"....the Maureen Dowd School of Journalism that Obscured Early Reports of Soldier Treatment!

[KoKo]

article | posted March 8, 2007 (web only)
Walter Reed Scandal: How Mainstream Media Let Us Down

Celia Viggo Wexler

You would have to be dead or on the moon not to have heard about the appalling living conditions and Byzantine red tape that dogs wounded veterans at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.

...But that's not a good enough answer. The truth is, with all the cutbacks in both broadcast and print newsrooms, the emphasis on entertainment and "news you can use"--and on the bottom line over solid, investigative journalism--there is little incentive for reporters to go the extra mile and find good stories, stories they might not be able to report because they take too much time or may rock too many boats, or are "too depressing" for the demographic the news outlet seeks. And then there is what I call the "Maureen Dowd" approach to journalism, which puts a premium on really stylish writing, sharp commentary and covering politics over government. When she got assigned to the New York Times Washington bureau, the story goes, Dowd declared she was not going to spend her time covering those "dreary regulatory agencies"--or, presumably, going to hearings or reading GAO reports.

So yes, it's good that the news about Walter Reed finally got out and that things are starting to change. But it would have been far better if the Walter Reed story had exploded two or three years ago, thousands of wounded soldiers earlier.

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20070326/wexler

[CTyankee]

1. a welcome comeuppance for a journalist far too intoxicated by her fame

and status! So glad this was written and published. Head up, Maureen, your mother is watching you! Don't disappoint her!!!