Saturday, January 30, 2010

Are Journos getting dumber?





OK, anyone who's shouted themselves a cursory glance at this blog will know that my spelling is shithouse. I have a twitter follower who dutifully direct messages me after every one is posted with the spelling errors so I can jump straight back in here and correct them before too many others notice. I'm not bothered. I'm a comedian, I'm not an English teacher, or a journalist for that matter.

I know the missing millionaire story has taken a very juicy turn, and it happened on the weekend so maybe news.com.au was in the hands of the B Team, but I find it incredible that the teaser for arguably the biggest news story in the country has been written by a human who believes that "may've" is short for "may of". It's not. It's short for "may have "

"Could've" is short for "could have", "Would've", for "would have", and so on.

A Brisbane journo reckoned I called her a moll on the air a couple of months ago. It certainly sounds like something I would do, however no one on the show remembered it, the show she reckoned she heard it on was listened to with a fine tooth comb by a sales rep eager to prove her right, she found nothing, and possibly most damning, I'd never even heard of the moll until she started printing lies about me in her try-hard column in retaliation. If she really thought I'd called her a moll, why didn't she just print that? If she'd told the truth I'd have had no comeback but as it was I was able to shit-can her on my radio show every day for a fortnight. Dumb. Eventually her bosses stepped in at boss level and I was muzzled. Dumb and soft.

The best bit of all though, was when someone asked me a question about something on twitter to which I responded that I unfortunately couldn't answer them because some lazy journo would print it as a quote. I swear to God, the dumb moll printed it as a quote, without a hint of irony. Seriously f^$king dumb!

Where are the Jana Wendts, the George Neguses and the Kerry O'Briens of the future? Journalism has the capacity to be an incredibly noble and culture altering profession. Why does it feel like it's increasingly populated by reality tv rejects who'd rather be associated with Kochie than Kosovo?

9 comments:

  1. Don't get me started on news and journalism! I can't even watch the evening news anymore. Nobody can seem to tell the difference between "news" and "entertainment" or ACA-style "human interest" bullshit.

    PS: Why do dumb moll journalists get columns and insightful Head Bitches In Charge like yourself don't?

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  2. there's a reason why in our house we avoid mainstream media at all costs. The ABC isn't perfect but it's sure as hell nowhere near as shit as most of what commercial tv pass off as news. May of. Hmph. Dickheads.

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  3. Agreed! Quality journalism has gone.
    Journos seem to rely on social networking sites to get their news.
    Great blog post.

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  4. Dear Rupert Murdoch,

    This is why people don't want to pay for your web content - it's written by monkeys with a thin grasp on the English written language.

    Love,
    Liam aka gumbuoy

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  5. Meshel, I reckon TV journos are getting dumber, because there is no breeding ground to hone their craft here in Brisbane anymore. Extra was that breeding ground and now you are chucked into the deep end at 6pm without a lifejacket.

    P.S. Meshel deserves a column, even more than Jillian Whiting.

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  6. Yes I watch ABC and the 7.30 report if I am at home. Otherwise it is all ridiculous. But then people in general are becoming more ridiculous.

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  7. Good call. My brother has a journalism degree AND a brain and he finds it all so frustrating. He would love this post.
    Or get angry at the situation and go on a murderous rampage...either one.

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  8. Here here, local journalism is going to hell in a handbasket and making society dumber.

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  9. I had a boss who thought it was 'of' and not 'have'. Almost every email he ever sent us contained that mistake and we all wanted to reply "HAVE, HAVE, HAVE you fu#*ing MORON". But we never did. I've left that job now and have been trying to think of a clever way to get the point across to him. Any suggestions?
    I agree, though, that you have to be careful when you point out someone else's mistakes, because they usually return to bite you in the butt.......

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