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June 20, 2009
"Calling bullshit," accountability journalism, the WaPo's Dan Froomkin, and Atlantic Yards
Atlantic Yards Report
The disturbing trend of an increasingly credulous press is the focus of this blog entry.
The big political journalism story this week is the firing of Dan Froomkin, the "White House Watch" blogger for the Washington Post. Note the hundreds of critical comments in response to the blog by the WaPo's ombudsman.
I'll point below to quotes from and about Froomkin in Glenn Greenwald's Salon piece headlined The Washington Post, Dan Froomkin and the establishment media.
The key quotes, to me, are Froomkin (a journalism colleague in college) saying that a journalist's job is to "call bullshit" and NYU journalism professor Jay Rosen describing Froomkin as an "accountability journalist."
The same challenges arise for the Atlantic Yards story.
- Did any of the journalists at the May 29 state Senate oversight hearing believe Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) Marisa Lago when she claimed that the Atlantic Yards project had not changed?
- Did they believe New York City Economic Development Corporation President Seth Pinsky's claims about new revenues?
- Did reporters believe Forest City Ratner's claims that railyard work stopped because of litigation?
- Have sports reporters believed Brett Yormark's ever-changing assertions about the arena opening date?
The list goes on.
Posted by steve at June 20, 2009 11:05 AM