Game Change Isn’t “Real Journalism”
January 26, 2010
by Amy Siskind
|Those of you following our blog know that we have been recommending a boycott of Game Change due to it’s outrageous level of misogyny.
I returned my pre-ordered copy without cracking a page in protest. With the store credit, I bought Dee Dee Myers book, Why Women Should Rule the World. We also recommended on this blog 2 other books written by and about women, Going Rogue by Sarah Palin and Notes from the Cracked Ceiling by Anne Kornblut, both of which are excellent reads. We need to support women authors who are exploring topics important to women and girls!
Our boycott of Game Change was based on the misogynistic content. Yet, today, Don Campbell, who co-author of Inside the Beltway: A Guide to Washington Reporting, and covered six presidential campaigns wrote a op-ed titled Real journalism isn’t about selling books in USA Today.
“Real journalism” indeed.
I’ll give you Campbell’s juicy conclusion first:
That’s one thing we know they’re right about: What they deliver is neither history, nor journalism.
Ka-boom!!!
Here’s some of the points that Campbell’s piece makes:
The problem here also arises from a set of rules that loosely governs conversations between reporters and their sources — rules so arcane that even some journalists, politicians and press aides don’t understand or agree on what they mean. They involve when and how information can and can’t be used, and when and how the source of the information is identified. Heilemann and Halperin got most of their information under “deep background,” a Faustian bargain that protects reporters and sources but leaves readers in the dark because they have no way of verifying what’s presented as fact.
These rules partly explain why after-the-fact books seem so revealing. There are other reasons:
• Traditional news organizations have standards that prohibit publication of salacious, score-settling allegations from anonymous sources. Book publishers and most bloggers don’t.
• Some reporters are too willing to grant anonymity to sources — the lazier ones might even be the first to suggest that arrangement. That’s easier than haggling to get them on the record.
• Some reporters assigned full-time to a presidential candidate automatically are invested in that campaign, seeing it as a ticket to the White House beat. There’s a perverse disincentive to dig for dirt that would limit access or torpedo a campaign.
• Some mainstream publications are too willing to let political reporters or columnists gather exclusive information on their dime and then withhold it until after the election. The authors of Game Change, for example, did much of their interviewing in the heat of the campaign when, they say, events were fresh in the minds of the participants.
Let’s not reward these authors by buying their book. Spread the word about our boycott!
when you return the book and need to buy something for the store credit, the above choices are certainly great. there is another book I want to mention by Nancy Goldstone “the Lady Queen” published in 2009. i had no idea despite being taught history in European highschool, that there was queen Johanna from Naples, Sicily and Jerusalem who ruled the lower half of Italy for 30+ years in the 14th century. that was a time when the international financial markets broke down, the plague came twice and decimated the population. she was skilled in diplomacy, built churches and hospitals. was extremely smart and well educated. defended herself in front of the papal court against the rumor that she had killed her first husband. she had prominent lawyers with her, but applied for and received the privilege to defend herself and won, and that all in Latin. there is no statue or any other reminder of her reign. so thanks to Nancy Goldstone, an important historical figure has been revived. there is so much to learn about the circumstances of that time and how she prevailed. over the rumor of being the head of the intrigue to kill her husband, she lost her position, her land and almost her life, but defended herself, raised an army and regained the control of her country. during her reign the medical school in Salerno had an enormous increase in female licensed physicians. and it is not just for us older ladies who like to read historical books. recently I overheard another mom tell about her older teenager daughter praising the book.
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by SYD, Sarah Storm Report. Sarah Storm Report said: WOMEN'S VIEW: #tcot Game Change Isn’t “Real Journalism” http://bit.ly/avctvf #spwbt #palin12 #sgp [...]
Perhaps the best ” Palin” book is “Sarah from Alaska” as it is written by two young reporters who actually traveled with the governor on her campaign plane, covered her and attributed their quotations. Although I loved “Going Rogue” I understand the inherent biases in such a version of the facts. Back when I was in school hearsay was defined as an statement used ( as a fact)to support the issue before the court. Some coments are relevant just because they are made ,not if they are true, but in Game Changer all this third party gossip is pure hearsay and is relevant therefor, for nothing, certainly not to prove the truth of what is stated in the book. If it isnt admissible in court because it isn’t deemed reliable it certainy isnt worth the paper it is written on to me
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