Lazy Journalist Tells All
No, the title of this piece doesn’t refer to a tearful confession by a certain MPR education reporter about his work habits. Instead it’s an insider’s reaction to the media coverage of Richard Clarke’s accusations about the Bush Administration and the 9/11 attacks. I don’t know which traditional media outlet Ryan Rhodes writes for, but his excellent post today on his blog (Rambling Rhodes) confirms what many of us have long suspected:
I'm not a grizzled veteran when it comes to journalism. I've basically been in the field now for six years or so, which isn't a whole lot, when you think about it. Regardless, there is one rule I've noticed when it comes to modern day journalists.
We are f*cking LAZY.
This doesn't apply to all journalists, mind you, just the vast majority. There is a miniscule minority of journalists out there who aren't afraid to roll up their sleeves and do a little background research and put together a tightly knit story, complete with facts and figures and interviews and excerpts from other sources.
But, generally, journalists aren't interested in doing all that work. Journalists invest far more time and ingenuity into discovering ways to avoid hard investigative work than they do actually working. I can speak with a little bit of authority on this, because I've been known to do it from time to time, and I can recognize the familiar handiwork of journalistic reporters taking the easy road. If you know what to look for, it's really quite obvious.
I can’t personally testify to Ryan’s laziness, but I do commend him for his honesty. And if forced to choose, I’d prefer to read an honestly lazy man over a hard working liar any day of the week. For this, Ryan Rhodes, lazy reporter, we salute you.
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