{"id":58409,"date":"2019-05-11T10:51:06","date_gmt":"2019-05-11T14:51:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/?p=58409"},"modified":"2019-05-11T17:10:07","modified_gmt":"2019-05-11T21:10:07","slug":"journalism-prof-provides-proof-of-the-bubble-in-which-media-exist","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thecollegefix.com\/journalism-prof-provides-proof-of-the-bubble-in-which-media-exist\/","title":{"rendered":"Journalism prof provides proof of the bubble in which media exist"},"content":{"rendered":"

Meredith O’Brien<\/a> is a journalism professor at Northeastern University, and go figure: She’s uncertain about how to teach her subject in the age of Trump.<\/p>\n

In a recent column at Inside Higher Ed,<\/em><\/a> O’Brien, “a former newspaper and investigative reporter, award-winning columnist, and blogger,” complains<\/p>\n

[…] there\u2019s an unusual question my students have been asking with increasing frequency over the past two years: \u201cIs this normal?\u201d<\/p>\n

The \u201cthis\u201d refers to the interaction between President Donald Trump and the news media. Typically, I am someone who tries to keep her political opinions under wraps when standing in front of a classroom. But I answer this loaded question quickly.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo,\u201d I say, \u201cthis is not normal. At. All.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Ah, yes, of course: The professor is someone “who tries to keep her political opinions under wraps” … except in “emergency” cases like now.<\/p>\n

Because Orange Man bad.<\/p>\n

After all, the professor says, “the Clinton impeachment hearings, the Sept. 11 attacks, the Iraq War, the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, Edward Snowden’s leaks, police shootings of unarmed African Americans that spawned the Black Lives Matter movement, mass shootings and the images of Syrian refugees washing up along the shores of the Mediterranean” … all pale in comparison to covering the day-to-day happenings of the Trump administration.<\/p>\n

If this nonsense isn’t enough for you, check out the prof’s own blog<\/a>, especially the current leading post<\/a>: “A nation\u2019s core values under attack, from within”:<\/p>\n

\n

Right now, I am grieving for the United States.<\/p>\n

For thoughtful statesmanship and diplomacy, which are no longer important to our commander-in-chief.<\/p>\n

For common decency in the public square, which is largely absent and is rapidly disappearing altogether, everywhere.<\/p>\n

For the common values of kindness that parents teach their children, as our nation\u2019s leaders have been role-modeling cruelty and avarice.<\/p>\n

For the importance of acting in an ethical manner, even when it goes against one\u2019s personal interests.<\/p>\n

For the respect our leaders used to show for the virtues of freedom and democracy, especially as our president embraces dictators and tyrants, and considers laws beneath him.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Either the bubble in which Professor O’Brien exists is very<\/em> well-insulated, or this is a case study in self-deception.<\/p>\n

Respect for “freedom and democracy”? Has the professor not been paying attention to current events?<\/a> What about the freedom<\/em> of the people to elect the leader of their choice, based on the democratic<\/em> principles of government we (still) currently enjoy? This, despite the media always<\/em> taking one side? For two years the administration has been tarred by a manufactured scandal, and now that it’s reached its conclusion … well, the other political party won’t allow it.<\/p>\n

\"\"
\n(Above: Seriously, AP??<\/em> Try again<\/em><\/a>).<\/p>\n

Or, more succinctly, in the words<\/a> of Texas Democratic US Representative Al Green, “If we don’t<\/em> impeach this president, he will get re-elected.”<\/p>\n

The mainstream media trying to tear asunder the Trump administration is nothing new. Their constant<\/a> “COLLUSION!!!” yammering to their mocking<\/a> of the president for his (accurate) claims of being spied on are just the social media-age equivalent of their usual disdain for all things Republican and\/or conservative.<\/p>\n

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A short two-minute video for those of you in the media pitifully insisting that no media reckoning is needed and journalists performed beautifully, soberly and responsibly throughout this whole saga: pic.twitter.com\/PF5s2kTcYA<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Glenn Greenwald (@ggreenwald) March 25, 2019<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n