Professional Gasbags Entering Blogosphere

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When a media institution or any other organization for that matter have their ideals legitimately questioned and challenged, usually the first and most popular way to respond is to completely ignore the source, and if that doesn’t work then the next step is to shift the focus away from the real problem. Finally, when all else fails, those feeling unduly questioned go on the offense to discredit the source, never ever really tackling or understanding what got them there in the first place.

The opinion and editorial page of Sunday’s Janesville Gazette appears to be just the case. Here in two editorials with entirely different subjects, the newspaper editors let their readers know how they deal with such nuisances.

JG Editorial:
(Regarding public access TV) Of course the station’s demise would pull the soap box out from a certain city critic who too often spews misinformation. So maybe losing the station wouldn’t be all bad.

Recent revelations from at least two city employee grievance court settlements have actually bolstered the misinformation spewed from a certain city critic. Whether you agree with her or not, I have yet to see anybody respond effectively with regard to her accusations and criticism. Rather than engaging her questions and suggestions in civil dialogue, that the Gazette suggests pulling the plug on public access is a sad, sad testament of their mission to set the record straight.

In another article titled ”Gazette’s motives might not be what you think they are,” the editor, Scott Angus seems to be personally offended by those who question the intentions and motivations of the newspaper, after all you see, they’re professionals.

Other than collecting paychecks and increasing profits, I don’t know what else motivates the editors and owners of newspapers, in fact personal gain oftentimes is the only distinguishable difference between an amateur and a professional.

Angus then quotes David Zeeck, editor of the News Tribune in Tacoma, Wash., as his inspiration to fight back at the critics.

JG Excerpt:
"Well, here's a news flash my friends: We're losing in the court of public opinion. The gasbags are winning, and we're sitting on the sidelines" -- David Zeeck

As of today folks, the Gazette editor announced he will no longer be standing on the sidelines and by the summer, he'll be blogging.

But its hard to know what his diatribe was in response to, because he didn’t explain specifics except to say that because they are professionals, unlike others, they have credibility, leave their opinions at the door and are in a better position to judge. A kind of arrogant yet naïve statement. But even without that, explaining away personal bias and belief to prove professionalism is odd. For obvious reasons, I don’t think their critics care to see explanations about day to day decision making as much as judge for themselves by simply reading the daily finished product.

JG Excerpt:
Skeptics say that no one can be truly objective. That’s true, but professionals can leave their opinions at the door, and the checks and balances in our newsroom ensure that personal biases don’t end up in our news columns.

The Gazette has plenty of critics, but I have to say that if this article is directed at me, I have never criticized the Gazette in a personal way. That is, all of my criticism of the Gazette is as an entity and at their message. Nor have I ever accused them of being unprofessional. But if they arrogantly think they leave their beliefs and opinions at the door simply because they are professionals, they are sadly mistaken.

JG Excerpt:
If you need more, look at the letters to the editor or Sound Off, and note that readers from the left or right criticize our coverage equally. That surely means we’re somewhere in the middle.

Oh, dear! Is that before or after editing? Any Gazette reader unaffiliated with the newspaper who thinks the Janesville Gazette is liberal or supports left-wing causes to balance the right is welcome to post their evidence here anytime. But please, don’t send a nice picture of Hillary Clinton or syndicated liberal articles from the paper as proof they are liberal.

But if, just if the Gazette honestly believes they deliver a politically centered media package OR don’t know or haven’t the awareness that their editing or omissions however indiscriminate carries a right-wing bias, they are not the professionals they think they are and things are actually worse than I thought.

Related: Introduction to Mainstream Media Both profound and scary, I had to read it twice. Highly Recommended.