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I have been more than a little harsh on journalists who
skew facts or just plain lie, but can’t a guy crack a joke?
Let me digress. When I was first given the opportunity
to write a regular column some years ago, my editor gave me three
rules: No libel, no straight political pieces, and leave
controversies involving advertisers to the news department. Aside
from the fact I was unaware there was such a thing as straight
politics, it seemed reasonable enough.
Within these few limits I was able to write about pretty
much anything that popped into my head each morning, and did. And
though I had become a journalist of sorts, I was particularly
thankful I was not a reporter.
I have since limited my subject matter somewhat but I’m
still glad I’m not a reporter. Aside from getting their facts
straight, an obligation columnists share, reporters are expected to
be fair, balanced, and keep their opinions to themselves. That may
seem almost as likely as straight politics but most do their best.
Columnists, on the other hand, don’t have to pretend. I
can be biased, opinionated, and as ornery as my editor can stomach.
I can’t label someone a chicken-thieving crook unless he or she is
truly a convicted poultry pilferer, but I am free to suggest that
the same person is a corn-fried chowder head. The distinction may
seem small, especially to the person being critiqued, but the first
is a statement of fact and the latter an opinion.
Reporters aren’t allowed opinions, which would require a
lobotomy, though most at least try to keep theirs out of their
work. In a few highly publicized cases, unfortunately, some seem to
be omitting facts as well.
The New York Times took two hard shots to its reputation
this year when reporter Jayson Blair was found to have made up or
outright swiped parts of dozens of articles, and ace correspondent
Rick Bragg resigned after taking credit for a piece written largely
by a freelancer. In April, Eason Jordan, CNN’s chief news
executive, admitted he sat on knowledge of atrocities by Saddam
Hussein’s government over at least 13 years in order to protect
employees and maintain the network’s access to Iraq. As near as I
can tell, Jordan was not disciplined for the deceit.
Bad stuff, but what about an obvious reference to a
popular movie? In Roswell, New Mexico, where everything is always
on the up and up, Associated Press reports Gregory Jones, sports
editor for the Roswell Daily Record, was canned for a rambling quote
in a story on a local golf tournament. The comments were attributed
to one “Carl Spangler,” supposedly an employee of the course.
The quote was actually verbatim dialog from the movie “Caddyshack,”
something about mixing marijuana seed with the turf and smoking the
clippings, mumbled by actor Bill Murphy’s character “Carl Spackler.”
Even reasonable folks who haven’t seen the movie must
have known this was a joke. For crying out loud, the people of any
town that hosts an annual “UFO Festival” have to know a spoof when
they see it, even a bad one.
The quote should have been credited, but this hardly
compares to fabricating hard news or acting as Saddam Hussein’s
secret public relations flack. It smacks more of the heavy-handed
“zero tolerance” policies some schools use to expel kids for
possessing Tums or pointing their fingers like a gun.
I’m all for the media putting its collective house in
order, but there’s a difference between action and overkill. The
better course in these cases is to give the reporter a reprimand,
invite an apology, and move on to real reform.
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