It Took 23 Years, But I Finally Got to Give My View of the
National Press on National TV
Jay Rosen
I was a guest on Bill Moyers Journal (PBS, Feb. 6) along with Salon's
Glenn Greenwald. We talked about pundits and reporters as an
establishment institution, and whether Obama can be a disruptive force.
The segment was 24 minutes: three people at a table puzzling through the
week's events, and trying to set them within larger patterns. Watch here
<http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02062009/watch.html>. Transcript is
here <http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/02062009/transcript1.html>. My
main reason for posting is to open a comment thread for those who
watched and might have something to say. So go ahead
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/02/06/took_moyers.html#comments>.
I recalled for Moyers how Lawrence Wilkerson, Colin Powell's deputy,
later described the people running the Bush White House as radicals.
Wilkerson's piece is reproduced here
<http://www.truthout.org/article/lawrence-wilkerson-is-us-being-transformed-into-a-radical-republic>.
That Wilkerson---an insider, a Republican---might have been right was
too much for the category mind of the press. His description got
consigned to the sphere of deviance
<http://books.google.com/books?id=dDQ0ScuSqNAC&pg=PA117&lpg=PA117&dq=sphere+of+legitimate+controversy&source=web&ots=SM5JzgByDk&sig=-Z_zvue3rT1PfuyNs8ulCR0S9Xw&hl=en&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=2&ct=result>.
The predicate for my appearance on Bill Moyers Journal
<http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/index-flash.html> was this post,
Audience Atomization Overcome
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/01/12/atomization.html>
(Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press) and a subsequent
podcast interview
<http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/radio/2009/01/16/rosen/index.html>
with Glenn Greenwald at Salon.com. Moyers has big ears. He heard it, and
the show was born.
Audience Atomization Overcome is probably PressThink's most-linked-to
<http://search.technorati.com/journalism.nyu.edu%2Fpubzone%2Fweblogs%2Fpressthink%2F2009%2F01%2F12%2Fatomization.html?authority=&language=en>
and discussed post ever--- in the political blogosphere. Just scroll
through the After Matter
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/01/12/atomization.html#aftermatter>
section to see what I mean. In the political /press-o-sphere/, not a
word was said about it. Literally.
I have been studying the national press since I received my PhD in 1986.
This is the first time I have been able to unfold my own view of it on
national television. So thank you very much, Bill Moyers and PBS. It
felt great. (Here's a speec
<http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1112-10.htm>h Moyers gave to the
Media Reform Conference that I recommend often to young journalists.
"It's your fight now. Look around. You are not alone.")
Thanks to Glenn Greenwald <http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/> for
posting and podcasting about my writings and lending his platform---one
of the biggest in blogging---to my words. I like Glenn because he is
serious about what he does.
PressThink readers who missed the show can watch it online
<http://is.gd/iHsE> and tell me what you think. I may add to this post
if I have any weekend reflections on the program.
Posted by Jay Rosen at 11:57 PM
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/02/06/took_moyers.html>
| Comments (29)
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/02/06/took_moyers.html#comments>
| Link
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/02/06/took_moyers.html>
<http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2009/02/06/took_moyers.html>
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