As covered by NewsBusters managing editor Ken Shepherd in his post last Wednesday, Seattle Times executive editor David Boardman scolded his staffers for cheering when news of Karl Rove's resignation from the White House was announced. Now one of those cheering staffers has issued an apology...of sorts. In a column reeking with self-righteousness while at the same time attacking bloggers for bringing down the level of journalism, staff columnist Nicole Brodeur writes:
That was me.
I was one of the people who cheered in The Seattle Times news meeting Monday when it was announced that presidential adviser Karl Rove had resigned.
Following that admission, Brodeur goes on to slam bloggers for harming the sacred purity of (liberal) journalism:
The hallowed halls of journalism that I was privileged to enter more than 20 years ago are looking more and more like the New York subway. The walls covered in bloggers' scrawl, the platform crowded with any yahoo with a camera and an open mike. All are headed to your computer screen or television for the 15 seconds you'll give them before moving on to the next hot spot.
We can understand Brodeur's anger at bloggers. After all it was they who publicized the complete lack of professionalism on the part of Brodeur and her fellow Seattle Times staffers when the Rove resignation was announced. With a stupendous chip on her shoulder, Brodeur goes on to declare the moral and intellectual superiority of both herself and her fellow Seatle Times staffers to those lowly bloggers:
That's not how we do things at this newspaper.
Here, every morning, some 20 smart, educated, well-read and diverse people gather around a table and talk. We offer opinions on how stories were approached, written and presented. We say what worked, what didn't, and how we can do it better next time.
After patting herself on the back, Brodeur exhibits her Rove Derangement Syndrome as justification for her cheering:
I cheered in that meeting because I think Karl Rove is a dangerous man who has done enough whispering in President Bush's ear.
...So you bet I cheered at that meeting. I cheered because I thought I could.
You cheered because you thought you could, Nicole, and now you're angry because the "lowly" bloggers caught you in the act. She finally finishes off her partial birth apology with an explanation that her worst sin might have been that it validated the observation that the MSM is biased:
But I shouldn't have. It lacked consideration for other people in the room who may have other views about Karl Rove and George Bush, and held their tongues. It also flew in the face of the standard of objectivity that we as journalists try to uphold every day. Worse, it validates every fear people have about the media.
All these years, and I'm still learning.
And still passionate. I just need to choose my spots.
Perhaps you need to choose a spot to exhibit your inappropriate liberal bias, such as cheering the Rove resignation, out of sight of us lowly bloggers and "yahoos."
