senor honda

The 2016 Election and the Demise of Journalistic Standards Continued:

May/June 2017 • Volume 5/6, Number 46 • Michael Goodwin

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I found the whole concept appalling. What happened to fairness? What happened to standards? I’ll tell you what happened to them. The Times top editor, Dean Baquet, eliminated them. In an interview last October with the Nieman Foundation for Journalism at Harvard, Baquet admitted that the piece by his media reporter had nailed his own thinking. Trump “challenged our language,” he said, and Trump “will have changed journalism.” Of the daily struggle for fairness, Baquet had this to say: “I think that Trump has ended that struggle. . . . We now say stuff. We fact check him. We write it more powerfully that [what he says is] false.”
Baquet was being too modest. Trump was challenging, sure, but it was Baquet who changed journalism. He’s the one who decided that the standards of fairness and nonpartisanship could be abandoned without consequence.
With that decision, Baquet also changed the basic news story formula. To the age-old elements of who, what, when, where, and why, he added the reporter’s opinion. Now the floodgates were open, and virtually every so-called news article reflected a clear bias against Trump. Stories, photos, headlines, placement in the paper—all the tools that writers and editors have—were summoned to the battle. The goal was to pick the next president.
Thus began the spate of stories, which continues today, in which the Times routinely calls Trump a liar in its news pages and headlines. Again, the contrast with the past is striking. The Times never called Barack Obama a liar, despite such obvious opportunities as “you can keep your doctor” and “the Benghazi attack was caused by an internet video.” Indeed, the Times and The Washington Post, along with most of the White House press corps, spent eight years cheerleading the Obama administration, seeing not a smidgen of corruption or dishonesty. They have been tougher on Hillary Clinton during her long career. But they still never called her a liar, despite such doozies as “I set up my own computer server so I would only need one device,” “I turned over all the government emails,” and “I never sent or received classified emails.” All those were lies, but not to the national media. Only statements by Trump were fair game.
As we know now, most of the media totally missed Trump’s appeal to millions upon millions of Americans. The prejudice against him blinded those news organizations to what was happening in the country. Even more incredibly, I believe the bias and hostility directed at Trump backfired. The feeling that the election was, in part, a referendum on the media, gave some voters an extra incentive to vote for Trump. A vote for him was a vote against the media and against Washington. Not incidentally, Trump used that sentiment to his advantage, often revving up his crowds with attacks on reporters. He still does.
If I haven’t made it clear, let me do so now. The behavior of much of the media, but especially The New York Times, was a disgrace. I don’t believe it ever will recover the public trust it squandered.

senor honda

[h=1]The 2016 Election and the Demise of Journalistic Standards Continued:[/h] May/June 2017 • Volume 5/6, Number 46 • Michael Goodwin

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The Times’ previous reputation for having the highest standards was legitimate. Those standards were developed over decades to force reporters and editors to be fair and to gain public trust. The commitment to fairness made The New York Times the flagship of American journalism. But standards are like laws in the sense that they are designed to guide your behavior in good times and in bad. Consistent adherence to them was the source of the Times’ credibility. And eliminating them has made the paper less than ordinary. Its only standards now are double standards.
I say this with great sadness. I was blessed to grow up at the Times, getting a clerical job right out of college and working my way onto the reporting staff, where I worked for a decade. It was the formative experience of my career where I learned most of what I know about reporting and writing. Alas, it was a different newspaper then. Abe Rosenthal was the editor in those days, and long before we’d ever heard the phrase “zero tolerance,” that’s what Abe practiced toward conflicts of interest and reporters’ opinions. He set the rules and everybody knew it.
Here is a true story about how Abe Rosenthal resolved a conflict of interest. A young woman was hired by the Times from one of the Philadelphia newspapers. But soon after she arrived in New York, a story broke in Philly that she had had a romantic affair with a political figure she had covered, and that she had accepted a fur coat and other expensive gifts from him. When he saw the story, Abe called the woman into his office and asked her if it were true. When she said yes, he told her to clean out her desk—that she was finished at the Times and would never work there again. As word spread through the newsroom, some reporters took the woman’s side and rushed in to tell Abe that firing her was too harsh. He listened for about 30 seconds, raised his hand for silence, and said (this is slightly bowdlerized): “I don’t care if you have a romantic affair with an elephant on your personal time, but then you can’t cover the circus for the paper.” Case closed. The conflict of interest policy was clear, absolute, and unforgettable.
As for reporters’ opinions, Abe had a similar approach. He didn’t want them in the news pages. And if you put them in, he took them out. They belonged in the opinion pages only, which were managed separately. Abe said he knew reporters tended to lean left and would find ways to sneak their views into the stories. So he saw his job as steering the paper slightly to the right. “That way,” he said, “the paper would end up in the middle.” He was well known for this attitude, which he summed up as “keeping the paper straight.” He even said he wanted his epitaph to read, “He kept the paper straight.” Like most people, I thought this was a joke. But after I related all this in a column last year, his widow contacted me and said it wasn’t a joke—that, in fact, Abe’s tombstone reads, “He kept the paper straight.” She sent me a picture to prove it. I published that picture of his tombstone alongside a column where I excoriated the Times for its election coverage. Sadly, the Times’ high standards were buried with Abe Rosenthal.
[h=3]Looking to the Future[/h] Which brings us to the crucial questions. Can the American media be fixed? And is there anything that we as individuals can do to make a difference? The short answer to the first question is, “No, it can’t be fixed.” The 2016 election was the media’s Humpty Dumpty moment. It fell off the wall, shattered into a million pieces, and can’t be put back together again. In case there is any doubt, 2017 is confirming that the standards are still dead. The orgy of visceral Trump-bashing continues unabated.
But the future of journalism isn’t all gloom and doom. In fact, if we accept the new reality of widespread bias and seize the potential it offers, there is room for optimism. Consider this—the election showed the country is roughly divided 50-50 between people who will vote for a Democrat and people who will vote for a Republican. But our national media is more like 80-20 in favor of Democrats. While the media should, in theory, broadly reflect the public, it doesn’t. Too much of the media acts like a special interest group. Detached from the greater good, it exists to promote its own interest and the political party with which it is aligned.

senor honda

[h=1]The 2016 Election and the Demise of Journalistic Standards[/h]Continued
May/June 2017 • Volume 5/6, Number 46 • Michael Goodwin

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Ronald Reagan’s optimism is often expressed in a story that is surely apocryphal, but irresistible. He is said to have come across a barn full of horse manure and remarked cheerfully that there must be a pony in it somewhere. I suggest we look at the media landscape in a similar fashion. The mismatch between the mainstream media and the public’s sensibilities means there is a vast untapped market for news and views that are not now represented. To realize that potential, we only need three ingredients, and we already have them: first, free speech; second, capitalism and free markets; and the third ingredient is you, the consumers of news.
Free speech is under assault, most obviously on many college campuses, but also in the news media, which presents a conformist view to its audience and gets a politically segregated audience in return. Look at the letters section in The New York Times—virtually every reader who writes in agrees with the opinions of the paper. This isn’t a miracle; it’s a bubble. Liberals used to love to say, “I don’t agree with your opinion, but I would fight to the death for your right to express it.” You don’t hear that anymore from the Left. Now they want to shut you up if you don’t agree. And they are having some success.
But there is a countervailing force. Look at what happened this winter when the Left organized boycotts of department stores that carried Ivanka Trump’s clothing and jewelry. Nordstrom folded like a cheap suit, but Trump’s supporters rallied on social media and Ivanka’s company had its best month ever. This is the model I have in mind for the media. It is similar to how FOX News got started. Rupert Murdoch thought there was an untapped market for a more fair and balanced news channel, and he recruited Roger Ailes to start it more than 20 years ago. Ailes found a niche market alright—half the country!
Incredible advances in technology are also on the side of free speech. The explosion of choices makes it almost impossible to silence all dissent and gain a monopoly, though certainly Facebook and Google are trying.
As for the necessity of preserving capitalism, look around the world. Nations without economic liberty usually have little or no dissent. That’s not a coincidence. In this, I’m reminded of an enduring image from the Occupy Wall Street movement. That movement was a pestilence, egged on by President Obama and others who view other people’s wealth as a crime against the common good. This attitude was on vivid display as the protesters held up their iPhones to demand the end of capitalism. As I wrote at the time, did they believe Steve Jobs made each and every Apple product one at a time in his garage? Did they not have a clue about how capital markets make life better for more people than any other system known to man? They had no clue. And neither do many government officials, who think they can kill the golden goose and still get golden eggs.
Which brings me to the third necessary ingredient in determining where we go from here. It’s you. I urge you to support the media you like. As the great writer and thinker Midge Decter once put it, “You have to join the side you’re on.” It’s no secret that newspapers and magazines are losing readers and money and shedding staff. Some of them are good newspapers. Some of them are good magazines. There are also many wonderful, thoughtful, small publications and websites that exist on a shoestring. Don’t let them die. Subscribe or contribute to those you enjoy. Give subscriptions to friends. Put your money where your heart and mind are. An expanded media landscape that better reflects the diversity of public preferences would, in time, help create a more level political and cultural arena. That would be a great thing. So again I urge you: join the side you’re on.

senor honda

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[TD="class: yiv4123721976columnContent yiv4123721976widget-span yiv4123721976widget-type-rich_text, align: left"] [h=3][/h] [h=1]Watch Lecture Nine[/h] [h=2]“The Imperial Presidency”[/h] [h=3][/h] [h=3][/h] [h=3]Overview:[/h] A troubling feature of the modern presidency, which has expanded rapidly under the Obama Administration, is a brazen disregard for constitutional limits and the law. Contrary to the framework of the Constitution, which depends on competition among the three branches of government, Congress and the courts have been increasingly complacent in the face of, and often compliant with, the development of this feature. Over the course of the last century, particularly since the 1960s, these institutions have enabled the modern executive branch to exercise all three powers of government in the regulation of nearly all aspects of everyday life.

If you would like help navigating this online course, please visit the help section. If you are unable to find the answer to your question there, please email onlinecourses@hillsdale.edu. Enjoy the course!

[HR][/HR]
About "The Presidency and the Constitution"
This free, 10-week, not-for-credit course, taught by the Hillsdale College Politics Department faculty, will help you understand the structure and function of executive power in the American constitutional order. The course considers the role of the presidency in the constitutionalism of the Founding Fathers and how that role has changed with the rise of the Progressive administrative state.

Support Hillsdale Online Courses

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senor honda

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[TD="class: yiv3692137192columnContent yiv3692137192widget-span yiv3692137192widget-type-rich_text, align: left"] [h=3][/h] [h=1]Watch Lecture Ten[/h] [h=2]“Conclusion: Reviving the Constitutional Executive Power”[/h] [h=3][/h] [h=3][/h] [h=3]Overview:[/h] The Founders placed the executive power in the hands of a unitary officeholder, the President of the United States. This unity enables the president to act decisively and ensures that he will be held accountable for his actions. The office was designed to be limited and to be checked by two other branches. By contrast, modern government is run chiefly by unaccountable executive-branch bureaucrats who hold all three powers—legislative, executive, and judicial—of government. In order to avert the crisis presented by this unconstitutional combination of powers, citizens must work to understand the principles of the Founders’ Constitution, and seek to apply these principles to contemporary politics.

If you would like help navigating this online course, please visit the help section. If you are unable to find the answer to your question there, please email onlinecourses@hillsdale.edu. Enjoy the course!

[HR][/HR]
About "The Presidency and the Constitution"
This free, 10-week, not-for-credit course, taught by the Hillsdale College Politics Department faculty, will help you understand the structure and function of executive power in the American constitutional order. The course considers the role of the presidency in the constitutionalism of the Founding Fathers and how that role has changed with the rise of the Progressive administrative state.

Support Hillsdale Online Courses

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senor honda

Today is the final day to make a donation to Hillsdale College before the end of the fiscal year. Will you help us finish strong?
Your gift will help Hillsdale fulfill its mission on behalf of liberty in three key areas:

1. Providing the finest liberal arts education in the land to our 1,450 students here on campus;
2. Creating and promoting free online courses for anyone to enjoy nationwide; and
3. Establishing classical K-12 charter schools nationwide through the Barney Charter School Initiative.

With just hours left to reach our fiscal year-end goal of $300,000 your gift is crucial.
Please give your best gift now to the important work of Hillsdale College using this secure link: https://secure.hillsdale.edu/education-for-liberty/.
Warm regards,
Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College

senor honda

[h=1]Happy Independence Day from Hillsdale College![/h] [HR][/HR] In this 241st year of our independence, join Hillsdale’s choir in celebrating our heritage of liberty with this brief video.
You can watch the video here >> Independence Day

senor honda

Please join me in the study of theology in a new free online course we launched this spring. The course is called “Theology 101: The Western Theological Tradition.”
The English word theology is rooted in the Greek words for God (theos) and reason or speech (logos). The gift of speech or reason, given by God to man, enables us to think about God and to worship Him. One of the chief aims of the liberal arts and their study at Hillsdale College is to understand what kind of being man is, as well as his purpose, which in turn makes it possible to begin to understand man’s relationship to God.
The Western theological tradition stretches back thousands of years to the time of the ancient Hebrews and has had a profound impact on the development of Western Civilization. This course will consider the origins and development of Western religious theology from the Old Testament through the twentieth century.
I introduce the course with a lecture on “Theology at Hillsdale College.” Three of my colleagues in the Philosophy & Religion department—Thomas Burke, Jordan Wales, and Donald Westblade—teach the remainder of the course. These professors understand the subject deeply, and I trust you will find their lectures engaging and educational.
As always, there is no cost to take the course and you can watch the lectures at your leisure. You can get started here: http://lp.hillsdale.edu/theology-101.
I hope you enjoy the course.
Warm regards,
Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College

senor honda

I hope all is well. My friend Mark Levin recently published a new book, Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism. I highly recommend it to you.
I have co-authored a review of this important book with one of my students, Thomas Tacoma. In it, we write:

Levin gives a sobering account of the Progressive philosophy and its success over time. But there is reason to hope. His book is more than an intellectual history—it is a call to action.

I trust you will find Mark’s book both informative and compelling. You can order a copy of it here: Rediscovering Americanism and the Tyranny of Progressivism. I believe it will be a useful guide in our efforts to restore constitutional government.
Warm regards,
Larry P. Arnn
President, Hillsdale College

senor honda

I hope you are having a great week.
In previous emails, I’ve mentioned some of the concerning events happening on America’s college and university campuses right now. I’m sure you’ve seen it in the national news as well. There is serious hostility towards the founding principles of liberty on college campuses, augmented by students obsessed with race, class, gender, and sexual orientation.
Students educated in these environments naturally come to believe in the false promises of free college and health care, and vote for the candidates who make them, such as Bernie Sanders. In fact, more millennials voted for Sanders in the primaries than Clinton and Trump combined.
That’s why I’d love to know what you think about higher education in America. If you have a few minutes, I’d love to ask you a few questions about the state of America’s education system, and how Hillsdale can help repair the damage.
Take the survey now: https://www.research.net/r/HigherEducationSurvey.
Thank you for supporting Hillsdale and for your love of our country and its founding principles of liberty.
Warm regards,
Larry P. Arnn
President
Hillsdale College