I tend to agree that without at least some unattributable quotes, you're only getting a very one-sided part of the story. Yes, rely on them too much, and you might just be reflecting those who have a bone to pick with Williams. It then becomes a question of do I trust the writer? Did they go around a collect as many different quotes from as many different people as possible and draw them together in a sensible and defensible narrative?
A couple of further thoughts do spring out from this - I do now begin to wonder whether if it's not such a completely daft idea that Williams takes over from Jon Stewart, particularly as the current crop of correspondents have either counted themselves out or have projects on other networks? The real difficulty he might have would be alienating part of his audience by having to be properly opinionated about politicians. I want a Daily Show with a political edge, so I'd be surprised if it were to go in another direction under a new host. - And a small UK point, but I'm not certain that ITV News ever "dominated the ratings" as the story suggests. The numbers I've looked at suggest that ITV has been behind the main BBC news programmes for some years now for both the 6pm hour (when both go head to head, although the BBC has national news at 6pm and local at 6.30pm whereas ITV does it the other way around), and 10pm (when both newscasts again go head to head). Adam On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 4:26 PM, Tom Wolper <[email protected]> wrote: > On Mon, Mar 9, 2015 at 11:15 AM, PGage <[email protected]> wrote: > >> I don't disagree with you in principle, though the quotes you supply are >> not meaningless because they are blind, but because they are, for the most >> part, meaningless. The main problem with a story based on anonymous quotes >> is that it allows people to air their gripes to add their own spin to a >> story without having to take responsibility for it, or allow the reader to >> take them into consideration to give them proper weight. >> > > The problem in a story like this is if the reporter only prints > attributable quotes then he or she will be reduced to quoting press > releases. The facts that make up the backbone of the story are already > published and in the public record: the fall in ratings of Meet the Press > and The Today Show, the revolving door of executives, and the Brian > Williams problem. The reporter said he talked to dozens of people who > currently and previously worked there and he is quoting what they said. The > reader would be able to look at the quotes and figure out who had an agenda > and assess credibility. > > -- > -- > 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 > --- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "TVorNotTV" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to [email protected]. > For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout. > -- -- 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 --- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "TVorNotTV" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
