There's a story that's running currently in a well-known American paper that is exactly the type of thing that critics of modern journalism -- which is most of us, nowadays -- have been arguing has been missing in today's world of shrinking newsrooms and warped priorities.
It's investigative reporting on an issue that is locally important to its readers. It's pointing up major flaws in the hometown police department. What's more, the story is a good read that's presented with all the high-tech bells and whistles that you'd want in 2008 -- in an era when news organizations need more Internet traffic to survive, it is driving a ton of traffic to their site. Rather than dump a ton of information in a large unreadable blob, like newspapers did in the 1980s when circulation started dropping, the story has been neatly re-packaged into 12 bite-sized parts.
If you've read this far, and you're one of the handful of readers around here who cares about journalism reform, you'd probably be saying "awesome" and "right on" to the newspaper involved.
Now, what if I tell you that the local city is America's city, Washington, D.C.?
And that the murder victim is Chandra Levy?
Did your heart just drop? Did your opinion instantly change? Based on the amazing amount of scorn that's being heaped on the Washington Post for running this series, it probably did. Because the Levy story was so overcovered in 2001 -- not in the Washington Post, which should be covering an unsolved local murder, but foisted on national viewers by CNN, MSNBC -- and became shorthand for the national (again, not local) media obsession with sensationalism in the months right before 9/11 -- people judge her case on emotion now, not on reason. (The other criticism, which is why is the Post writing about Levy when most unsolved murders involve blacks, is a more valid one, in my opinion,)
Reason states that an a botched probe by your local police -- and check out who was D.C. chief in 2001; it might interest Philadelphians -- is worthy of investigative reporting. But when a young murder victim becomes political shorthand for the national media's failings, it's harder for that individual to get justice. I feel bad for Chandra Levy's family.
Posted by Will Bunch @ 8:06 AM
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43 comments
The Inquirer has been running its multi-part series on the homeless...reminds me of the last season of The Wire.
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What suprised me about this case is that the media put a Democrat Congressman, Gary Condit under such heavy and intense scrutiny. It would be interesting to review all of the reports on the case and see how may times Condit's party affiliation was mentioned. My guess is probably not too often.
Quick Google search on Gary + Condit = 133,000 results. Quick Google search on Gary + Condit + Democrat = 11,700 results. Gary + Condit + Democratic = 30,600.
Gary + Condit + (D) gets 69,900.
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SteveMG, that's not really accurate. Searching for "(D)" in Google will match any individual letter "D" or "d", with a space or punctuation before it. For example, it matches "'d", such as "he'd". Too broad of a search to be statistically meaningful. It's well proven that news organizations leave out party affiliation when a Democrat gets into trouble. A key sign is when you see a member of congress referred to as "US Rep.". If John Smith is a Republican, it would read "Conservative Republican Congressman John Smith (R-PA)". If John Smith is a liberal Democrat, it would read "US Rep. John Smith". Get Lexus-Nexus and do some research. It's eye opening.
SteveMG, if you want a quick example, read the first article in the Washington ComPost's series. Look down a few paragraphs: "The reporters discovered that the police investigation was overwhelmed with the white-hot media coverage fueled by the possible involvement of Rep. Gary Condit, a congressman from California.". What party? Doesn't say. Wonder why...
I remember only a few hours after 9/11 my roommate saying to me, "They'll never find that girl (Chandra Levy)" now...
Chandra Levy is clearly on the Iraq/Pakistan border. (oh, and MNH, yeah we *never* heard about "Democratic State Senator Vince Fumo" - but, hey, I like what you've done with the tin foil).
I could care less about the Chondra Levy series. It's just that when an elected official, Representative, Senator, Mayor, whatever, is mentioned, his party affiliation generally takes that form: (D), (R), even (I). They don't often spell out the word, which deflates the number of appearances you'll see in you searches which include "democrat" (or -ic). Also once somebody leaves office (I think Condit lost in 2002), they usually stop listing his party. Just for the halibut, I did Larry Craig. Larry + Craig gets 1,770,000, Larry + Craig + Republican got 770,000, Larry + Craig +(R) got 853,000
This is news ?/ another Jewish female intern hurt by goyum democrat power playas. same old same old. I mush prefer the news that is being hidden about the Obamassiah telling everyone he's in charge of ..Out of bounds! Obama falsely claims
to be Banking Committee member
McClatchy Newspapers, by Steven Thomma.. we return you to the 58 state tour of the obamassiah without robes
Steve,
Type in larry + craig + conservative and you get 1,730,000 articles.
Obamassiah, , never was a member of the banking committee. He was the chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee for which he NEVER called a meeting. Isn't that special? bold a face lie along with Hitlery's "sniper fire" incident.
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Type in Barney + Frank + Castro district San francisco = 3869 email addresses for slobber dates with the dynamic duo McGreevey
and Frank at DNC convention center bathrooms with instructions for feet signals to describe actions desired. bring rope and gerbil cage
A legendary British prime minister was once asked why he changed positions on a critical issue. "When I learn that I am wrong, I correct my mistake. What do you do, sir?" William Gladstone asked his inquirer. NBC reporter to never ask Obamassiah about his position on "SURGE".. instead he's such a hunk or I feel something crawl up my leg
SC#$W CHANDRA what about this????Killings turn focus on San Francisco sanctuary law..............
Jul 24, 7:42 AM (ET)
By PAUL ELIAS
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The scene repeats itself daily on city streets: a driver gets stuck bumper to bumper, blocking an intersection and preventing another car from turning left.
But authorities say that was enough to cause Edwin Ramos to unload an AK-47 assault weapon on a man and his two sons, killing them.
The deaths immediately drew public outrage, which intensified when authorities revealed that Ramos, 21, is an illegal immigrant who managed to avoid deportation despite previous brushes with the law.
The case has put San Francisco's liberal politics to the test, setting off a debate over its sanctuary law that shields undocumented immigrants from deportation.
On Wednesday, Ramos pleaded not guilty to three counts of murder in the deaths of Anthony Bologna, 49, and his sons, Michael, 20, and Matthew, 16. Bologna and his older son died in the intersection on June 22. His younger son succumbed to his injuries days later.
Shortly after that, police arrested Ramos, a native of El Salvador and reputed member of the Mara Salvatrucha gang, known as MS-13. Investigators believe he was the gunman, though two other men were seen in the car with him.
.. and sadly both lossers are for amnesty for illegal aliens
Media's Campaign Donations Tilt 100-to-1 In Favor of Democrats..It’s perhaps not a surprise that those working for NBC Universal are the most eager givers to the Democrats, racking up $104,184 in contributions this cycle, compared to just $3,150 to Republican candidates. Maybe more surprising is that those at Fox broadcasting and the Fox News Channel combined to give $41,853 to the Democrats, with no listed donations going to the Republicans. (Only $1,280 was listed as coming from Fox News employees.)
The neo-con hit squad is out in force today. The RNC must have shelled out some more money.
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takisha, don't recall seeing anything from you when McCain said Iraq shared a border with Pakistan or that the surge contributed to the Anbar Movement (funny, since the surge, when it did get thought of and implemented a year later, was directed at Baghdad) or when McCain declared Putin the head of Germany, or said that Czechoslovakia was still a country twice. So smack Obama's hand for misstating Banking Committe for Foreign Relations. Smack McCain silly (oh, he already is) for all his gaffes and deliberate falsehoods from the past week. Care to compare more?
"Media's Campaign Donations Tilt 100-to-1 In Favor of Democrats.." . . . . Sounds like another fact pulled out of an anal cavity, but let's assume that the press is overwhelmingly liberal. Then why don't more conservatives enter the field? Don't conservatives care about freedom of the press and the public's right to know the truth? Or is journalism fundamentally a liberal pursuit for that very reason? Meanwhile, could Takisha let us know the D/R ratio for KKK donations this year?
The fact that more journalists are liberal than conservative tells me more about the shortcomings of conservatism than anything else.
msl: Which KKK do you refer to? The original one, or the newest one to strive for the title of most obnoxious and destructive, MoveOn.org?
Sorry, I should have added that other number 1 contender for the title, the Trinity United Church of Christ, and it Grand Dragon the Rev. Wright!
"The fact that more journalists are liberal than conservative tells me more about the shortcomings of conservatism than anything else." How so MSL?
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My deepest sympathies to her heartbroken family for having to endure this again. This story was mercifully flushed from the front pages as well as Hardball, Hannity and O'Reilly when God knocked down a few of our large NYC buildings. I remember many times Barbara Olsen was on TV bemoaning the fact that Levy was in the employ of a "California Democratic Congressman." Remember the setting...George Bush's presidency had just started and it was going in the tank early. The Republicans' only way out of that media disaster was to create another one of their own with a Democratic signature. This story fit in SO NICELY with the Clinton narrative. Heck the R's probably fantasized each day after the memos went out that poor Chandra was just another addition to the pile of dead bodies Clinton/Condit had already amassed in Arkansas. The whole thing was sick. Sickest of all was how the media caved and gave it wall to wall coverage. And I must correct an earlier commenter--Condit's party affiliation was ALWAYS the topic of the day, especially on Fox News. Just ask Rita Cosby.
"Philadelphia Streets Unsafe for Manhole Covers" - NYTimes. "More than 2,500 covers and grates have disappeared in the past year, up from an annual average of about 100....Thieves have so thoroughly stripped some neighborhoods on the city’s north and southwest sides that some blocks look like slalom courses, dotted with orange cones to warn drivers and pedestrians of gaping holes, some nearly 30 feet deep....Two adolescents were injured in recent months after falling into uncovered holes, motorists and cyclists are increasingly anxious about damaging tires, and the city is spending hundreds of thousands of dollars — $300,000 at last count — to replace the missing covers."....I DON'T KNOW WHAT TO SAY HERE. JUST THOUGHT I'D POST THIS AS A PUBLIC SERVICE.
Let me correct you, batty, liberals are the norm, while conservatives are essentially the tail end of the evolutionary advance, just there to make sure the most progressive idealists don't get too carried away.
excuse me if I don't 'ape' neocon behavior.
Obama Snubs Injured Soldiers for a Workout...Barack Obama has cancelled plans to visit two U.S. military bases while in Germany, this despite having all kinds of time to speak to gushing Berliners as well as getting in a workout at the Ritz Carlton.....
One of the bases, The Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, "is an overseas military hospital operated by the U.S. Army and the Department of Defense...[that] serves as the nearest treatment center for wounded soldiers coming from Iraq and Afghanistan."
CNN’s Amanpour ‘Surprised’ by Lack of ‘Euphoria’ After Obama Speech..But I was surprised that there wasn't this sort of euphoria afterwards, given how many people had come to listen and how much it had been anticipated.” She later stated in the segment that one unnamed political analyst talked about how “people [in Europe] want a political redeemer --
Why Obama snubbed the troops: no photo op allowed, posted at 7:21 am on July 25, 2008 by Ed Morrissey - NBC’s Jim Miklaszewski and Courtney Kube get the skinny on the abrupt cancellation of Barack Obama’s visit to Landstuhl and Ramstein yesterday. The campaign tried to excuse it by claiming that it wouldn’t be appropriate to visit while on a campaign-funded portion of his trip, but that wasn’t the real problem. When Obama found out he couldn’t use the visit as a photo op, he canceled. Obama and his team set up the visits to military installations before going overseas. After seeing how the media got excluded in Iraq and Afghanistan, they decided it wasn’t worth traveling to Ramstein and Landstuhl to visit the severely wounded troops because they couldn’t bring the campaign and get the photo ops they wanted. Instead, Obama went shopping in Berlin. CLASSY!
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I just wanted to thank Democrats for sticking me with a $1 trillion bill to help prop up the housing market via their housing bill attachment. Thanks guys, that's what I get for being responsible.
And what about Lori Klausutis? Well, that's OK because that dead intern was working for a Republican. Republicans get a pass for killing their interns, but Democrats are still excoriated by the press a decade later. AND any Republican that kills his intern gets a national TV show!!! It's a win-win!
Google returned 11,300 results for (Republican's name) + dead intern
10 points for anyone that even knows who the intern-killing Republican is without looking it up!
At the same time the Chandra Levy Case was all over the Liberal Press (ha ha ha ) wasn'nt a 23 yr old Staff Worker for then Congressman Scarborough found dead in his Florida Office as a result of a fall, hitting her head on a desk? Lack of any real investigation kept this story from the Liberal press. A few months later, Joe left office in order to spend more time with his family,,, divorced and married Jeb Bush's Secretary... Try finding that in the Liberal press.
xi jab - another pathetic Republican Schill for Talk Radio. Dou you remember when your proud party during the Proudest moments for their party - 2000 SC Primary accused McCain of having a Love Child.
McCain was outraged, but in standard Republican skill, has no problem allowing his schills do the same to his opponants. That's what makes what I refer to as the New It's about Me republican Party what it is.
"Steve, Type in larry + craig + conservative and you get 1,730,000 articles."
When I typed that into google, I got "about 434,000" results. When I tried larry + craig + liberal, I got "about 417,000" results.
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About Will Bunch
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Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
Will Bunch, a senior writer at the Philadelphia Daily News, blogs about his obsessions, including national and local politics and world affairs, the media, pop music, the Philadelphia Phillies, soccer and other sports, not necessarily in that order.
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