USA Today has a long piece (3/17/11) by Martha Moore about video hoax artist James O’Keefe’s NPR project. The article does a pretty good job of running down the deceptions in O’Keefe’s video. That’s good. This, however, is not:
The video follows a long, if not always honorable, tradition of muckraking exposés. It also is a stepchild to the political tactic of tracking an opponent with video until a gaffe occurs, then capitalizing on it. The sting’s impact was magnified by the quick dissemination-without-scrutiny that is a hallmark of Internet-driven media.
O’Keefe’s video has nothing to do with muckraking. And please don’t blame the Internet for the fact that journalists apparently can’t be bothered to care whether a source is reliable.
That’s annoying. But this part is at least somewhat amusing:
O’Keefe’s tactics combine “the guerrilla of Borat, the gotcha of Dateline–and the gonzo approach of Hunter S. Thompson,” O’Keefe said in an interview.
I hope if I’m ever profiled by USA Today, I’ll get to sing my own praises like that.
Fraudulent ACORN videos, fraudulent NPR Video, fraudulent journalist, fraudulent Muslim Brotherhood-connection, fraudulent fundraiser, etc; doctored video and lies to discredit and destroy groups, organization, people or political parties is not journalism. James O’Keefe lies and fraud are ground for law sued and imprisonment. It is an injustice to the American people and a mockery to the constitution, because he does not have to answer to anyone for this. Any news organization that makes their own new and will repeat fraudulent information is no better then James O’Keefe. Remind me of Richard Nixon and all the local news media in CA. in the 60’s.
By God, when Glenn Beck (Beck!) actually goes after O’Keefe, and does a pretty good job of it (that is, whoever did the actual work), you know the worm has turned. O’Keefe obviously thinks very highly of himself; however, even some of the ravers on the Right seem to understand that O’Keefe is a lying little self-aggrandizing asshole (that goes double for his boss and mentor, the execrable Andrew Breitbart). Don’t worry, Dave: O’Keefe, like diarrhea, erupts every now and then, and then goes away. He can do what he does because cowardly institutions and lazy, frightened journalists don’t want to rock the Right-wing boat. It’s that old devil, equivalency (the belief that all ideas and/or actors have equal value, and must be heard out, no matter the provenance of their thoughts and actions), come ’round to save the liars and mountebanks of the Right, and their sponsors. Remember, it was just a couple of weeks ago that Huck (Mike Huckabee) told some outlandish lies to the lying, imbecile host of some Right-wing talk show, and that jackass (Huck) is running for President. Huck’s an important player on the Right, Dave, so his insane jabberings must be given credibility–otherwise the cry of “It’s unfair to Huck!” and “Liberal Media elitists!” will ring out across this great land.
Beck’s site may attack O’Keef now but he still sings the praises of his work against ACORN and its destruction.
Sorry to disagree with Mr Beck but………i love these sting operations. Always reminds me of John Delorean getting caught with a suitcase full of cocaine and blaming the sting.This was not perfect.Bit sloppy and the editing made it appear phony.But at the end of the day they had enough to make the muck stick.
Im sure if Sarah Palin said a blatantly racist thing on a hidden tape it would not matter how it was” edited” to Liberals.Be honest.It would not.This guy was trash.So was the Acorn bunch.More stings.We need to get Ashton Kutcher in on this. Political Punked.
Right wing wackos strike again – the corporate media just loves ’em. Where’s Tom Paine when we need him? oh yeah, Tom is long dead. But I can seeTom turning over in his grave seeing the stupid ass-kissing of the corporate media.