"So I wonder why are you boring all of us with the same pathetic rhetoric you used two years ago? Then I was a "poster boy" for liberal bias in the media. Today you call me a "poster child" for slanted coverage. From "poster boy" to "poster child" isn't much of a leap, is it Mr. Conblog?" -- retired CBS News correspondent Eric Engberg in his comments directed at me on the CBS News Blog, "Public Eye"
You might remember Eric Engberg. Perhaps it's from his reporting on the CBS Evening News over the years. Maybe it's from some of his columns on the CBS News web site. One of those columns was highlighted here on ConBlog back in November of last year.
I went after Mr. Engberg for his column titled, "Blogging as Typing, Not Journalism." In his missive, he criticized blogging as a fad, equating it to the CB radio. Well, Engberg is back again and, would you believe, on a blog??
Yes, Mr. Engberg has now posted his thoughts on the CBS News "Public Eye" blog.
Now, Public Eye is a decent blog and has dealt with some issues in a very honest and direct way. It is an ombudsman of sorts, and as a somewhat regular reader I think they have done a good job. On Friday, November 11, 2005, Public Eye featured a column in the Outside Voices section by Eric Engberg. The posting was preceded by the following blurb:
Each week we invite someone from the outside to weigh in with their thoughts about CBS News and the media at large. This week, we asked Eric Engberg, who spent two decades covering and uncovering Washington for CBS News. His reporting led to the only criminal conviction the government made stick on Oliver North and Engberg headed the reporting team that revealed to the country that the Vietnam veteran honored at the Tomb of the Unknowns was not unknown, but an Air Force pilot from Missouri named Michael Joseph Blassie. For most of the 1990's, Engberg did the "Reality Check" feature on "The CBS Evening News." He was known as one of the most dogged and irreverent reporters in Washington, with one of the great b.s. detectors in the business. Engberg retired from CBS in 2002. When he's not protecting his boat from hurricanes on Florida's West Coast, he continues to obsess over various news stories and contribute to CBSNews.com. A piece he wrote headlined "Blogs As Typing, Not Journalism" stirred up a great argument in the blogging kingdom. Expect to see more of him on Public Eye. As always, the opinions expressed in “Outside Voices” are those of the author, not ours, and we seek a wide variety of voices.
I read the column---as I suggest you do---because some of Engberg's conclusions are right on the money. Engberg is absolutely correct with some of his diagnosis of the media. (That is, once you parse out the swipes at the current administration.)
I then posted the following in the comments for the article:
It think that it is difficult to take Eric Engberg seriously anymore as "one of the most dogged and irreverent reporters in Washington, with one of the great b.s. detectors in the business."I say this not just because of his previous eschewal of blogs and bloggers, but also because he seems to be the poster child for slanted coverage in Bernard Goldberg's book, "Bias."
I do think he makes some valid points with regard to journalistic practice, but I'll still take everything he writes with a grain of salt.
Posted by conblog at 10:45 AM : November 11, 2005
In light of Engberg's own writings and those of his former colleague Bernie Goldberg, I thought it dubious at best that he was described as having "one of the great b.s. detectors in the business." I mean, c'mon already! It made me wonder if Mr. Engberg's heralded "b.s. detector" went off when he wrote this particular posting FOR A BLOG! (Amazing the difference a year makes, isn't it?)
(For those of you not aware, and in the interest of having perspective, you should also read "Bias." The first two chapters deal directly with Engberg and his reporting.)
Well, apparently Eric Engberg couldn't resist...
Thanks to everyone who had a comment -- except for "conblog," who appears interested only in personal attack, not discussing the issues I raised.There is a conservative website based in New Hampshire and run by a fellow named Smith which made an attack against me -- using many of the same words -- when I wrote about problems with blogging a couple of years ago. I have to assume you are the same critic. So I wonder why are you boring all of us with the same pathetic rhetoric you used two years ago? Then I was a "poster boy" for liberal bias in the media. Today you call me a "poster child" for slanted coverage. From "poster boy" to "poster child" isn't much of a leap, is it Mr. Conblog?
Have you learned no new words, studied no new forms of invective since you last wrote about me? Or do you believe old, tired, tried and true negative campaigning is most effective?
You yourself end your comment by saying I make valid points about journalistic practice. Why did you not wish to discuss any of the points I made; are you too busy scrolling through your own ancient posts to discuss something new?
To I.F. Stoner ("Too little, too late) I can only say it's a shame to see the name of I.F. Stone, a truly great journalist, being besmirched by someone with views as mindless and empty of ideas as yours.
Cheers,
Engberg
Posted by Engberg3 at 4:24 PM : November 11, 2005
So, Eric Engberg calls me out on his (former) network's blog site saying that I'm interested only in personal attack? Oh, that's rich.
Mr.Engberg,You can parse the difference between "poster boy" and "poster child" all you like.
My criticisms of you are the same because the song you're singing is still the same, sir. The only thing that surprises me about you is that you've now chosen to use the forum that you'd shunned previously.
"Old, tired, tried and true negative campaigning?" I am not running for anything, sir. I am more interested in why you now choose to embrace the very forum you shunned.
I'd be more than happy to address the points I think you're right about. I do think that the 24 hour news channels beat down "access" instead of "news." It's completely watered down the "product" and killed the news cycle.
I also agree that every news organization out there should revisit their rules for anonymous sourcing. Readers and viewers should definitely know what the rules are and what expectations they should have.
You are 100% correct in suggesting a "sea change" in Beltway journalism. The old rules and methods don't work anymore and are only serving to create ennui.
What I said isn't a personal attack-it's a valid interpretation and opinion of your credentials in journalism based on the testimony of one of your former colleagues and by your own writing.
But, hey...welcome to the Blogosphere, Eric. Glad to see you've changed your mind to find an audience. I hope you've dusted off your CB radio, as well.
William Smith
Conservative BloggerPosted by conblog at 12:02 PM : November 13, 2005
Now I'm sure Engberg is going to harass me for my use of the word "shunned" twice. I'll let him have that. I mean, I could have been a bit more creative, right? There are such great words out there like disdain or contempt. The fact is, I let Eric Engberg off easy. My bad.
I also want to point out where I think Engberg is right on several counts, because he is.
Now...let me drop some science on you Engberg, because I know you're going to read this. You've already proven you've come here once, and I know you won't be able to resist coming here again to see what I've got to say about you.
Eric, you wouldn't receive criticism on your writing or reporting if you could do it in any kind of objective manner. It was true of your "Reality Check" piece on the Steve Forbes flat tax that Goldberg took you to task on. It was true of your column on blogging and bloggers. It's true of your column that ran on Veterans' Day.
If you'd made your points based on the profession itself, there would be no way I'd have been able to take you to task, but you couldn't do it. You had to work in shots on the Administration because you just couldn't help yourself.
Buddy, you didn't write your column on blogging two years ago so I don't know how I could have written about it then. You couldn't even get that fact right.
The truth, Mr. Engberg, is that you only diagnosed half the problem. You're right that the cable outlets have watered down the news coverage, but people like you and of your ilk are part of the problem. News consumers are intelligent and savvy and we're not content with what the "hard news" broadcasts spoon feed on a nightly basis. The way that you and your crew used to do things are, if you'll pardon the pun, "old news" and the time has come for a change.
Hurl all the stones at me you like, Eric. I can take it because the truth and the evidence are on my side. Call me names and attack my site as much as you want. It's all a pathetic attempt to draw the attention away from what you've said and been saying for years. You want to quibble over semantics---the use of "poster boy" or "poster child." Why not address the underlying charges, Mr. Engberg? Why not take me to task on the criticism and refute it?
Can you?
I mean, it's nice to see you embrace blogging and participate even if it does smack of blatant hypocrisy on your part. Public Eye says we'll see you out there more and I encourage your participation, quite frankly. Perhaps you'll see that blogging was never about journalism in the first place. It's about something much more elemental.
It's about truth and, the truth is, Eric, you might want to revisit quitting your day job.
William Smith
ConservativeBlogger.com
