Salon Radio: David Cay Johnston on the bailout
I spoke with Johnston today about the pending bailout, the panic (and resulting acquiescence) that has been successfully injected into the American public, Johnston's very piercing critiques of the coverage of the financial crisis by his former colleagues in "journalism" (or, as he puts it, "by the actors who play the role of journalists on TV"), and the profound changes among both the journalistic culture and journalists themselves since he first became a reporter several decades ago. More than a week ago, as the crisis was unfolding, Johnston wrote a piece at Poynter.org admonishing journalists not to cover government claims uncritically, and at TNR a couple of days ago, he surveyed some of the coverage and detailed just how resoundingly that admonition was ignored.
I highly recommend this interview, as Johnston's observations about both the bailout and journalism are quite incisive and well-stated. It is roughly 20 minutes in length and can be heard by clicking PLAY on the recorder below. The transcript is here.
Currently in Glenn Greenwald's Blog
- The significance of McClatchy's act of journalism
- Yet another story reflects the danger of assuming the truth of unproven government claims and the use of anonymity.
- Thursday, Jul 9, 2009 16:10 EDT
- The Obama justice system
- Due process is seen as window dressing to enable the president to detain whomever he wants for as long as he wants
- Wednesday, Jul 8, 2009 15:09 EDT
- Dan Froomkin hired by The Huffington Post
- It is not journalism that is dying -- only the staid, establishment-serving, stenography model of the WashPost.
- Tuesday, Jul 7, 2009 14:08 EDT
- What if the Uighurs were Christian rather than Muslim?
- Violent clashes in China underscore an ugly reality of the War on Terror.
- Monday, Jul 6, 2009 15:07 EDT
