAYED in its entirety again. And someone, an editor, will decide for you, what was most noteworthy and either replay the words as a soundclip OR an anchor will regurgitate what that sound bite was, without you even hearing the voice of the person that spoke it. (Remember the Kerry-Bush presidential debate with Mr. Sneery? And how, after it was over, Chris Matthews said it was a masterful job? Huh?) Thus, the person deciding the content to use, plus the person who edits, plus the person who regurgitates, have the ability to shape and slant the content.

I've been speaking to television news at this point, because it inherently, because of its very nature, is limiting and propagandizing. That makes it all the more important that people who watch live news happening record it and share it before the editors and anchors get their hands on it and shape it and squeeze it into something targeted.