Lazy Journalists (and the Subsequent Collapse of Journalism)How ironic. We were just about to continue our list of the Top Ten Things We'd Like to See Disappear in 2009, with #7 on the list, Lazy Journalists (and Journalism) when the plane crashed into the Hudson River a short distance from our beloved East Village.
Three hours later, the plane crash story is still dominating all the news channels, and some channels that normally don't even carry news. Wow. Unbelievable. As it turns out, the crash of the US Airways jet, on its way from LaGuardia to North Carolina, was caused by the plane's collision with a flock of birds, and luckily no one was seriously hurt in the crash. And to our relief, it was not an act of terrorism. So isn't this a story that should have been on the news for about two minutes, and that's it? Is it really a story worthy of dominating all major news channels for hours upon hours?
And it's not like this was a slow news day. Eric Holder, the nominee for Attorney General, began his confirmation hearing in front of Congress, the very first question being: "Do you believe that waterboarding is torture and do you believe that the U.S. President is above the law when it comes to being prosecuted for breaking the laws concerning torture?" To which Mr. Holder replied, "Yes" to the first question and "No" to the next. People, 
wake up! This was the Democrats way of paving the way for the possible prosecution of Bush and Cheney for breaking the law. And this is less news worthy than a simple plane crash? And Cheney is continuing his delusional press tour in which he is stating that he and Bush didn't make any serious mistakes and that they're proud of everything they accomplished! Good God!! It's enough to make one want to fly one's own plane into a river.
Journalists have to start doing their jobs. And the news media, including the twenty-four hour news channels, have to get their heads out of their asses. Let's face it, covering the plane crash garners ratings, and journalism has sold its soul for ratings, even at the expense of covering the truly important stories. Long after the plane is pulled out of the river, and all the passengers have been on Oprah to tell their stories, we will still be faced with the serious fallout from a sitting U.S. President and Vice President authorizing the torture of enemy combatants. If we can't count on our Journalists to ask the tough questions, (and that means actually daring Cheney to answer some real questions, as opposed to meekly asking one question and when he lies to your face tucking your tail between your legs and running), then we're all screwed! A lot of us would love to ask some tough questions of Bush and Cheney, and even Obama if he lies to us, but most of us aren't given that opportunity. We don't get invited to ask questions at the White House press briefings and we certainly don't get invited to Republican Town Hall meetings unless we've taken the Oath of Allegiance to the Extreme Right Wing. So sadly, we have to entrust the job of uncovering the truth to Journalists and our News Media. But evidently, they're too busy today pandering to an audience of I.Q.-challenged, plane crash rubber-neckers to do their jobs.
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