I'm not a big Rush Limbaugh fan. I respect the man and many of his views but my car radio time is devoted to jazz; I think I get more comprehensive and current news and opinion on the Internet, and much higher toned information from The Weekly Standard, National Review, The American Enterprise, and even the evil, liberal The New Republic.
But I heard Rush comment on this many years ago: that people in Journalism school "were there to change the world" -- not provide facts, or relate information, or even look good on TV.
John Fund has done some good reporting on Mary Mapes, the infamous producer of the RaTHergate story on 60 Minutes. He found that she missed a physical -- no, wait, that she has a history of scantily sourced stories that promote her worldview.
Former colleagues of Ms. Mapes agree that she was a passionate practitioner of advocacy journalism. "She went into journalism to change society," says former KIRO anchorwoman Susan Hutchison. "She always was very, very cause-oriented." Lou Guzzo, a former KIRO news commentator who served as counselor to the late Gov. Dixy Lee Ray, a Democrat, says advocates in journalism are fine, "but if you're as liberal and activist as Mary and work on the news rather than the opinion side, it creates problems."
On one hand, I am concerned that Mapes is the sacrificial lamb, to be slaughtered to protect Dan Rather. Reading Fund's piece, she's part of the problem.
As soon as she cleans out her desk at CBS, however, her replacement is sure to be cut from the same cloth.