Don't trust agencies that 'feed the rage'

A reply to a letter from Denis Bohm questioning why the Daily Herald did not report on an alleged "mob attack."

Maybe the Herald, like me, couldn't figure out the truth about an attack on an online reporter in Portland, Oregon, so they didn't report it.

Here's something I found that seems to make a lot of sense about online reporting: According to the website for The Center for Media and Democracy, Matt Labash, a senior writer for the Weekly Standard, stated the following in a 2003 interview with

JournalismJobs.com when asked why conservative media outlets like The Weekly Standard and Fox News Channel had become more popular in the past few years: "Because they feed the rage. We bring the pain to the liberal media. I say that mockingly, but it's true somewhat. We come with a strong point of view and people like point of view journalism. While all these hand-wringing Freedom Forum types talk about objectivity, the conservative media likes to rap the liberal media on the knuckles for not being objective. We've created this cottage industry in which it pays to be un-objective. It pays to be subjective as much as possible. It's a great way to have your cake and eat it too. Criticize other people for not being objective. Be as subjective as you want. It's a great little racket. I'm glad we found it actually."

Steven Kopp

Round Lake Beach