Although its prestige has plummeted over the years, the Columbia Journalism Review is still considered an icon in reporting on Journalism and Journalists.
That may have changed quite dramatically with CJR’s “Best and Worst Journalism of 2015” piece. One can argue that the list of top Journalism stories might be on target. Bill Cosby’s numerous rape accusers, an in-depth story on Warren Buffet, the dramatic photo of a dead child on a beach highlighting the refugee crisis, etc.
But, how CJR’s editors determined the absolute worst story of the year was Brian Williams embellishing an Iraq war situation is beyond belief. Major figures “misremember” or embellish stories all the time.
One would be hard-pressed to find any politician who has not enhanced a story. But to say Williams did something so horrible that it was the worst story of the year is beyond comprehension. Or possibly a shot by print editors to a TV Journalist.
Other “worst” stories included picking on millennials, coverage of mass shootings and police brutality, Donald Trump, Islamophobia and a Gawker story about married executive’s tryst with a gay escort. Really? These were the worst stories some of the most influential Journalists in the world could muster?
They seem like a rundown of political views, not major Journalism flaws.
Ironically, CJR’s editors overlooked Rolling Stone’s despicable story about an alleged rape at a University of Virginia fraternity that tarnished the entire school to the point where enrollment actually dropped. Unfortunately, the story was proven to be totally false and similar to what occurred a few years ago with the lacrosse team at Duke University.
Technically, the rape story first ran in November 2014, but the magazine’s dramatic apology didn’t run until April of this year. It proved to be a classic case of a story simply “too good to verify.” Editors so much wanted to believe white frat guys raped a poor girl that they simply did not let facts get in the way of a great storyline.
How about the media’s horrendous coverage of “Pink Viagra” that used the media to push a sexist agenda to get the drug approved. Or a 16-year-old duping the New York Times in its reporting of a major shooting in Charleston (LINK).
How can CJR overlook the major coverage of Rachel Dolezal, who headed up the Spokane NAACP until it was discovered she is not a minority?
How about Starbucks awful “Race Together” marketing campaign where customers could come in and chat about race issues with Starbucks baristas? It may have been the worst conceived campaign in history.
In many ways the Washington Post should have received an award for the best Journalism for showing the Rolling Stone article as completely bogus.
The final report about the Rolling Stone story says it all: “This report is intended as a work of journalism about a failure of journalism.”
