Here are two stories presently featured on Memeorandum that make for a revealing juxtaposition. First, this headline on a Huffington Post item by lefty activist Josh Silver:
And here’s Michael Calderone of The Politico, reporting on a speech by Chris Matthews last night:
First of all, Silver is wrong about TMZ.com; it belongs to Time Warner, not News Corp. This mental slip does betray the likelihood that Silver is one of those who also considers Fox News to be something other than a “real news network” because many of its hosts, and even some of its anchors, evince support for conservative causes and politicians. Meanwhile, I have no doubt that he would characterize MSNBC and its Obama activist/TV presenter Keith Olbermann as “bona fide news.”
To my knowledge, TMZ and 700 Club are not just making it up. I do know that 700 Club features as a correspondent David Brody, who is a legitimate journalist, even if he is one with a point of view. But then, so are many of Silver’s HuffPo colleagues. (I should note, the last time I watched 700 Club, Pat Robertson came out in favor of medicinal marijuana.) And TMZ’s idea of what’s news differs greatly from my own, but they cover those frivolous stories very, very well.
What Silver really wants is for the FCC to legitimize the kind of news he likes and de-legitimize others. I’m not sure which I find more disturbing: the fact that Josh Silver wants a federal agency to decide what counts as news, or the fact that a federal agency actually does get to decide what counts as news.
Another fine example of the comedy of errors that is the Huffington Post.. great post really enjoy your blog!