A Few Thoughts From Your Friendly 'Thought Police'
Steve Walsh is no longer working as a reporter for Missourinet. In a message posted Tuesday on his personal blog, Walsh specifically references this post I wrote on Fired Up! last Friday, and this related post by Media Matters, as evidence that "the left wing blogosphere got hold of" an ill-informed tweet "and went nuts."
I wasn't sure how or if I'd respond to the news in this space. I don't regret writing the post, and would do so again without hesitation. His tweet and "I'm outta here ... For now" blog post reveal his belief that accepting the facts of climate change is akin to "religion" of "the American Left." Any professional journalist who remains willfully ignorant of the actual science and parrots right-wing talking points about the matter deserves the criticism.
It's also worth noting that Walsh violated his own standards of professional journalism outlined in a 2008 post for Missourinet, "The differences between 'us' and 'them'." His essay, which criticizes Fired Up!, the Source and the now-defunct Missouri Pulse by name, was about those he saw as "agenda-driven individuals" hoping to "get you to 'swallow the Kool-Aid' and see things his or her way." In his own words, Walsh says he was prompted to write the post about "us and them" (i.e., professionals working for mainstream news companies and bloggers) by "the lack of accountability and how readers must be skeptical of things they read on the web." His post closes with the following:
Had anyone in the Post-Dispatch, KC Star, Columbia Tribune, or Missourinet newsroom been given a "tip" of any kind ... that "tip" would have been thoroughly verified to ensure its accuracy. We are accountable and have reputations to uphold ... while most in the political blogosphere are accountable to no one. And that, folks, is the difference between "us" and "them."
Since that time, Walsh has continued to opine on how professional journalism should be practiced. Just a few weeks ago, for instance, he tweeted that "every journalist should spend a few minutes watching MSNBC to see how NOT to practice journalism," despite his own record of injecting his political and ideological beliefs into his journalism.
Understandably, Walsh and his friends are disappointed with the decision by Missourinet/Learfield to end their relationship. And it's unfortunate that Walsh is looking for a new paycheck in a tough economy. But this sort of response, from Rep. Mark Parkinson (R-St. Charles), is just absurd:
Proving that they are openminded, tolerant & diverse @firedupmissouri morphs into the thought/speech police. http://tinyurl.com/ybjk4vr
Perhaps Parkinson should pick up a copy of Nineteen Eighty-Four and read it. Holding government officials and members of the media accountable isn't the behavior of the Thought Police. It's what keeps the thinkpol from existing.
