3 ms·

For those that haven't read the OP, this comment is misleading. The original author, Erik Hoel, is not complaining about the _use_ of press releases, but takin

For those that haven't read the OP, this comment is misleading. The original author, Erik Hoel, is not complaining about the _use_ of press releases, but taking exception to the general lack of attribution and the dishonest way that news outlets incorporate press releases into articles to imply quotations were obtained by reporters.

xnorswap 4y ago
That's entirely the intention of press releases. For a better critique of modern journalism and uncritical regurgitation of press releases and where it leads then Flat Earth News by Nick Davies is great reading.
roenxi 4y ago
The article is being naive in its views of what the institutions of journalism are trying to accomplish. It is obvious that they are not interested in disseminating facts. Wikipedia crushed the entire industry of for-profit journalists in getting reasonably sourced information out to the world. With lower costs and generally better accuracy and less bias. Mostly by accident and because their deep-citation approach is just better than the alternatives. Top 10 global website, and all that. The level of failure there by the media not copying them goes beyond incompetence, it is clear that there is no interest. None. Not worth a penny. Nothing of interest to the media. If the article writer wants to play along with the pretend game then sure, the journalists working for the places he lists are just having a little moment of weakness on a path to bettering their practices. No doubt their bosses are staring glumly into their coffee mugs wondering how to get better information out to the patient masses! However the world is going to be a strange place where nothing seems to quite happen the way he expects, if he wants to believe that. Journalists are creators of new, interesting and original content. That is often somewhat related to things that are factual. But they are not fact distributors.

xnorswap 4y ago

That's entirely the intention of press releases. For a better critique of modern journalism and uncritical regurgitation of press releases and where it leads then Flat Earth News by Nick Davies is great reading.

roenxi 4y ago

The article is being naive in its views of what the institutions of journalism are trying to accomplish. It is obvious that they are not interested in disseminating facts. Wikipedia crushed the entire industry of for-profit journalists in getting reasonably sourced information out to the world. With lower costs and generally better accuracy and less bias. Mostly by accident and because their deep-citation approach is just better than the alternatives. Top 10 global website, and all that. The level of failure there by the media not copying them goes beyond incompetence, it is clear that there is no interest. None. Not worth a penny. Nothing of interest to the media. If the article writer wants to play along with the pretend game then sure, the journalists working for the places he lists are just having a little moment of weakness on a path to bettering their practices. No doubt their bosses are staring glumly into their coffee mugs wondering how to get better information out to the patient masses! However the world is going to be a strange place where nothing seems to quite happen the way he expects, if he wants to believe that. Journalists are creators of new, interesting and original content. That is often somewhat related to things that are factual. But they are not fact distributors.