Columbia Journalism Review -- Stupid? Arrogant? Or Just Lazy? I Report, You Decide

As first noted here at TCG on Thursday, The Columbia Journalism Review sets itself as the watchdog for the media. And yet CJR can't even watch over its own spelling. CJR pounds away at Fox News' Steve Doocy, but it does so in a singularly incompetent way. It misspells his name as "Doocey," and then repeats the error six times in the piece. And that piece was posted two days ago!

Yup, it was on Thursday morning that the erroneous article appeared. And now, two days later, as of Saturday morning, neither Liz Cox Barrett, nor her editors, have bothered to fix the error. Imagine, two full days after the pot called the kettle black, the pot is still black, and not only that, but the pot is fully oblivious to its own blackness, either through complacency, or arrogance or both.

It wasn't supposed to be this way: Here's CJR's ambitious"mission statement":

Columbia Journalism Review’s mission is to encourage and stimulate excellence in journalism in the service of a free society. It is both a watchdog and a friend of the press in all its forms, from newspapers to magazines to radio, television, and the Web. Founded in 1961 under the auspices of Columbia University’s Graduate School of Journalism, CJR examines day-to-day press performance as well as the forces that affect that performance. The magazine is published six times a year, and offers a deliberative mix of reporting, analysis, criticism, and commentary. CJR.org, our Web site, delivers real-time criticism and reporting, giving CJR a vital presence in the ongoing conversation about the media. Both online and in print, Columbia Journalism Review is in conversation with a community of people who share a commitment to high journalistic standards in the U.S. and the world.

Reading those high-minded words, The Cable Gamer might be induced to think that CJR was a cut above those relentlessly partisan (and Fox-bashing) outlets such as Media Matters. Yes, of course, TCG knew that CJR often used the guise of "media criticism" to blast conservative positions--especially the Iraq war, see the cover above, for example--but hey, that goes with the territory; this is the Ivy League after all, and Columbia U. was the school that invited Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to dispense his incendiary wisdom on campus.

But in addition to being liberal and partisan, CJR has also proven itself to be just as careless and incompetent in their writing craft.

Or maybe they're just lazy.

I report, you decide.

PS: TCG assumes, eventually, that CJR will correct this error. But just to help immortalize that error, TCG just did a Google search, using the search terms "steve doocey liz cox barrett." And of course, Google came back and asked "Did you mean: steve doocy liz cox barrett?" And I said "no thanks," of course, because I want "Doocy" spelled the way CJR spells Doocy. And of course, the first article that came up with the wrong-spelled search was Barrett's piece in CJR.

So if there's any justice on the Net, the CJR blunder--unfixed for two days and counting--will be cached forever inside Google, there to remind everyone that the mighty CJR has feet of clay--and quality control that's no better.

UPDATE: As of Sunday morning, the six errors are still not fixed! Mabye CJR is proud of itself for being stupid when it comes to Fox.

Gothamist Visits Fox & Friends

Gothamist is one of those cool websites that doesn't get enough attention in this crowded media market. But it always keeps up with entertainment, and it's always entertaining. A case in point is Toby von Meistersinger's item on Fox News Channel's "Fox & Friends."

What Toby wrote was interesting and knowing enough to be repeated in some detail, below:

We recently visited Fox News Channel’s morning show Fox & Friends. Unlike most of the other morning shows it is a freewheeling kind of crazy romp that definitely has “Fox attitude”.

We don’t know if that “Fox attitude” is what gives a different on-set vibe compared to other news sets, but it did seem like less of a precision military operation than their competition at the Today Show. It could be that the show is unscripted, so the anchors are thinking on their feet making the show seem more organic than other shows (which are almost all tightly scripted).

Another differentiating characteristic is its interactive component: Viewers e-mail, call in and become a part of the show, and the people outside the studio are “bit players,” too. They average about 1000 e-mails per day and the anchors log on during the breaks to get instant feedback on what they've done.

Watching this sausage get made was not as dull as being on other sets, and both cast and crew seem to be having genuine fun getting the show on air. The anchors are also just as fun and crazy when the cameras are not rolling, which might be why they have been the #1 cable news morning show for over five years and in some places even beat out the CBS Early Show.

The show and network has some critics (like Media Matters) and provides fodder for comedians (like Stephen Colbert). But how do those being criticized and made fun of like it? The show’s news anchor, Alisyn Camerota says, “We’re helping them out.” Anchor Steve Doocy told us, “I love it. It is free publicity for us because it is to a whole new audience that doesn’t watch news a lot. They get their news from the phony news channels.”

Obviously the "F&F" hosts have figured out how to deal with their critics, including Media Matters, those professional nitpickers.

The picture, above, is one of many from Gothamist--the site has a pretty slick "slide show" feature. But his pic shows how casual and loose the show is--and that comes across, even to those of us not lucky enough to hang around on set!

Maria Bartiromo Does Damage Control, Assisted by TV Newswer

Is Maria Bartiromo trying to insulate herself from the "blowback" that came Chris Matthews' way in the wake of his thuggish remarks at a DC party last week?

That was the chatter on "Fox & Friends," which consistently amazes me with its incisive commentary on Beltway politics, as well as what's happening in the media industry. Yes, Gretchen Carlson, Steve Doocy, and Brian Kilmeade live way outside of Washington, and yes they keep the show light and airy--with plenty of showbiz-y guests and "how to" segments, but at the same time, the Terrific Trio is always able to keep their collective 30 fingers on the pulse of DC, as well as NYC.

The Cable Gamer has always understood that "F&F" is the show most after Roger Ailes' own heart--that is, it's the show that most reflects his own personality: funny and fast-moving, entertaining, but at the same time, makes serious points.

Alas, TCG can't watch everything, and so, thanks to blogger Johnny Dollar, I was able to catch Gretchen, Steve, and Brian analyzing Bartiromo's behavior pattern. And you can, too!

And this item, from TV Newser, illustrates the lengths that Maria is willing to go to try to soften her image. As an aside, it's bad enough that MB would seek to puff herself up like this--but it's worse that TVN would "print" it: "Bartiromo's Busy Week"?

What kind of headline is that? What sort of news is that? Who doesn't have a busy week in The Cable Game? For her part, when TCG has nothing to say, she is silent as Nefertiti--you know, the famous bust, in which the ancient Egyptian queen has gazed at us, coolly, for three thousand years. I don't feel the need to fill in the empty spaces with empty filler. But as discussed here in the past, TVN doesn't see things that way. They use seemingly everything, and that makes the site busy (which is good), but cluttered (which is bad) and leaves one thinking that maybe p.r. types overly influence the site (which is really bad).