News Media Object To Portrayal In News Media

“Edward R. Murrow is turning is his grave,” added CBS reporter Scott Pelley.

New York, February 19 – In a sign of growing frustration with their troublesome image, news media outlets staged a demonstration yesterday to protest the way the news media portrays them.

At a press conference outside City Hall, representatives of FOX News, ABC News, NBC and CNN told reporters they were “sick and tired of you guys willfully distorting everything we do.” The journalists lambasted the assembled crowd of reporters, calling into question their integrity as human beings, their worth as journalism professionals and their ability get even the simplest things accurate.

“Nobody knows better than we do that you’re capable of doing some amazing things,” said Chuck Scarborough, a seasoned NBC anchor. “But your sloppy work and your unabashedly biased reporting have left our reputations in tatters.”

“Edward R. Murrow is turning is his grave,” added CBS reporter Scott Pelley. “Geraldo Rivera? Really?” he said, shaking his head in disgust.

The protest comes on the heels of several blows to the credibility of news outlets nationwide. Beginning with the Jayson Blair scandal at the New York Times in 2003 and the uncritical calls for war in Iraq based on nonexistent evidence of weapons of mass destruction, the industry as a whole has suffered setback after setback in attempting to regain a semblance of competence in the public perception. Carrying water for an Obama administration that openly boasted about creating and manipulating an echo chamber of friendly journalists – especially surrounding the Iran nuclear deal – has only hurt them more. However, the protesters charge that the news media have sandbagged their efforts to rehabilitate their hard-won reputation by failing to adhere to proper journalistic standards.

Arthur Sulzberger, Jr., publisher of the New York Times, acknowledged in a recent interview that news organizations occasionally shot themselves in the foot. But he asserted that the media bears a share of the blame for the fallout, distorting or misrepresenting key facts. “Here’s an example from just the other day – ‘Israel Bombards Gaza after Militants Launch Rockets’ – what kind of journalist hides behind some stupid ‘style guide’ that proscribes the use of the word ‘terrorist’ when it’s patently appropriate? Those cowards behind the editorial desk at the New York Times, that’s what kind. Those dolts give the rest of us a bad name.”

Though pressed by the protesters to defend their positions and work, the journalists covering the event succeeded in keeping the interactions professional, focusing on the event and not the interaction with the principals. Well, except for that Bob Costas twerp.

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