Public Discourse
“The news cycle that once defined the day at the White House has given way to a more ferocious beast. Call it the news cyclone, a massive force without beginning or end that churns constantly and seems almost impervious to management. . . . ‘The current media culture doesn’t reward getting things done in government. It rewards saying the most outlandish things,’ explains [Obama communications director Dan] Pfeiffer. But the cyclone is the new reality, and respect must be paid. ‘You can’t really control it,’ Pfeiffer said. ‘You’ve just got to sort of edge it in one direction or another.’”—Michael Scherer, TIME White House reporter, March 15, 2010.
Editor’s Note: Blowhard.
Today’s Wish-I-Were-Here Photo: Water Lily
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It’s unhealthy, and it threatens the fabric of the relationship between the government and the governed.
ReplyDelete--Bud
What emanates from DC can't even be called a cyclone; a shitstorm would be more appropriate. --Mike
Hmm, yeah Professor Pease, I think that the latter comment is more correct. Even when you are able to shift the cyclone in one way or another, it could easily blow up in your face. I can't stand it when I turn on a news channel and they are reporting on someone going outside to take out their trash and they comment, "Where could he be going folks?! Why is he leaving the house? There must be some kind of explanation for this!!" Twenty minutes later, we realize that he was in fact taking out the trash and then went back inside. That is all, no conspiracy or anything. Then, the media news will call into question what was inside the trash that was taken out. Sometimes it seems to destroy the trust that anyone could still have for humanity today.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a lot of the head hunting and muckraking that comes fromt the newsroom can be linked back to us the consumers. This is just my idea but in a society of people looking for the bigger and better and all the CSI junkies maybe it's just the business man trying to give the consumer what they want. It's obviously a little out of hand, but maybe in a way we fed the fire.
ReplyDelete