The New, New Journalism

This might be fun.

From the floor of the 1988 Republican Presidential Convention. ©2023 Kenneth Jarecke/Contact Press Images

In college it was difficult to tell the difference between the journalism and public relations students, as they pretty much followed the same academic path. It was easier after graduation. One group was paid well and the other… wasn’t. Surprising as their training was almost identical, though they used their knowledge in opposite ways. One side, the underpaid one, asked questions in service of the public good, the other worked only to increase the profits of their employer.

Well, maybe it’s not that surprising.

The day after George Bush Sr. won the Presidency in 1984 I was riding on his press bus when a reporter covering the campaign for Time Magazine happily announced that he had just taken a job with the administration to be Dan Quayle’s press secretary (or maybe it was spokesperson).

One day the guy’s covering the presidential race and the next day he’s working for the president.

Ruh roh.