The Impersonators

Asking the question, Is The Press Like Rich Little, An Impersonation? the Hartford Advocate, in a piece entitled Are We Still Alive?, looks at Rich Little's selection for the White House Correspondents Association dinner. The initial reaction to Little's selection was that the WHCA was too wimpy to permit the Bush Administration to be bashed -- even by a comedian.

Echoing my comments at That's Rich, Alan Bisbort says:

The first question anyone asks when they hear his name now is: Is he still alive? It’s the question I asked the other day when I heard that Paul Harvey had said some racist thing on the radio: Is Paul Harvey still alive? Do they still prop that corpse up in front of a microphone?

See also, Extreme Mortman's roundup of blog comments on his resurrection (including yours truly), in his post cleverly named The Death Of Comedy.

Bisbort then looks inward -- at journalism itself and what this seemingly minor squeamishness portends. As he observes:

But I think a wider view of this seemingly petty entertainment choice is warranted. That is, we should ask: Is American journalism still alive? By journalism, I mean print, TV and radio news venues. Circulation figures of daily newspapers are in free fall; as reporters leave, they are not replaced. The void is not filled with competent freelancers. It’s filled with hobbyist hacks or “interns,” essentially working for free or close to it. The readers, publishers seem to think, don’t know the difference. Ah, but they do, which explains the falling circulation figures, all of which can’t conveniently be blamed on the Internet.

Radio stations that once provided alternative views and community news are dying. Even classical music stations — which at least provided reliable quality — are being replaced with “all talk.” But this doesn’t mean news. It means talk. Talk, talk talk — either the babble of shock jocks or soothing tones of an NPR nice person slathering icing on the shit sandwich we’re forced to eat each day in the Age of Bush because they’re scared some mean GOP thug will pull their plug (memo to NPR: As the last election showed, the American people hold the GOP in as high regard as staph infections). TV news is a joke, literally. The two best news programs are Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert’s shows, which are parodies. And Keith Olbermann, an ex-ESPN voice who’s morphed into Edward R. Murrow, is fast moving up into third place. Katie Couric? Please. The late great Ed Bradley from 60 Minutes gets replaced by Scott Pelley? Pathetic.

* * * *

So the question is begged: Is the press even alive? Or is it, like Rich Little, merely an impersonation? If Little or the White House press corps had any spine at all — and weren’t just serving as court jesters for petulant King George — they would refuse to abide by the event’s restrictions. Instead, Little should stick the shiv deep into the soft white underbelly of power, and the White House press corps should laugh its collective asses off. That may be the only thing that will save them at this point.

Bisbort's words are so true. Entertainment does not equal news. Although you'd be hard pressed to know that by watching what passes for news today. And worst of all, it's not even funny. I guess that's why Stewart & Colbert have become more popular than traditional news (print or TV). At least you get to laugh while you cry about what's really going on.

Tags: News & Media, Commentary, Journalism, Rich Little, WHCA