? Would any normal responsible journalist behave the way Couric and Milbank have?

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

You just got out of the Columbia School of Journalism and you are facing their final exam:

Question 1.

Given the opportunity to switch one answer for another in a videotaped interview in order to make a Conservative candidate seem more . . . sane,
would you do it?

a. yes
b. no
c. what's in it for me?


Question 2.

You have a quote of 2 sentences. Omitting the first makes the second seem to be saying something completely contradictory to the Liberal speaker's intent.You:

a. omit it of course- what are you, a liberal jackass?
b. omit it (regrettably - sigh, you hoped to do better, but, integrity is for paupers)

[cliffordu]

1. Niether of these are journalists like Walter Cronkite was a journalist -

They are spokemodels for the corporatocracy.

[FrenchieCat]

2. Perfect label!

Exactly right.

[book_worm]

3. I'm sorry that when KO had him on his show tonight he didnt' call him on it.

[crimsonblue]

5. KO didn't have Dana on his show tonight...

n/t

[book_worm]

6. Are you sure?

I thought he was on commenting about McCain's newest ad.

[crimsonblue]

7. He had

Rachel, Richard Wolffe, Craig from CQ, but not Dana. He did have that guy from VH1.

[book_worm]

8. Sorry, you are right. I got Wolffe mixed up with Dana.

[crimsonblue]

9. I think Dana's absence speaks more than loud enough for itself....

even KO is not immune to covering for his friends... I guess there are so many bridges one can burn....

[Cha]

4. buzzflash has katie couric as mediaputz of

the week on their site.

July 31, 2008

Katie Couric

"For reporting that is an embarrassment to the profession of journalism, and for being beholden to corporate paymasters rather than the citizens of America.

Being a nightly news anchor gives one a great opportunity to be a Media PUTZ. Charlie Gibson shared the award with George Stephanopoulos on April 24 for their "classic" debate in Philadelphia.

And Brian Williams got the award on June 12 when he "brushed off accusations that the corporate networks knowingly used Pentagon shills as alleged "neutral" experts on the Iraq War."

Now, it's Katie Couric's turn. Couric almost lost the award to Campbell Brown and Erica Hill of CNN for their trashing of the hearings looking into impeachment.

But as distasteful as what Williams, Gibson, Stephanopoulos, Brown, and Hill did, what Couric did was such a violation of journalism ethics that she should be fired. America's "sweetheart," Katie Couric isn't just the anchor of the CBS Evening News, she is also the managing editor. Couric's interview with John McCain involved the removal of an answer by McCain that would have made him look foolish, and an answer to a different question was inserted into the interview without disclosure from Couric or CBS.

Substituting a different answer is a direct violation of CBS News protocol, and Journalism 101. The blame magically shifted to an unnamed producer who edited the piece.

But Couric is responsible for what airs on the CBS Evening News, along with executive producer Rick Kaplan. Yet neither of them was admonished, punished, or otherwise disciplined for an unethical act.

This isn't the first time a huge breach of ethics has occurred under the watch of Katie Couric. A CBS News producer was fired and the network issued an apology after a Couric essay on libraries was plagiarized from The Wall Street Journal. Amazingly, Couric read the essay in the first person as if she had written it. So for $15 million a year, she can't even write up copy that is supposed to be from her that isn't even news copy.

But at least in that case, someone was fired. At this point, no one has been disciplined or fired for editing out a McCain gaffe without identifying that the interview had been manipulated for political purposes.

Numerous reports have Couric leaving the CBS Evening News chair sometime around the first of the year. The better solution would have been to have her terminated and her $15 million/year contract voided due to unethical journalistic behavior. After all, the journalism careers of Jayson Blair, Janet Cooke, and Stephen Glass were destroyed due to their mendacity. Why shouldn't Couric suffer the same fate?

For putting political pressure to protect John McCain ahead of the truth, Katie Couric is our BuzzFlash Media PUTZ of the Week."

http://www.buzzflash.com