I don’t always agree with the approach and decisions of the news organization that employs me and have never felt any pressure to play cheerleader for it, but I think it handled Limbaugh’s death expertly. Those appraisals were obliged, for the sake of history and accuracy, to note and be reasonably blunt about how he used his format, what listeners were thrilling to and what impact it had on the country’s political culture. Those are the terms of the contract.Īnd it would be journalistic malpractice and morally wrong to publish obituaries about Limbaugh that merely noted his role in the rise of talk radio and his adoration by millions of listeners. If you’re going to fling your opinions at the world, you must be braced for the world to fling its reaction back at you. In real time his critics labeled his hate and his ignorance - which were his steppingstones to fame and riches - for what they were, exposing them and pushing back at him. ![]() But were they necessary at that exact moment and in that particular context? All of them were justly and repeatedly slung at Limbaugh when he was alive. I also don’t quibble with the accuracy of the nasty nouns in HuffPost’s damning litany. But is that really what they want to lavish a cute little heart symbol on? I don’t begrudge them their relief that he’s no longer ranting. One tweet said that Limbaugh “brought a lot of people a lot of joy by dying.” It was liked by more than 35,000 of the morbidly contented. There was wishing that he would rot there. There was speculation that Limbaugh had gone to a very hot place reputed to have nine circles and a red, horned ruler. The F word, followed immediately by Limbaugh’s name, was taken out for a spin. ![]() Of course, they were positively restrained in comparison with Twitter, which is basically talk radio’s less windy bastard child. Several other left-leaning sites took the same tack and tone. “BIGOT, MISOGYNIST, HOMOPHOBE, CRANK: RUSH LIMBAUGH DEAD.” Those were the words, capitalized and adrenalized, that HuffPost splashed across its home page.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |