Did you see Jennings on Daily Show last night??

[TNOE]

A person can still be a whore and likeable I suppose.

Intersting his comments on the blogs -

Doesn't have time - too much to read (message to the young audience - you probably don't either)

He has to get off the computer to write HIS OWN NEWSCAST - Does anybody REALLY believe that?

And there was something else too which I can't seem to remember at the moment, maybe someone else will nail it - it was just a process of further dumming down America - so basically blogs take too much time to read, no need for you to read, just tune in to the 20 minutes propaganda news, save yourself the time and effort.



http://homepage.mac.com/njenson/movies/billmaher021805gannon.html
6 megabyte quick time movie of the Feb. 18 "Bill Maher" comedy show
discussing this beyond surreal scandal

"He actually had two jobs - one was sleazy and shameful, the other
was a gay male prostitute."
-- comedian Bill Maher, February 18, 2005

[TheFarseer]

1. I say him on there

and thought, for God's sake can't we get more interesting guests? Didn't even pay attention.

[Greybnk48]

2. To me, it seemed he switched gears

He read some outrageous comments from a blogger, cherry-picked, and then made a comment about bloggers in general based on this one example. I laughed when John Stewart referred to it as an email, which I thought deliberately trashed Jennings' ploy to smear bloggers in general using one example. But then after the break Stewart called him on it--maybe Jennings corrected his email comment when the cameras weren't rolling. What was odd was that after using an "out there" blog comment as representative of blogs in general, Jennings answered that blogs were not to be feared, but taken seriously.

It was really wierd/unintelligible. If I were to speculate on his comments as a whole, I would say that they are very nervous about the rise in blogging and alternative news. Why else would he choose that as his first topic of discussion right out of the gate and initially treat bloggers with such derision?

[mrfrapp]

3. Yes

I was particularly infuriated by his thinly veiled straw man attack against bloggers. For those who didn't see it, he read out a barely legible monologue that questioned why Jennings was chosen to front a documentary about JFK and wondered if it had anything to do with the "secret government"(?!). Jennings then claimed that this was courtesy of one of "our newly brilliant bloggers".

I stopped watching after that.

[AValdoux]

4. Baghdad?

Did anyone catch at the end when Jon said "maybe in a couple of years we can talk about Baghdad." Jennings was in Baghdad during the Jan. election. That was Jon's only comment about it at the end. It almost seemed like it was agreed not to talk about any news except UFO's.

AValdoux

[Greybnk48]

6. I thought it was pathetic when Jennings said that

the "people" don't want to hear about Bagdad, they want to hear about UFO's. Well, as I recall, the "people" didn't want to hear about Vietnam either, but brave people like--yes Dan Rather and Walter Cronkite began to ram it down their throats night after night. As I recall, the death toll or "butcher's bill" began every news broadcast--anyone else remember that? That's what woke people up!!! The network nightly news is a mere shadow of what it was as far as content (I know everyone here knows that--just venting).

[AnnInLa]

15. I remember

and until newscasters get the balls of Rather and Cronkite, they will continue to be ENTERTAINERS instead of reporters. I also remember when the nightly news was 60 minutes long and had time to report in-depth, instead of readers-digest versions of the news.

[UTUSN]

5. Actually, Other "News" People Say Those Things, Too

I send a local radio wingnut talkshow host up-to-the-minute and in-depth items from DU, tell him he just put out wrong or outdated info, and ask him why "reporters" don't INVESTIGATE this or that, and he has replied over the years:

1) Reporters DON'T HAVE TIME.
2) There's too much to read.
3) Reporters have a herd mentality.

I would add:
4) CNN has spotlighted they do and don't do stuff because of fear of LOSING ACCESS. Saddam, Shrub, and CHEENEE will CUT THEM OFF if they are too aggressive.

[merh]

7. I want to know who "Goat" is, the blogger that he reads the

most or gets emails from.

[smoogatz]

8. Whatever credibility Jennings may have had back in the day

Goes out the window with the UFO special. There's no real journalism anymore in this country--the tabloid mentality (give the suckers what they want) has completely taken over. Right-wing flag-waving, a lot of outraged moralising, shocking crime-of-the-day, and titillating celebrity "news." Above all, don't say anything negative about the Preznit--that wouldn't be "fair."

[Hamlette]

9. I had a completely different read on the interview

I think he was making fun of conspiracy types, not bloggers and Jon Stewart said it was HIS email (the piece Jennings read). It was a joke. (and a funny one.)

We've been hearing for years that MSM has been cutting back budgets for investigative reporters. We are now seeing the results. It's not just a matter of access. Gore won in 2000 but the corporate media trashed him...because their bosses told them to or they were too lazy and read the spoon fed faxes sent by the GOP. It would have been nice for Jennings to have mentioned this but one doesn't bite the hand that feeds.

Jennings was on to promote his show tonight on UFOs.

Americans do NOT want to hear about the war in Iraq. Yes, honorable reporters should be shoving it down our throats but this is a different "news" environment than Vietnam. Too much competition with the cables. Or so they think.

Bloggers aren't the answer folks. There is too much potential for abuse. Bloging is all we have right now though to point out what a crappy job corporate media is doing.

[K-W]

20. Potential for abuse? What on earth are you talking about?

Bloggers are taking advantage of new technology to express thier freedom to publish opinions and engage in journalism and closed minded people like you will just have to deal with it.

This is what journalism is really about, not an insulated bubble of credentialed reporters deciding what is and is not worthy of being desseminated.

There is no potential for abuse. People just have to cope with the fact that they have to think for themselves. It is a terrible shame that the media ever convinced them that they didnt.

[Hamlette]

22. no potential for abuse? Can you say Matt Drudge? n/t

[chookie]

10. My take

I was glad Stewart asked him about (one of) the obvious -- why do a special on UFOs when the planet is exploding from real events? I think Jennings was embarassed -- he is smart enough to be embarassed, at least -- but he had to defend ABC's choice of this topic, and sidestepped it by saying, "But people are interested in this crap, believe it or not...." That's sad. To think Jennings has done some good specials, in the past, on the Middle East and from time to time has made good attempts to educate people. Oh well. Jon Stewart, had he the inclination, could have beat him over the head with this, but he is always a gracious host and never attempts to embarass his guests, and does what ever he can to make them comfortable.

As far as the email, alleging that he was chosen by the Secret Government to begin to reveal the reality of UFOs, I think he chose it as an example of one of the wacky things you can read out there. In fact, I remember when he did the JFK forensics, someone at DU had posted something very similar -- at least that he was chosen to yet again try to legitimize the official story. I think it was meant to be funny, but he's no comedian and it flopped.

But he did say that there is a lot of interesting bloggers out there, and that there were several that he consults regularly, that one develops "relationships" with them over time and come to know them as cerdible, valuable sources of information.

I thought it was sad. I used to like the guy, but he seems to be running on fumes, for whatever reason. It was weird that such a polished professional would flop so badly in that format, but it happens. He had appeared to shill his special on UFOs, and maybe he was knocked off guard by the very serious point Stewart raised about its relevancy given all the heavy shit going down in the world these days, and that he knows that himself, and it knocked the wind out of his sails.

[Ian David]

11. Jon tried to nail him down on "good bloggers"

Jennings admitted he read some blogs.

Jon got him to concede that some are better than others, and you "have to be discerning" in which ones you believe. Jennings admitted that some were better than others.

But he refused to let Jon commit him to mentioning specific blogs by name that he read or trusted.

By the way... did Jennings have some major cosmetic surgery or what?

[AlCzervik]

12. that surgery was sense of shame removal

i liked the part where Jon was asking him why they are doing this show now when there is so much going on.

[K-W]

21. I didnt see Jennings being forced at all.

Stewert did his usual great job of flushing out a real opinion, but Jennings seemed happy to defend bloggers. And I really cant imagine that whole thing wasnt planned ahead of time.

[Toby109]

13. Not to defend Jennings for last night's show but

he was the first MSM anchor to be a guest on The Daily Show way back when Kilborn was the host. It gave the show legitimacy and helped keep the show on the air, IMHO.

[applegrove]

14. I can't audio on my computer. Somehow lip-reading doesn't cut it -

is there a transcript of the show?

[TNOE]

16. I'm sure someone will post it

hopefully - it should replay tonight too.

[applegrove]

18. I do not have HBO. Oh well - no big deal. I get the jist of it here at DU

[catzies]

17. Jennings used a very telling word re: who wants to see a UFO special

He called the people who watch his show CONSUMERS.

Not audience: CONSUMERS.

That's how they really see the American viewing public.

[K-W]

19. I thought he did a great job of defending bloggers

and it was pretty clear that they had agreed before hand to cover the topic in the interview. He stressed that he himself reads blogs, agreed that they had energy that was lacking in mainstream media, and his message was horribly reasonable, that anyone can post online, so you have to be skeptical, critical, and make bloggers earn your trust.

I thought he was dead on, and I love it when guys like this use the Daily Show as a chance to say something reasonable for once.