Self-Inflicted Wounds

“The 2018 White House Correspondents’ Association Dinner should be the last.

“It never has been a particularly good idea for journalists to don their fanciest clothes and cozy up to the people they cover. . . . But in the current era, it’s become close to suicidal for the press’s credibility.” . . .

 

“Can’t the correspondents’ association come up with better ways to do its good work, ways that show journalists at their best? That they are in the trenches digging out the truth. Not schmoozing in the swamp while the president hustles the heartland.” 

 

—Margaret Sullivan, media columnist, “For the sake of journalism, stop the White House correspondents’ dinner,” The Washington Post, April 29, 2018. Image: Comedian Michelle Wolf injects vulgarity into presidential politics. IndieWire.

• Editorial Comment: How about a circular firing squad?

Peezpix by Ted Pease

Inquiring Minds

FREE! Get TODAY'S WORD ON JOURNALISM in your email This free “service” is sent to 2,000,000 or so subscribers around the planet more or less every weekday morning during WORD season. If you have recovered from whatever illness led you to subscribe and don’t want it anymore, send “unsubscribe” to ted.pease@gmail.com. Or if you want to afflict someone else, send me the email address and watch the fun begin. (Disclaimer: I just quote ’em, I don’t necessarily endorse ’em. Don’t shoot the messenger.) 
 
Ted Pease, Professor of Interesting Stuff, Trinidad, California. (Be)Friend The WORD

“I don’t think writers are sacred, but words are. They deserve respect. If you get the right ones, in the right order, you can nudge the world a little.” —Tom Stoppard