Jon Stewart is my hero this week.
If you haven’t yet seen video of Stewart’s from-the-heart-rant on CrossFire, it’s worth the time.
Great discussions initiated by Dave Winer and Chris Pirillo on this. Continuing the discussion here.
Wasn’t he a customer saying he wasn’t satisfied with the service?
Should journalists listen to their customers? (I don’t mean advertisers, I mean the people who read, listen to, or watch their reports.)
Should they try to give them what they want?
If not, why not?
Would journalism get better?
Some journalists say they give the customers what they want, but I wonder about that.
If they were, wouldn’t they have to listen to customers?
As a customer myself, I heartily say YES to this.
The downside is…the theatre seems to be what many customers want. Is it the escapism that is the draw for the watered-down current state of journalistic affairs? The consistency? The lack of conflict?
As a part of what I hope is a sizable demographic, I’m going to line up with Stewart. Journalists, stop the charade. Stop worrying about “losing access” by asking the tough questions.
Start doing your job.