40 Comments

1. scaramouoche:

Of course he’s worried about bloggers. The entire journalistic establishment is worried about them. If capital “J” Journalism can’t maintain the fiction that only a trained professional is entitled to deliver the news or an informed opinion, the entire edifice will eventually crumble.

And I say that as both a blogger and someone who attended Journalism school (albeit many moons ago).

Jan 3, 2005 - 2:57 pm 2. Old Dad:

Young Master Pein should have chatted with Nick Coleman. He might have learned what it’s like to get spanked by the blogosphere.

Jan 3, 2005 - 3:05 pm 3. Cato the Elder:

Hee-hee: In German, the name Pein means “pain.” Or, in older lexica, “punishment.”

Guess our boy Cory is in for it now.

Jan 3, 2005 - 3:20 pm 4. Kevin P:

Roger:

Cory is like the catholic priests who tried to defend the church’s contention that the earth was flat long after the facts proved it was round.By rallying to the defense of the defensless I guess he is trying to score points with potential employers. But his defense is so flimsy that he just validates what the blogesphere has been saying about the MSM. His screed is filled with errors and inconsistencies.So no doubt he will have a column with the NYT soon.

Jan 3, 2005 - 3:30 pm 5. JK Ribera:

This Pein character wrote that the CBS’ action was the equivalent to a cop planting evidence on a criminal who should be convicted anyway. What an idiot this Pein is. Whether this is true or not… and I sincerely doubt it… cops who get caught planting evidnece go to jail, as they should This could be a tremendous humiliation for Columbia Journalism.

Jan 3, 2005 - 3:31 pm 6. PeterUK:

I was just thinking how much better it would have been for the helicopter to have been carrying food and medical supplies rather than the “drag” anchorman Dan Rather and his crew.

I should imagine that the media presence is only out numbered by the NGOs.

“Help at last”..”No we’re the camera crew,the help is on the next helicopter”

Jan 3, 2005 - 3:52 pm 7. Rick Ballard:

I wonder why Pein didn’t produce a memo on a typewriter dating from the early 70’s and known to have been in use in the TANG? That would sure lay this to rest, wouldn’t it?

Only problem is, such a typewriter (typewriter, not specialized typesetting machine) doesn’t exist. This piece meets the journalistic standards for use by CBS, the NYT and most manufacturers of toilet paper. Aside from that, why do I think of the piteous cries of the young mastodon as snow slowly covers the tip of its trunk? Certainly, some writing is evocative but is that what he meant to evoke?

Jan 3, 2005 - 3:59 pm 8. Skookumchuk:

Rick Ballard:

The next thing will be to go back to uncover all of the MSM fabrications we never caught.

Jan 3, 2005 - 4:09 pm 9. Skookumchuk:

Like Margaret Mead and Kinsey and Rachel Carson and Dr. Bellisles. All those little morality plays written in the language of “science”. How often has it happened in our daily newspapers?

Jan 3, 2005 - 4:16 pm 10. Terrye:

These guys need to give it a rest.

Jan 3, 2005 - 4:40 pm 11. Roger:

Terrye, I think he’s just a kid, trying to get a little attention. I checked his resumé, such as it is. You can find it on Instapundit. What’s weird is that CJR would print swill like that. It’s almost incomprehensible.

Jan 3, 2005 - 4:44 pm 12. Rick Ballard:

Roger,

Why wouldn’t the CJR print this? Their job is to prepare kids to play the piano correctly for the pleasure of the clients at Big Mama’s Media establishment, isn’t it? The kids hitting the right notes and has learned to play by the glow of the soft red lighting – he’ll be heading upstairs in no time.

Jan 3, 2005 - 4:53 pm 13. ambisinistral:

I was walking down the street the other day, looked over at a newspaper box and saw the following blaring headline, “Bush admits Iraqi policy a complete failure.”

I thought, “Holy Smokes!!!” and bent over to read what was visable above the crease. Seems the jist of the story was that the “complete failure” was the Iraqi army wasn’t growing as fast as planned. Shrug, I guess a copy editor got carried away with hyperbole.

Kinda reminded me of my favorite tabloid headline, “Scientists clone Hitler’s nose, and it is growing a mustache!”

Hey, maybe I just figured out where this Pein buffoon can get a journalist job that fits his skills.

Jan 3, 2005 - 4:53 pm 14. Rick Ballard:

ambisinistral,

On second thought, Roger is right. This kid is the inevitable product of the March Through the Institutions. He’s been prepared to enter employment in a world that will never exist. The saddest fact is that there are hundreds of students sitting in classes and being filled from the same taps hooked to the same polluted wells today.

His professors are the true idiots and he is going to hate them more passionately than I do. Time will have its way with him.

Jan 3, 2005 - 5:10 pm 15. richard mcenroe:

Hell, check out the LA Times today for all the good the UN is doing the tsunami victims.

Yes, you heard me.

Jan 3, 2005 - 5:10 pm 16. Terrye:

Roger:

I know what you are saying. It seems kind of desperate to me that they would print something like that.

Not to mention hateful.

Jan 3, 2005 - 5:46 pm 17. Dilys:

As to journalism students, I sat with some sophomores a few months ago, and they were being taught re the blogosphere that “too much variety in sources of information doesn’t generate the truth, there need to be gatekeepers” and that “Dan Rather had to put the memos on the air because he was under deadline.”

The ones coming along are already messed up. They are neither being introduced to nor in a position to understand new, interactional, rapid media.

Jan 3, 2005 - 5:46 pm 18. Richard Nieporent:

Why is the Left debating this story once again (and why should we care)? Don’t they realize that the election is over and they lost? Dan Rather was caught with his hand in the cookie jar and now the Columbia School of Journalism has the audacity to publish a story by a snot-nosed little kid trying to defend the indefensible. For crying out loud, Corey Pein is a 2003 graduate of Evergreen State College, the college made famous by Rachel Corrie, the terrorist sympathizer and human pancake. His only claim to fame is that he was an intern for that far Left publication, The American Prospect. Where is his expertise in computer science and fonts? He has no technical knowledge in this area. However, as with all journalists, he never lets ignorance interfere with writing about a subject. The Columbia School of Journalism should be embarrassed letting somebody like that publish an article attacking experts in the field (Dr. Newcomer and Charles Johnson of LFG). However, as journalists they believe they are immune from libel so that can get away with anything.

Jan 3, 2005 - 5:56 pm 19. Morgan:

So, is Corey Pein the CJRs sacrificial trial balloon floater, or did they think “hey, he’s young and hip, knows all about this internet thing…”?

He’s young and cocky, and about to get a major-league (and deserved) comeuppance, but really it’s the folks at the CJR that need to be whacked upside the head. They decided to allow him to sacrifice himself, while pinning their own credibility on his hat.

Ironically, his article only makes several of the primary differences between the two media stand out all the more saliently. One prominent one is this: jounalists generally have no experience with the topics about which they write.

So he gets into trouble when he characterizes the typography as the weakest of three evidentiary prongs, when in fact it is conclusive. Why? Because he’s clueless – he doesn’t have the skills to evaluate what the evidence really is. To him, it’s just a “he-said she-said” among competing “experts”, and who knows which expert is right?

Of course, his agenda allows him the leeway to question the credentials of those with whom he disagrees. That’s what they call “journalism”.

Jan 3, 2005 - 5:59 pm 20. asher:

What’s really sad is, tratitional media don’t have to become irrelevant. Print and broadcast media have advantages of their own; and centralized journalism has its own positive points as well. Look, I LOVE my old magazines … I can take ‘em anywhere, read ‘em anywhere, and they never need recharging or upgrading. And when there’s a central editor and publisher, there are people who can be held accountable for the content of their reporting – as so many of them are finding out these days.

No, if the legacy media become extinct, it will be because they CHOOSE to become extinct. If they continue to cling to their indefensible political orthodoxies, and if the keep trying to turn back the rising tide of the internet by wishing it away, they will be signing their own death warrant. These latest, pathetic attempts to go back to the “good old days” suggest that they are, indeed, choosing extinction.

Jan 3, 2005 - 6:04 pm 21. ambisinistral:

Oh, I don’t think print journalism is going anywhere soon. Most of the jobs in the profession cover local news and there is still a decent market for that. Besides, journalism has long suffered as a career choice — too many people trying to get into it for the salaries of most scribblers to be healthy.

However, it is vastly entertaining watching them engage in such a magnificent flapdoodle over somebody daring to fact check and question them. I expect much more foolishness out of them as they adjust to the new reality. Eh, what can I say… I’m easily entertained.

Jan 3, 2005 - 6:25 pm 22. PeterUK:

Since he went to Journalist School and is reasonably computer literate,why did young Master Pein not start a blog? Surely it wasn’t just the money he was after.

Roger,you seem a very kind chap,but despite Pein’s youth how long would a script writer last who cocked up like that?

Jan 3, 2005 - 6:56 pm 23. chuck:

I think he’s just a kid, trying to get a little attention.

His youth struck me too. The other impression that came through was that he seemed operate under the impression that stylish polemics were a substitute for content. This is the if I believe it really really lots and use lots and lots of condenscension and wish upon a star, then I am a genius and it must be true. Youth indeed.

Jan 3, 2005 - 7:21 pm 24. max:

“To write something …… before CBS’ own report has been published”

That’s actually the point of this article – it was written before the cBS report to give cBS and the msm ‘cover’ or at least talking points when the report finally comes out.

Which leads me to believe that the report will be a whitewash which will track/cite some of the arguments made in this piece of disinformation published at the intersection of the 2 most dishonest institutions in American public life today – academia and the msm.

And the refutation that you, LGF and Wizbang, among others have made won’t stop cBS (probably) and the msm and its talking heads from claiming that there is still some doubt about whether or not the fake memos are authentic. All they need is something to create some sort of doubt/distraction, and what better than an article produced by the Colombia School of ‘Journalism’.

max

Jan 3, 2005 - 7:32 pm 25. Patrick Tyson:

Both my late father and my mother took undergraduate degrees in Journalism. They met because they did so, so, naturally, I have a somewhat different view of journalism and journalists than do and the great majority, I’m sure, of the fine people who read and write here.

Well, not really. My father went to college after finishing his Navy enlistment. The sum total of his career advice to me: Don’t join the Navy and don’t major in Journalism. To his surprise, I listened. But then, during my youth my parents would often read to one another from magazines and newspapers and almost always what followed was an amused or caustic comment on what they’d read. My memory is that they considered television to be an entertainment medium by which you were occaisionally entertained and even more occaisionally informed.

Has anything changed? There are more words from more sources (a good thing) and there are fewer skilled editors (a bad thing.)

I’m a skeptic regarding the content of what I read, but, then, I always was.

Style is an entirely different matter. Good writing is always a pleasure and, more often than not these days, a surprise.

Ladies and gentlemen, let’s hear it! How do you feel….?

We’re mad as hell, and we’re not going to take it anymore.

Ladies and Gentlemen! “The Network News Hour”!…with Sybil the Soothsayer, Jim Webbing and It’s-the-Emmes-Truth Department, Miss Mata Hari and her Skeletons in the Closet, tonight another segment of Vox Populi, and starring…the mad prophet of the airways, Howard Beale!!

—Paddy Chayefsky, Network (dialogue only)

Jan 3, 2005 - 7:33 pm 26. chuck:

Here’s an interesting story of a jounalistic convention. See what you think.

Jan 3, 2005 - 7:45 pm 27. Occam's Beard:

This feckless boy, who barely has hair to sit on, is an editor at the CJR? What was his last editorial gig, his high school yearbook? The arrogance of that silly young pup!

I also noticed the Evergreen State connection, noted above, and think that that is one intellectual sandbox the taxpayers could do without. Although I was an academic for many years, I’d never heard of that misbegotten place until Rorschach Corrie and now this turkey intruded upon my consciousness. It’s apparently daycare for those having an especially difficult and protracted adolescence.

Jan 3, 2005 - 7:50 pm 28. Morgan:

Regarding Roger’s point about the subtext of this piece, I’m torn between seeing it as a sign of terror sheathed with a thin veneer of arrogance or as just arrogance.

My guess is that the latter would be typified by dismissal of the evidence that the memos are forgeries, but that the former would be characterized by active avoidance of the evidence.

I think the signs point to active avoidance of the truth, rather than dismissal of it – the whole “Newcomer’s analysis was too hard for anyone to actually read” thing sounds like a pathetic excuse to avoid the truth, and Corey Pein is probably the lowest-status editor in the building. Why him? Maybe because nobody else wants to look at it.

On the other hand, I’m not much of a psychiatrist, so maybe it’s just arrogance after all.

Jan 3, 2005 - 8:10 pm 29. wxjames:

I’ve noticed a shift since the election. It appears that the bloggers now consider the MSM as an enemy. An enemy working with al Qaeda and the terrorists against the American military and it’s efforts to fight terrorism and bring democracy to the ME. The former opposition are considered innocent fools who have been dupped by the evil MSM. The soldiers need our empathy and support. The Iraqis need a new start at self rule, and the former Kerry supporters need exposure to the truth. The MSM need to be eliminated. Michael Moore and Dan Rather have become curse words. Bush’s focus on the WOT has vaulted him to the enviable position of leader. The old game the MSM have played is now dissected daily by Rush Limbaugh and others. Everybody who’s awake is aware of the MSMs tactics. And every day, more Americans awaken. The UN fares no better. It’s clear that these institutions cannot save themselves. It’s time for some constructive demolition.

Jan 3, 2005 - 8:19 pm 30. chuck:

Morgan,

I cast my vote for arrogance. But I wonder if the yearbook should not have said, “Most likely to destroy the reputation of an academic journal.”

Jan 3, 2005 - 8:19 pm 31. Dave in L.A.:

Roger,

You’ll be amused to know that the first two Google ads on your right sidebar as I’m reading this are for the CJR.

As to Pein’s piece, it’s the witless labor of someone who’s in love with his own writing. It’s an interesting window, though, into what journalism students think about their craft. It appears that length, emotion and a condescending tone are considered acceptable substitutes for an understanding of the subject at hand. Unfortunately, this will probably impress someone enough to hire him.

Jan 3, 2005 - 9:55 pm 32. Pat Curley:

What I found amusing was the defense of Bill Burkett’s internet writings as no loonier than your average Democratic party gathering. Talk about damning somebody with faint praise!

Jan 4, 2005 - 7:45 am 33. Mark Poling:

Maybe a bit off-topic (and maybe not) I wonder if any of the loyal opposition will make fun of Dan Rather wearing a flight suit, or if flight suits are only ridiculous on Republican Presidents.

Jan 4, 2005 - 9:58 am 34. Mark Poling:

ambisinistral:

However, it is vastly entertaining watching them engage in such a magnificent flapdoodle over somebody daring to fact check and question them. I expect much more foolishness out of them as they adjust to the new reality. Eh, what can I say… I’m easily entertained. [emphasis added]

This is the part I absolutely do not get. Back in the early 90’s I wrote a dozen freelance articles for the Rochester (NY) Democrat and Chronicle, covering technology and business. I did it as a hobby, and I stopped because it was bloody hard work for next to no pay, and I was stressed out by the idea that I might screw something up.

How the hell do these “journalists” face the mirror each morning?

Jan 4, 2005 - 10:10 am 35. chuck:

… and I was stressed out by the idea that I might screw something up.

That’s your problem right there. You have the wrong temperament and values for a career as a pundit.

I stopped because it was bloody hard work for next to no pay…

But with the right temperament, being a pundit would be far less work than being a reporter. It is easy to see why so many journalists make the switch.

Jan 4, 2005 - 10:24 am 36. Ariana:

Pein produced junk journalism; but combine his Goebbels-like strategy to sell the great lie, in combination with continual, underhanded attempts to discredit Blogging which grow nastier each week. It appears several Media Lords regard this challenge to their monopoly as a fight to the death.

For instance, I noted the NYT attempted to equate the quality of Blogging with the insane tsunami speculations posted at Democratic Underground forum. Apparently, media barons hope to discredit, drown-out and destroy Blogging through the drip drip drip sounds of little droplets of media poison.

Jan 4, 2005 - 1:04 pm 37. Mark Poling:

The problem for Old Media is disintermediation. It’s the same problem faced by the music “industry” really. The producers of the product can now directly reach consumers of the product. Sure, CBS got burned, and Pein has managed to cover himself and CJR in the ashes, but the story isn’t fact-checking and arrogance; it’s more about how Old Media Culture is mimicing the decline of urban centers after the development of the modern highway system. Unless the institutions being bypassed can adapt, expect the Old Media Blight to worsen.

Damn, I love stretching an analogy.

Jan 4, 2005 - 1:22 pm 38. jukeboxgrad:

Yesterday ambisinistral said: “I was walking down the street the other day, looked over at a newspaper box and saw the following blaring headline, ‘Bush admits Iraqi policy a complete failure.’”

That sort of caught my attention. I’ve looked around in the usual way, and can’t find that headline, or anything even close. Anyone (including and especially ambisinistral) have any clue where I can find it?

My sincere apologies to all for being somewhat off-topic.

Jan 4, 2005 - 4:33 pm 39. Morgan:

Apparently Corey Pein contacted the Powerline guys to let them know about his piece. They have responded:

http://powerlineblog.com/archives/009118.php

Jan 5, 2005 - 6:32 am 40. jukeboxgrad:

It’s pretty ironic that ambisinistral made a comment above about “somebody daring to fact check and question them” since as far as I can tell, he made up a phony newspaper headline.

Speaking of irony and fact-checking, and since Powerline has been mentioned, there’s an often-overlooked example of Powerline having their own issues with fact-checking. The irony is that while pointing fingers at CBS for ostensibly not being careful with the truth, Powerline is quite willing to trample on it themselves. Further detail in a comment I posted here.

Jan 6, 2005 - 10:08 am

Write a Comment

Name:	(required, displayed)
Email:	(required, not publicized)
URL:	(optional, displayed)
Comments: