Thursday, July 20, 2006

What Ever Happened to Journalism?

Two particularly egregious examples of poor journalism this week...

CBS Chicago Channel 2 promotes a blatant lie: Chicago Crowds Are Great...per the Gay Games organizers. The same people who provided estimates of 80,000 to 100,000 - and the same people who are advertising half price tickets on their website because they can't seem to sell more than 20,000 tickets for closing ceremonies. One might expect the organizers to exaggerate, but why didn't the CBS reporter note the serious discrepancy between their propaganda and the facts?

The Northwest Herald's sports writer David Brown offered this (not so) witty line:
I see gay people. Rowing.
Over 700 words and yet no description of any sports event - just what ought to be an embarrassing admission that, despite working in Crystal Lake since 2002, he was ignorant of the location of Crystal Lake (the lake itself). And, of course, the obligatory homophobia inferences toward those of us who objected to the celebration of sin.

Recommended Action: Contact CBS 2 and David Brown (rdbrown@nwherald.com) with your opinion of these articles.