Bee's history lesson too little, too late

A Sacramento Bee editorial came down hard on Governor Schwarzenegger for telling Spanish speakers to learn English and "turn off the Spanish language television." The Bee reminded the governor he is an immigrant and that Ellis Island Germans valued their native tongue. The history lesson, however, was given to an empty classroom. For decades, the Bee, and most large papers, have insisted on referring to non-Hispanics as "Anglos," even though a humorist once said something like "we call English the mother tongue because all our ancestors spoke Italian, Polish or Yiddish."
Is Anglo used because Hispanics insist on it? Is the Bee an easy mark for pressure groups? Allowing one group to name another is giving that group an awesome power. Think of all the years spent over terminology. Who came up with "straight?" Were men asked what they wanted to be called when women ended up with three possible titles: Ms. Mrs. Miss?
Did the Bee point to our nation's past immigrant experience during the debate over bilingual education? The Contra Costa Times ran an interesting series that told how new comers of the past learned to speak English, but that was a rare offering.
Shame on the Bee!!!! It could help bring us together by restricting Anglo to a direct quote - the way so many newspapers do with "pro life," even while giving a free ride to pro-choice.
That might be too little and too late. Newspapers, sadly, are becoming irrelvant. They had the chance to build bridges, but lost the public's trust. The "Anglo" usage was just one nail in the coffin.

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New Gore Book Insult to Reason

As far as the news media goes, the new Gore book IS an Assault on Reason. It slams "right-wing" commentary, bypasses similar strategies by the left, and is silent on the failings of reporters and editors. He is right, however, to attack television as ruining the national debate. but what else is new? The "vast wasteland" knock goes back a long time.
Not a word about the virtual vanishing of United Press International, which gave AP a near monopoly on news gathering and distribution during the 1980s and 1990s. Those who talk about media concentration usually ignore this factor. Can you blame them? They probably never thought about it because it wasn't part of the news agenda, just what "Philip's Code" is about. Gore and Phil Davis apparently agree on one thing, though: The Internet can change the news landscape a great deal. No longer can reporters and editors get away with keeping facts from readers, who can now check for themselves. I doubt that today Clinton would be able to get away with his goofs about history. Bloggers would be on reporters' backs, ranting about how Dan Quayle was fired in the potato incident.

Did Al Gore Read "Philip's Code"?

Can't wait to read Al Gore's "The Assault on Reason," praised by E. J. Dionne Jr. of the Washington Post Writer's Group. According to Dionne, the book is about how strange public discourse becomes when "mediated through television." Gore, he said, thinks the Internet may revive the art of reasoned argument. Gore must have read "Philip's Code." The Kansas City milkman lives!!! The last chapter zeros in on just that - seeing the Internet as "the watchdog's watchdog," which lets go with a howl when it smells bias, unfairness or ignorance. Maybe all of the above.

Knoxville Slayings Not in Zebra Class

Interesting piece by AP's Duncan Mansfield outta (there's Phillip's code for you. Note two l's.) Knoxville about bloggers jumping on reverse racism in coverage of slaying of two white people. Sounds similar to the Zebra killings in San Francisco in the 1970s when black "Angels of Death" killed at least 14 whites. Media tried to rewrite history on that one. It's in "Philip's Code: No News is Good News - to a Killer." There's a big difference, however. In the Zebra killings, there was no doubt race was the motive. But you wouldn't know that if you relied on the news media for collective memories. In 1999 Stephanie Salter of the San Francisco Examiner wrote a column about a white gunman named Benjamin Smith who killed a black man and an Asian and wounded nine other non-whites before killing himself.
Smith, wrote Salter, was another in a long line of "disaffected, disturbed, hate-filled white males" who "went on a violent rampage." Salter wondered what the reaction would have been if Smith's targets had been "innocent bystanders who looked Anglo?' In San Francisco, a good bet would be very little.

Questons Are more Important than Answers

The latest Guild Reporter, the publication of the Newspaper Guild, has a review of a new book, "No Questions Asked," which deals with news coverage since 9-11. Among other things, the book by Lisa Finnegan deals with the "failure to question governmental over-reaching." (Reviews are important because few of us have the disposable time or money to buy and read all we'd like.) During preparation for the invasion, "relatively rare skeptical reporting was buried deep within the few newspapers that carried it," the piece states. What about "skeptical reporting" now? The same "lemming reporting" marches on. Doesn't anyone in the press remember that the invasion was called "Operation Iraqi Freedom," not "find those GD WMDs"? Or that the eve of battle statement issued to US troops hardly mentioned WMDs.
Was the mainstream press so lacking in reporters with military experience that they bought line about "the world's greatest military"? It was obvious that since Vietnam we could no longer put enough troops in the field to do the job. '01 wasn't '41. Has anyone the courage to ask if civil war in Iraq would be in our interest? Before 9-11, most coverage of the military centered on gays or women in the service, not readiness. "Don't ask, don't tell" is the right term. Frankly, reporters seldom aked tough questions about a lot of issues. That's why "Philip's Code" is dedicated to reporters who still regard the pen as mightier than the mouse.