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Wednesday, April 22, 2009

Media / Drugs Conscientious Journalists of the Day

Posted by Dan Savage on Wed, Apr 22, 2009 at 9:41 AM

Casey McNerthney and Levi Pulkkinen at the SeattlePI.com. From their piece today about the Honduran crack-cocaine ring busts in Belltown:

Harry Levine, a Spokane native and sociology professor at City University of New York's Queens College, was skeptical that actions like that undertaken by Seattle police Saturday will leave a lasting impact on street drug sales in the city. Levine, who has written extensively on crack use in the country, said dealers will remain displaced as long as police remain in the area. The customers will follow them to the block or corner where the drug trade reconstitutes itself.

"That's true for prostitution, it's true for teens hanging out at night. It's the same basic principal," Levine said. "Ultimately, the customers who went there will still be looking for what they went there for."

That change—Levine called it the "push-down, pop-up phenomenon"—is what brought the Honduran drug ring to Belltown in the first place, according to court documents.

Christine Clarridge's piece in Sunday's Seattle Times also included the perspective of critics of the War on Drugs.

When Dom and I first started calling out the stupid fucking credulous hacks at the daily papers who dutifully transcribed DEA press releases and allowed local police and prosecutors to describe each new grow-up bust or round up of low-level drug dealers as a major breakthrough in the War on Drugs that had surely brought us one step closer to a Drug-Free America—without tossing a graf for to someone on the other side of the War On Drugs—I got angry notes from editors at the dailies. These weren't pieces about the efficacy of the drug war, but news stories about crime and law enforcement, and there aren't two sides to law enforcement stories. Something is either illegal or it's not—and, hey, over here at the dailies we don't stoop to advocacy journalism, not like you drug-addled amateurs at the Stranger. (And they don't—unless the story involves salting roads or estate tax cuts or banning plastic bags...) I'm glad they came around—because it's more fun to pass out CJATDs than it was to pass out SFCHOTDs.

Comments (19) RSS

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Still seems like the daily that is now online-only is doing more analysis (and truth-telling) here about policy effects. I suspect that says something about the divide between people who read online and people who read pulp.

Posted by George on April 22, 2009 at 9:49 AM

"because it's more fun to pass out CJATDs than it was to pass out SFCHOTDs."

Right on, Dan. It's considerably more fun to read these, as well. No kidding.

Posted by Ackham on April 22, 2009 at 9:50 AM

Pretty sure you don't think it's "more fun," Dan. I don't see you checking Google to see if you landed Casey with a top hit as "Conscientious Journalist[s] of the Day." It isn't as joyful and pleasing to you as getting some new reporters name up on Google as a Stupid Fucking Credulous Hack.

You should be so proud of yourself.

Posted by please on April 22, 2009 at 9:51 AM

The 'Conscientious Journalists of the Day'
might, in the interest of accuracy, be renamed the
'Dutifully Regurgitating Far Left Talking Points Disguised as News' award.

Posted by just thought you'd want to know on April 22, 2009 at 10:00 AM

1
It says more about the presence or not of adults editing.

Posted by Journalism 101 on April 22, 2009 at 10:02 AM

The principal is your pal!

Posted by leek on April 22, 2009 at 10:06 AM

Dan if you do, Dan if you don't.

Posted by deril on April 22, 2009 at 10:11 AM

hear, hear on the journalism point. As for the drug bust...I agree it's ineffective and a waste of scarce funds, but the drug trade was making btown sketchy even for my wacko liberal taste. We get a few days reprieve from the petty crime and violently jonesing junkies.

Posted by news junkie on April 22, 2009 at 10:14 AM

It’s the “advocacy journalism” that makes the Stranger worth reading – and more daily papers would have done well to have followed suit (and acted like the watchdog for the public interest that should be the role of the Press), rather than being “credulous hacks” afraid to go against the prevailing viewpoint of the Powers That Be.

Thanks for being a news source worth reading, and giving props to journalists who are acting as real journalists.

Posted by hyzenthlayk9 on April 22, 2009 at 10:17 AM

It seems like when you don't have the considerable costs of printing a dead tree edition every day, you might be willing to take more risks. Maybe.

Posted by keshmeshi on April 22, 2009 at 10:40 AM

That isn’t necessarily so (that the absence of a daily print version makes one more willing to take editorial risks) – though money for operating is always an issue to some degree.

More it is the integrity of a news outlet’s editorial staff and the support that they give their journalists (standing by them when pressured by advertisers and those in power); as well as to the standards that they hold their writing and research staff accountable (verification, attribution, and context or sources of further information).

Much of the media, electronic as well as print, has turned to ‘grazing’ – just giving the surface of a story, with no history or setting how the story relates to the larger community or issue(s) being discussed.

That’s one of the reasons why it is important to ‘call out’ and recognize good reporting and serious journalism when it comes along.

Posted by hyzenthlayk9 on April 22, 2009 at 11:08 AM

It is objective truthful journalism that gives newspapers value to society – and more daily papers would have done well to have tried that, rather than being “credulous hacks” afraid to go against the prevailing viewpoint of the Far Left Political Correctness Police.

Posted by bye bye, New York Times on April 22, 2009 at 11:22 AM

Translation: We're pushing the drug dealers into the U District and Fremont, so that more kids can die, instead of dealing with the problem.

Second Translation: We want you to be really scared so you'll increase the police budget during a time of cutbacks for everyone else.

... way to go ...

Posted by Will in Seattle on April 22, 2009 at 11:25 AM

Will seems even sadder and angrier than usual this week -- go take your medication.

Posted by Good Grief on April 22, 2009 at 11:36 AM

Seattle sucks and everyone there should kill themselves today.

Posted by you know it is true, DO IT! on April 22, 2009 at 11:54 AM

Follow your heroes Kunt Cobain and Layme Staley to the grave today! It's cool!

Posted by try heroin, ten million dead junkies can't be wrong on April 22, 2009 at 12:59 PM

@14 - every time you "crack down" on homeless people or drug dealers downtown or Belltown, they just migrate to the safer neighborhoods.

It's not like they actually "go away".

Posted by Will in Seattle on April 22, 2009 at 1:15 PM

Shhhh! Don't tell the papers what they're doing wrong and maybe they'll just go away.

Posted by Vince on April 22, 2009 at 1:21 PM

But if we go away, who will tell you that your public university president got fired for sending sexually explicit e-mails to a janitor? What will you do when the Church of Scientology woos city government and sneaks a church-backed anti-drug program into the school? If a police administrator runs from a hit and run late at night and ditches his loaded gun, don't you want to know?

Or, you know, we can just go write press releases for three times what we get now. Whatever.

Posted by Lois Lane on April 25, 2009 at 3:00 PM