A good idea, a new gig for me, and the latest atrocity from Fox News
Plus ... about that new Beatles song
Mark Jacob, a former Chicago Tribune editor, is an astute commentator on the state of the media today. A few days ago, he wrote a piece I want to bring to your attention, urging that in these troubled times of rampant misinformation and right-wing extremism, the old journalistic methods don’t always work. A much more aggressive, more forthright approach is needed for effective truth-seeking.
Check out Jacob’s piece titled “Fact-checking isn’t enough. We need fact-crusading.” He writes, for example: “People read headlines. So journalists must put corrections in headlines.” His newsletter, Stop the Presses, has a clear focus — “how right-wing extremism has exploited the weaknesses in American journalism, and what we can do about it.”
Jacob’s proposal is the good idea mentioned in my headline. As for part two, my new gig was announced this week by Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, and I’m thrilled about taking on the new challenge that will begin in January. I’ll be the executive director of the j-school’s Craig Newmark Center for Journalism Ethics and Security. Here’s the announcement if you’d like to read the details and, of course, I would love to hear your ideas about what’s needed in the comments to this post. I’ll be continuing to write my column for the Guardian US, to write media-related pieces here on Substack, and possibly to gear up for a second season of my podcast, American Crisis, next year as the extremely consequential presidential election approaches.
The latest atrocity on Fox News? Well, always so much to choose from, but it was particularly offensive to hear host Mark Levin attack CNN’s Wolf Blitzer over coverage of the deaths of Palestinian civilians. Levin said on his Nov. 1 show: “Wolf Blitzer, as I understand it, his parents weren't victims in one way or another of the Holocaust. But certainly his family comes out of that background — but you wouldn’t know it.” And he continued in his segment declaring that “CNN is filled with a lot of self-hating Jews, in my opinion.”
Blitzer and I happen to share Buffalo as our home town, so I know that his parents are indeed Holocaust survivors. His parents, Polish Jews who emigrated to the United States, talked to him about how they survived concentration camps; all four of his grandparents were murdered during World War II. Levin’s commentary is appalling and hateful. Eric Kleefeld of Media Matters wrote about it here.
And, finally, on a much lighter note, I couldn’t wait to listen to the newly released song, “Now and Then” — a rediscovered John Lennon composition turned into (sort of) a new and final Beatles song by Paul McCartney and Ringo Starr. Beatles chronicler Peter Jackson released a slick accompanying short film. As a longtime and fervid Beatles fan, I wish I loved the song more. Although produced with every modern bell and whistle, and buffed to a high gloss by McCartney’s abundant talent, this is simply not an impressive song, either lyrically or melodically. As my Beatles-loving friend Lauri texted me: “I mean, it’s lovely and all that. But maybe best just to let things be still. They gave us all they had. It’s more than enough.”
What are your thoughts? And what’s your favorite Beatles album? I’m going with Revolver, though I’ve always been partial to the excesses of the White Album, too. And, of course, the second side of Abbey Road…
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Hope the Columbia position is an effective soapbox. I realize there are many capital J-Land issues demanding attention. I toil in lower-case j land, writing about Medicare, Social Security, and aging. These issues attract diverse audiences who still pay attention to facts and the implications of government policies. These and other governance issues are not sexy and easily ignored, especially when newsrooms are nearly empty. Attention to lower-case J is an effective way to promote democratic values. Maybe there are folks there in the Knight Bagehot program who'd like to work on these issues.
“Second side of Abbey Road” - that was my favorite line of your post. Remember the “second side?” Life seemed more deliberate which somehow strikes me as valuable. Not sure, I’m giving that some thought. Love that you have a new gig. I can’t say enough how important it is for your perspective to be in the mix as “journalists” provide us with “news.” Not sure any of it is news as it all seems like spin to get us worked up. How about the NYT’s polls? I don’t get it. I don’t care how old Biden is. What about his experience and the strategic way his navigating us through all this global unrest? Sure, we need the next generation of D’s to take charge but learning from him is invaluable. The polls make us think we aren’t seeing reality. But we see what we need to see. Look at last night’s results. People are paying attention, listening to and learning from the second side.