Emoting not Thinking -- Is That Really What We Want from Journalists?

The MSM has been congratulating itself on what is widely seen as the appropriate emotional responses of on the scene reporters to the horrors unfolding before their eyes in New Orleans. Some see it as the dawning of a new kind of journalism -- an "oppositional press" that has dropped all pretense of objectivity -- and apparently think that this is a good thing. I have my doubts. So does left-wing commentator Jay Rosen who feels, as do I, that thoughtful journalism is on the wane, being replaced by thoughtless emotionalism and ideological posturing. Rosen may be a lefty, but he's a sane and thoughtful one. He sums up his qualms thusly:

Spine is always good, rage is sometimes needed, and empathy can often reveal the story. But there's no substitute for being able to think. What is the difference between a “blame game” and real accountability? If you’ve never really thought it about it, your outrage can easily misfire.

Exactly, and there's been a lot of misfiring lately.

Check him out here.

And while you're at it check out Dostoy's comments on the modern media [and my response] over at Theo's Sanctuary [here].