On May 12, 1:01 pm, Bob in Jersey <[email protected]> wrote: > He'll still do the Friday sitdown with Shields and Brooks, and remains in > editorial and administrative roles. > > Lisa D:http://goo.gl/TLdok
I know several others on this list subscribe to FAIR. I generally agree with and like them, and appreciate their work - but this announcement brought out the worst in them, and the kind of thing that is irritating about the professional left. Yesterday they send out the following on the announcement of Lehrer's semi-retirement, beginning with: ************* "PBS NewsHour anchor Jim Lehrer announced on Thursday that he would step down as anchor of the nightly newscast early next month. Will the change lead to improvements at the program? As FAIR has documented in several major studies, the NewsHour falls well short of fulfilling the mission that should guide public broadcasting: the promotion of ideas and viewpoints that are too often excluded from discussions in the commercial media. The founding mandate of public television is to "be a forum for debate and controversy" and to "help us see America whole, in all its diversity." Unfortunately, the NewsHour's programming largely replicates the elite bias of network newscasts, featuring the views of powerful interests (military, government and corporate officials) while mostly sidelining citizen groups, public interest advocates, labor unions and the like. (SNIP) ************** Now, I happen to agree with the basic point here - NewsHour, while used as a punching bag of liberal bias by the extreme right, is a creature of the middle and just about defines the mainstream. The best thing about David Brooks is that with his addition they at least got a conservative who was about as close to the center as their go to "liberal" Mark Shields, no doubt finally pissing off the right as much as the left during those segments. It is good that we have Fair to consistently, stubbornly, make this point, and try to apply at least some pressure to push PBS to fulfill its mandate. But the tone of this announcement implies that NewsHour under Lehrer has been phony journalism, no better than anything else available on commercial broadcast or cable. This is an absurd implication, and only serves to discredit FAIR and its good work. Whatever valid criticisms there are to make of him (and there are more than a few) Lehrer has consistently been head, shoulders, waist and toes superior to any other television news figure of his generation, and his news cast is the gold standard. There is no number 2 (unless it would be someone else from his own shop); any other candidate would be a distant challenge for #3. There is an important gadfly niche filled by folks like FAIR; there is also a time to retract the claws and tip your hat and acknowledge the fine work and important contribution of a gentleman and a journalist. I don't it is asking too much of FAIR to do that once in a while. -- TV or Not TV .... The Smartest (TV) People! You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TV or Not TV" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected] To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected] For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/tvornottv?hl=en
