PSoTD

A proclamation by Time, 40 years ago:

There actually is such a group, and they just had their conference, and quite impressively they have some of the conference details online. The reports from the conference are worth a look:

Tuesday morning's Organization of News Ombudsman session entitled, "Biting the hand that feeds you" featured panelists: Joann Byrd, member of the Pulitzer Board, former ombudsman at the Washington Post Richard Chacon,former public editor of the Boston Globe who now works for the governor of Massachusetts. The session was moderated by Manning Pynn, public editor at the Orlando Sentinel.

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Pynn: Did you ever hesitate to criticize something due to the ongoing criticism?

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Pynn: at a time when newspapers are shrinking is it prudent to take a chunk out of that hand?

Byrd: Newspapers that has an ombuds, ought to be willing to take whatever they get. the washington post plan is a fixed term. I didn't get any guidance from anyone and I wrote a lot of really stupid columns. i should have hired myself an editor outside my building. A luxury of having that level of independence.

A newspaper needs to have an ombuds that is as close as you can get to independent. Readers need to feel that it is a credible voice and that they can be heard and that there's someone in the corner paying attention. Readers are supposed to be the beneficiaries of this.. That means you have to bite that hand. I hope no one will lose their job for doing their job, which is to find flaws in the newspaper's coverage.

Ratings going down.

At least 29.5 million "American Idol" fans watched the finale of the hit talent show as 17-year-old Jordin Sparks was crowned the youngest winner yet in the program's history, preliminary numbers showed on Thursday.

The tally for Wednesday night's show was nearly 7 million fewer than the number of viewers who saw gray-haired soul crooner Taylor Hicks win the Fox network's prime-time amateur singing contest last year, Nielsen Media Research said.

We let our daughter watch the finale, she got hooked on the show this year. I caught several parts, and here's the reason I think the finale ratings are dropping - that show sucks. The result of all that sucking is an incredibly bloated two hour "program", equal parts "America's Funniest Home Videos" and musical numbers with the passion and fury of the "Brady Bunch Variety Hour".

It's horrible.

I want to use this "article" as an example of what I define as "symbiotic dipshittery". This article serves no purpose other than to begin the casting of aspersions on someone who is carrying a message, in this case, about poverty. There's no effort in the article to try to determine anything other than a premise to attack Edwards for taking speaking fees. It will be followed by other articles, by published pundits and right wing bloggers, basically adding to the attack premise and adding other questions to attack. Eventually, public officials will be asked to weigh in on this, which they will gladly do because it isn't an issue that will be remembered as substantive, so there's little risk to them in making a comment, and for many it gives them a much-wanted opportunity to further attack Edwards and/or the message. The "journalists" then get their story, which basically is writing down what other "journalists" and public officials said, and the public officals and other "journalists" get their names publicized with little risk to themselves, and yet, in the whole of it, there's likely more money spent in continuing this symbiotic dipshittery than the original amount complained about in the first article. And so, America pays in two ways:

The news media and public officials squander the opportunity to discuss something of value meanwhile using valuable newsprint and airwaves to feed this symbiotic relationship; and

The original message - Edwards' speech, and an effort to actually talk about something - is buried by the fecal news droppings of these symbiotic organisms and their appetite to talk about nothing.

so Trump quits.

I wish there were some study to determine why the ratings disappeared on The Apprentice. Is it because people can't watch subservience for long? Is it a lack of appreciation of the gigantic ego of Donald Trump? Or is it because Americans don't enjoy watching smarmy people tripping all over themselves to make some money?

I see there's one - the first annual one - in DC over Memorial Day weekend. I think this is a pretty damn good idea, but not just for the military. I could see the "Teacher Film Festival" somewhere, the "Police Film Festival" somewhere, in fact, there are many, many callings that can have a niche film festival.

Mind you, I'm against any kind of "War Film Festival" that somehow celebrates war. But I do support the idea of a Global Peace Film Festival.

I wonder how much of America would like to see Karl Rove, Dick Morris, Mary Matalin and James Carville put on a deserted island, and then have the crew go back home, end of show.

I don't watch Survivor, but I think I'd watch an episode where those four are left to their own devices forever.

Regardless of his content, his writing style is dull. Sleep-inducing. Makes you want to go count toothpicks or something else more interesting. Of course, Hugh Hewitt is all of those things and more!

News at 11.