David Shaw: “I’ll Be the One to Tell You What’s Important and What’s Not”
Professor Bainbridge notes an astonishing quote from L.A. Times reporter David Shaw:
The officially unaffiliated position of the Swift Boat veterans notwithstanding, the unofficial assistance of those friendly to Bush was both undeniable and just about the only fact that made their efforts newsworthy.
Now, I don’t quite share the Professor’s outrage over Shaw’s comment that the “unofficial assistance of those friendly to Bush” was “undeniable.” That’s not quite the same thing as saying that the Vets are “surrogates” of the Bush campaign — a far more serious and unsupportable charge.
But for Shaw to say that this assistance is “just about the only fact that made their efforts newsworthy” is . . .
Stunning. Astounding. Choose your adjective. Your jaw must simply be agape.
And note: Shaw wants media outlets to serve as “filters for truth” — in other words, to prevent news like the Swift Vets’ accusations from ever coming to your attention in the first place.
Thank God for new media such as the blogosphere, which prevents gatekeepers like Shaw from squelching stories like that of the Swift Boat Vets.
I have said it before and I’ll say it again: I don’t know if the Swift Vets’ accusations all have merit. But the idea that some know-it-all like David Shaw feels entitled to “filter out” serious accusations like theirs from the coverage of the campaign — that should really give us all pause.
Thanks to Professor Bainbridge for bringing this to our attention.
How dare you question their patriotism!!
They certainly did a good job of filtering out the Kerry admissions on Apocalypse Cambodia and his Purple Hearts.
Comment by mikem — 9/5/2004 @ 4:24 pm
Bravo Professor Bainbridge, and an incredulous gape in the direction of the good David Shaw. Who promoted him Minister of Truth? The control of public opinion by selective exclusions of news items is over, and propagandists such as Shaw might well apply for honest jobs outside the communications industry.
Comment by Insufficiently Sensitive — 9/5/2004 @ 9:04 pm
But it’s for their own good! No one should be forced to waste time reading things that just aren’t true! (burn all fiction!… wait, the Puritans tried that)
Comment by Dan S — 9/5/2004 @ 10:25 pm
The US Navy and the pentagon have launched an investigation into Kerrys medals because the Navy don’t issue a bronze star or a silver star with a combat (V) for valor? Yet Kerry has them? And clerical errors do happen but each officer is responsible for making sure their records are correct and that any mistakes are reported to the Navy in order to make those corrections. 30 yrs and Kerry never said anything, you think maybe he didn’t pay attention? Plus the citation for the his silver star was re-issued to him 3 times and each time the the praise for him is more embellished and there are more words than on the previous one? And all of this is straight from Kerry’s website. When you read “Unfit For Command” and then Kerry’s autobiograhpy “Tour Of Duty”, it becomes clear that Kerry has a problem.
His own biographer said basically “If Kerrys medals are investigated, it’ll probably destroy his campaign”? If none of this is true, why would David Brinkley say such a statement?
Too many people jump on the liberal bandwagon and start parroting the partys bs before looking at what the charges are. Anyone who’s intellectually honest will see the problem? But the MSM and most Kerry supporters refuse to look.
Kerry is a fraud and if it hadn’t been for internet bloggers who researched charges claimed by the Swift Boat Vets , he probably would’ve been able to get away with his false war heroism, because the MSM had already said they’d ignore the story. Why not, they’d been doing that for the democratic party since at least Vietnam. But now they’ve been exposed and because they continue to play offense and defense for Kerry, their credibility is screwed with half of the country. But next were going to target the MSM’s advertisers. Because they have been force feeding us their leftist ideological views for years. I hope we cause many of them to lose their jobs.
Comment by Gary B. — 9/6/2004 @ 3:10 am
OF ALL THE MEDIA GATEKEEPERS
in all the towns in all the world, why do I get incompetent hacks like David Shaw at the LA Times? Patterico: “Thank God for new media such as…
Trackback by PRESTOPUNDIT -- "Kerry in Cambodia" Wall-to-Wall Coverage — 9/6/2004 @ 6:57 pm
In fairness to the LA Times, they did not filter out the Christmas in Cambodia story; rather they slipped it into the 72nd paragraph of a story on the Swiftees.
Comment by Pat Curley — 9/7/2004 @ 7:48 am
“Navy don’t issue a bronze star or a silver star with a combat (V) for valor? Yet Kerry has them?”
The Bronze Star is issued with a “valor device” … consider this a homework assignment; the Silver Star, like the Congressional Medal of Honor, is a commendation for valor by its definition. Reportedly there have been sightings and possibly photographs of Kerry wearing his Silver Star with a valor device attached. Admiral Boorda was reputed to have taken his own life (perhaps not the only reason) shortly after being informed that he was not entitled to wear the “V” on his Bronze Star.
Comment by Jim — 10/25/2004 @ 11:32 am
ps: one of the Silver Star commendations posted on Kerry’s web site has the signature of (former Secretary of the Navy) John Lehman - who has said that he is certain that he never saw the commendation and never signed it. Curiouser and curiouser …
Comment by Jim — 10/25/2004 @ 11:37 am
[...] Jack Shafer whacks David Shaw. And deservedly so. I have whacked Shaw once or twice (or thrice) myself. But I am happy to se [...]
Pingback by Patterico's Pontifications » A Good Whacking — 3/29/2005 @ 7:14 am