Thursday, June 02, 2005

okrent: a prime example of what is wrong with our media.

this is from the okrent v. Krugman slap fest (from okrent's flailings):

The New York Times: Public Editor's Web Journal (Forum/Message Board): "But I laid off for so long because I also believe that columnists are entitled by their mandate to engage in the unfair use of statistics, the misleading representation of opposing positions, and the conscious withholding of contrary data. But because they’re entitled doesn’t mean I or you have to like it, or think it’s good for the newspaper.
"

he did what???!?!?!?

If you are the editor of a newspaper, you should not 'lay off' correcting or confronting one of your writers if they are being misleading. It is your damn job! Sorry, dude, but whether or not you are right about Krugman playing fast and loose with the facts, you are a chicken-shit, passive/aggressive coward who didn't do his job and then wants to bitch about it later and blame someone else. Yes, you should give your opinion writers a wide berth for their opinions, but when they start throwing around questionable statistics and facts or using them in unseemly ways, you need to confront them and push til you get a clarification or a correction. If you think they are acting innappropriately, you should address it then.

Is our country being run by 13 year-olds?

Actually, please don't answer that.

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