President Palin?

[gagged_Louise]

In journalism classes a long long time ago, impartiality was a central tenet of ethical reporting. Opinions were only supposed to be voiced in editorial columns. Part of the problem with our election process, the root of the anger towards politicians and reporting in general is the obvious bias that permeates the news today.

In those days, journalism was a lot less person-oriented, it didn't bring "everyday life" to the fore, didn't seek "the human side" of an event as strongly as everyone does now. People say sometimes that newspapers were so much more patriotic during WW2 than in modern wars - could be true, but the point is they didn't force their readers right up to the trenches, didn't interview lots of soldiers who had come home with crippled legs or blinded eyes, people who had lost their homes in bombings, or women who had lost their men in strange circumstances, and those people, if they were sought out once in a while, were not expected to be outspoken. It was supposed to be "cheery" but in wartime or right afterwards that's no more objective than a modern gossipy celebrity profile.

Of course, many of the soldiers they interviewed back then - or during the Vietnam war - had been picked by the Armed Forces, just like reporters are embedded now to get to the front, but also to be under definite army control.

Today "What do you feel like?", "What did you think?" are the standard questions of field journalism. Fundamental diffeence.

I think the Palin page was absolutely hilarious, very to the point too, and I'm so not for her ever becoming President.