Story of the Day: NY Times Journalist Michael Powell Returns

Michael Powell dropped by again late yesterday to sort of wrap up his side of our ongoing discussion. Since I feel as though I did that in my last response, and also because this venue naturally provides me with the unfair advantage of having the last word, I will largely get out of the way this time and give the floor to Mr. Powell.

First, to everyone who’s been following this, where Powell and I agree to disagree should be obvious at this point. But in reexamining his piece over the course of our discussion, Powell has come around to recognize that he’s “very much in accord on context” and “could see a tweak here and there that might have helped here.”

It may not be the mea culpa some crave, but I believe it’s certainly a positive step on many levels. A New York Times reporter, a veteran mainstream journalist, not only was willing to enter the fray over his article, multiple times, but also freely embraced criticism, taking it seriously enough to reconsider his position, concede some points, and, yes, suffer the wrath wrought by all negligent mainstream news pieces before and since.

Can you imagine Joe Klein ever doing this? Or Judith Miller? Or David Broder? Or Tom Friedman? And remember, as opposed to Powell, these are journalists whose work has been widely criticized for years, yet the best they can muster in response is vitriol, condescension, willful ignorance or obliviousness. My criticism was of Powell’s one article, not his body of work. Nonetheless, he was willing to answer it.

Even in better times, mainstream journalism of course had its shortcomings. Like any profession, it employed its share of standouts and hacks. Though the Bush years unleashed a troubling form of journalistic malpractice that has gravely damaged the public trust. Aside from what’s so desperately needed of the mainstream media right now – more substantive, balanced and accurate reports - nothing will do more to begin to mend this trust than the kind of dialogue in which Mr. Powell was willing to engage. And I hope other mainstream journalists follow his lead.

Michael Powell's latest comments:

Dear Mr. Bloodhound,

I take your points, though I suspect we'll probably just leave this at an agreement to disagree. Certainly, many readers picked up on the tone of the piece, not least the Giuliani camp. I would argue, from the lede to the kicker, that it's clear that the tension is between Dr. J and Mr. Hyde. So we're talking about a makeover as opposed to a conversion. (As I note in the piece, Giuliani's done this before, in 1993).

I hear Batocchio [a blogger who left a comment] on Chris Matthews, but if I am now responsible for his comprehension, I'll hurl myself off of the top of Times Square.

As for the piece I penned a while back for the Post, keep in mnd that was, explicitly, a profile (and quite a bit longer than the NYT piece).

That said, I'm very much in accord on context, and I could see a tweak here and there that might have helped here. And Krugman offered a good, plain-spoken critique this week of much campaign coverage. But I'd also argue that as the MSM evolves, in no small part in reaction to the web and bloggerdom, readers will (and are) adjusting to new tones, new slants, some fooling around in the pages of the mainstream papers. Some of this will work, some won't. As I've often encouraged young writers: Take chances. The worst that will happen is that the bungee cord breaks and you do a header.

Anyway, dialogue is good. I remain working for MSM because it's one of the few places where you can simultaneously engage in good spirited arguments with people of many different views. But I'd acknowledge, rapidly and happily, that we're the better for the criticism (even when I'm accused--elsewhere--of being a gay lover of Rudy Giuliani. Exposed at Last!)

Best

Michael Powell

And his addendum:

Oh, and one other thing, and not addressed to Mr. Bloodhound.

Some of the other rumblings are kinda juvenile. Mr. Powell has been put on notice, Mr. Powell is ...

C'MON.

The attempt here is to have a nuanced discussion, largely successful on both sides. I'm laying out a rather elementary point. Yes, of course, bien sur, each story should have enough context and internal fairness to stand on its own. As I said, I'm very comfortable with that.

At the same time (this is called holding two thoughts in mind at one time--higher level simian behavior. If I can do it, trust me, anyone can), we have a broader goal: To paint, over time, a complex picture of a candidate. Can you do that in one piece? Nope.

That isn't to argue that you should simply take my arguments, or my pieces, on faith. And frankly, there's no danger of that. I'm all for rigorous criticism and good points, and I read a fair amount of this here (For the record, I have read blogs of all kinds for years ... ) But let's hold the threats, not least because those become not scary but laughable.

Real criticism of the type offered by Senor Bloodhound, forces one to think and defend and--who knows--rethink, and that's healthy. But that requires listening on both sides.

Michael

Comments

[MediaBloodhound]

NY Times Journalist Michael Powell Returns

[Richard Ray Harris]

I'd like to voice what I think MIGHT be going through the minds of us old enough to remember Powell's equivocations and revisions during My Lai Massacre hearings.. Powell is a company man who changes companies but stays close to power. The fact that he consistently upholds any US foreign adventure as justified shows the dead spot where his soul should be. He does not recoil against the violence of war because he has always been behind a desk with the rest of the chicken****s.

Who should have and could have stood up and said no to Bush and the UN presentation? Think of the suffering he has caused.

[Richard Ray Harris]

Sorry got sent this link by a well meaning IDIOT..wrong Powell, my error..

[Fred Fnord]

Just a suggestion, Mr. Powell, if you read this.

You're having a conversation with the Bloodhound. While you're welcome to respond to some of the comments if you want to, don't feel obligated to respond to them. Lord knows that the majority of the readers skip over the majority of the comments, because they're dumb or silly or obnoxious or just add nothing.

Basically, I don't really think you have to tell the commenters to grow up. They won't. Just have your conversation with the adults. Otherwise you can end up sounding like an adult explaining to someone else's kid why 'poopoohead' is not a cogent criticism of your latest piece. And after about the fortieth time you do that, you burn out on blogging and are never heard from again.

-fred

[irton]

Bravo, Bravo! I thought intelligent discourse was dead. It is so refreshing to see two adults talking in clear and precise language to come to terms with differing opinions. I hope and pray that this is contagious in the most virulent way.

[RubDMC]

"Lord knows that the majority of the readers skip over the majority of the comments, because they're dumb or silly or obnoxious or just add nothing."

Well, that's certainly the kind of statement that some people have learned to recognize as a gross generalization - maybe even a mean-spirited one.

My own suggestion - read every comment, no matter how painful it may be, no matter how ill-informed it may seem. If Abe Lincoln could stand the effort once each week of meeting every constituent willing to stand in line at the White House, I expect that the rest of us could make it through a few comment threads.

Unless some people are busier, or more important, than Abe Lincoln was.

[abiodun]

While it is commendable that Powell is engaging in terms of the critique of his saccharine article on Giuliani, I have basically tuned off the MSM largely. Take Matthews for instance, he obsesses so much over Sen. Clinton's "marital problems", but has never mentioned Giuliani's! Sometimes, I think he would have preferred the senator be a divorcee like Giuliani. He leads on most days with some not-so-falttering info on the Clintons. These people need to get out of their closeted world more often.

[Janus Daniels]

Good to read all this; thanks to all.

Michael Powell may regard his recent piece on Giuliani as explicitly a "piece" and part of an ongoing epistle that reaches more than a decade into the past, to "paint, over time, a complex picture of a candidate. Can you do that in one piece? Nope."

But, perhaps reporters can let us know which of their work to read as more of a fragment, more of a parallax or sidelight, than a grand view. "Certainly, many readers picked up on the tone of the piece, not least the Giuliani camp," because they had that context.

Expecting all, or even most readers, to know that context seems less than fair to me. Without that specific historical context, we have the current context of candidates who lack the honesty and intelligence to endorse evolution, or the decency and integrity to condemn torture... and a press that pampers and promotes them.

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