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[scriver]

Scriver, the media doesn't care about ethics or professionalism.

And that is why every paper is The Sun.

Oh wait.

Scriver, the media doesn't care about ethics or professionalism.

Sure they do. The media corporations have a professional and ethical obligation to the profits of their shareholders. Reporting anything other than the most salacious and sensational news would violate corporate ethics.

...

On a less cynical note, what are the ethics behind a journalist choosing to not cover a story because it negatively impacts the opinion of a public figure? That is at least as ethically questionable, if not more so than reporting the names and picture of said figure after an arrest.

Well, of course that is both unethical and unprofessional too. But those are not opposites, there's no reason you can't both report it and leave out name/face. I will also admit that the more powerful you get, the less unethical it gets to show them (but it never stops being unethical). I was unerring the impression that the mug-and-name of the person in that article was just some employee of q hired company, though. I just glanced over the article itself, I simply reacted to when "mugshot released" was brought up.

[nenjin]

On a less cynical note, what are the ethics behind a journalist choosing to not cover a story because it negatively impacts the opinion of a public figure? That is at least as ethically questionable, if not more so than reporting the names and picture of said figure after an arrest.

IIRC, it's about whether it's in the public interest to know these things. That includes everything from celebrities to politicians. Now, for example, you'll notice the Wall Street Journal doesn't bother to run stories about Lindsey Lohan, while TMZ does nothing but run that shit.

But basically, you sign away your rights to privacy in the media's eyes when you become a "public figure", as well as the law's. Public figures as defined by the courts can't exercise a lot of right to privacy, if they willingly entered the public sphere.  It's still up to individual news organizations to decide what's germane to the public interest in your life and what's not.....but generally anything you do is fair game, especially on a slow news day. (Or in the middle of a media frenzy event, like an election.)

[Lord Shonus]

Regarding criminals, I personally know people who had their charges dropped because somebody recognized them on the news and was able to provide an alibi that cleared them. The general philosophy is that the greater transparency in the system, the better. Naturally, this lends itself to trial by media and other related horrors, but there's no clear right or wrong.

[kaenneth]

The problem isn't the media making accusations public; it's the public assuming they are true.

[Lord Shonus]

Quite so. Nonetheless, it's a question that does not have an easy and clear "right" answer.

[sneakey pete]

The problem isn't the media making accusations public; it's the public assuming they are true.

How is the public supposed to presume anything else if only one angle of a story is shown?

[Nadaka]

I just got a "political" DVD in the mail...

Dreams from My Real☭ Father

A story of reds and deception

Directed by Joel Gilbert

At age 18, Barack Obama admittedly arrived at Occidental College a committed revolutionary Marxist. What was the source of Obama's foundation in Marxism? Throughout his 2008 Presidential campaign and term in office, questions have been raised regarding Barack Obama's family background, economic philosophy, and fundamental political ideology. Dreams from My Real Father is the alternative Barack Obama "autobiography," offering a divergent theory of what may have shaped our 44th President's life and politics?

In Dreams from My Real Father, Barack Obama is portrayed by a voiceover actor who chronicles Barack Obama's life journey in socialism, from birth through his election to the Presidency. The film begins by presenting the case that Barack Obama's real father was Frank Marshall Davis, a Communist Party USA propagandist who likely shaped Obama's world view during his formative years. Barack Obama sold himself to America as the multi-cultural ideal, a man who stood above politics. Was the goat herding Kenyan father only a fairy tale to obscure a Marxist agenda, irreconcilable with American values?

This fascinating narrative is based in part on 2 years of research, interviews, newly unearthed footage and photos, and the writings of Davis and Obama himself. Dreams from My Real Father weaves together the proven facts with reasoned logic in an attempt to fill-in the obvious gaps in Obama's history. Is this the story Barack Obama should have told, revealing his true agenda for "fundamentally transforming America?" Director Joel Gilbert concludes, "To understand Obama's plans for America, the question is "Who is the real father?""

It is produced by: A Highway 61 Entertainment Production highway61ent.com

the postmarked address is DFMRF, LLC 365 E. Avenida de Los Arboles #1000, Thousand Oaks CA 91360

WTF?

edit:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/with-dreams-from-my-real-father-have-obama-haters-hit-rock-bottom.html

I have not watched it yet, but apparently it also contains faked images of his mother in a bondage/porn film...

I don't believe I have said it but...

WTF!?

[Scelly9]

Oh gods that is absolutely hilarious.

[MetalSlimeHunt]

This is so completely off the wall it might actually help Obama.

[Scelly9]

His mom was in a porn flick? Hell yeah I'll vote for that!

 

[Reelya]

You should get those people who think his dad was an American Communist Party member in touch with the Birthers. They'd have a lot to discuss.

It's interesting that Frank Marshall Davis would have been about 55 when Obama was conceived, while Obama's mother was 19. She liked old guys apparently.

EDIT: Scratch the Communist link, Davis was "suspected" of being a Communist during the McCarthy Years. But so was about half the country.

[kaijyuu]

This stuff is as depressing as it is amusing. Sure, it's ridiculous, but there are nutcases out there that actually believe it. Like Conservapedia, I laugh for 5 minutes, then start to feel down.

[Shadowlord]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/28/with-dreams-from-my-real-father-have-obama-haters-hit-rock-bottom.html

What the hell.

[Mego]

This stuff is as depressing as it is amusing. Sure, it's ridiculous, but there are nutcases out there that actually believe it. Like Conservapedia, I laugh for 5 minutes, then start to feel down.

I like to think that modern conservative values were created by Poe's Law going horribly wrong. One guy posts a trolololo platform of ridiculous things, and suddenly everyone thinks it's legit and starts following.

I would be more comfortable if that was true.

[Reelya]

Anyone who needs to argue with people who believe the Dreams of My Real Father, simply point out that two of the director's other recent films are "Elvis Found Alive" and "Paul McCartney Really Is Dead: The Last Testament of George Harrison"

The guy specializes in parodies of conspiracy theories. Perhaps he's punk'd half the country?