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Sat 24 Jul, 2010 07:20 am
Yes Daniel Shorr died yestereday, the end of an era I suppose with the era defined by Edward R Murrow. An era that started during the great depression and peaked during WW II then beginning to fade in the 1950s. A great era for journalists and a unique one with its medium being radio. People listen to what they said and believed them; they were anointed with credibility. With Schorr gone that era of america is closed and being rapidly replaced by immediate media, by instant technology.
Last evening I watched the BBC Top Gear which featured the Jag XKE and how this car has become (along with the Aston Martin DB4) the icon of classic motoring; the original E type now selling for upwards of $50,000 and the Aston Martin bringing over $140,000. The cars were classic for sure, both were my ultimate dream cars in 1962. But, and this is a kick in the pants, A modern day, straight from the dealer Honda Accord surpasses both the Jag and the Aston Martin in every category, reiabilibity, speed, comfort, safety. So, there is an industry, a popular industry, which takes the Jag E type or Aston Marton DB$ and without altering the appearance (one could never tell, The consumer can have their E completely brought up to standards for plus $200,000.
I'm not at all sure what to make of this other than to wonder about both our information media and our automotive preferences. The Jag was in many ways a technological nightmare from Lucas (prince of darkness electrics to painful discomfort to not even a pretense of safety or reliability) but, by gosh, they thrilled us and still do. But, when the rubber hit the road or the cable/blogs/enews electronic instant information is our performance takes the cake while we whine about the classics of journalism at the same time we surf the latest for the up to the second breaking story. We as a society say we want the Edward R Murrow/Daniel Schorr while we click back and forth between Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/blogs etc.
I shoulda kept my Porsche.
I hear what you're saying dys
@chai2,
dont understand why you think Schorr was a dinosaur. At 93, if you aint soiling your pants regularly, that will be your big accomplishment.
I loved the story time clips between Schorr and Daniel Pinkwater.
I had an XKE GT , it was a huge POS
@farmerman,
I hear what you're saying farmerman
@farmerman,
Quote:I had an XKE GT , it was a huge POS
yeah, I had a Jag 150s I spend 5 days a week synco the carbs, adjusting the timing, banging the Lucas, 16 quarts of oil, all just for a sunday drive. I loved my sunday drives. My usable vehicle was a '54 International Traveall. The point is, I guess, I didn't expect anything different and I had nothing but bruising to complain about. We have, I believe, developed strange expectations today, especially in media journalism. And yes, of course, it's a distant link between journalism and cars. or is it?
Chai
My neighbor has one of these - I guess it's from the 70s
A guy I once knew bought a used Jag. While it was still running, I took the wheel. Still in second gear, I was already up to 90 on the Corpus Christi Bay Bridge. Shortly after that, he decided to be his own mechanic on it. Within a few weeks, he had an inoperable car. Lesson: Never let somebody else get it into second gear.
@dyslexia,
Personally, I still don't rely on Fox News/CNN/MSNBC/blogs and their ratings at all cost minded hive bound drones. I'm still a stalwart supporter of NPR and its pursuit to remain journalistically relevant and honest.
I happily proselytize others to the national network of ever-vigilant integrity.
@CalamityJane,
CalamityJane wrote:
Chai
My neighbor has one of these - I guess it's from the 70s
I hear ... no... I see what your saying CalamityJane.
metaphor=A figure of speech in which an implied comparison is made between two unlike things that actually have something in common. so should we post the differences between Jag v-12 vs Porsche 911-6? you decide. buncha ******* idiots but then I often forget I'm here dealing with republicans and democrats instead of people that actually think. I am seriously disappointed. (how ******* unusual dys, you're usually just cranky) yes, I'm saving the whales,(wolfs) I have the whole set.
@dyslexia,
I understood there was a car/media metaphor and didn't answer your thread with a literal automotive reference.
The Honda Accord is the populist/democratically-accessible media with its seemingly over-emphasis of entertainment over factual substance based priorities.
It's kind of unfair to be as dismissive with your original post that places most everyone under the umbrella of overgeneralized as oversimplified and shallow consumers of all things infotainment, (got to think of a more fitting/pejorative term for this consumption).
My apology to dyslexia and a2k:
When people went off topic on little k's thread, I hollered the loudest. Makes no difference why I went off here, it was crass and rude. Sorry, everybody.
@dyslexia,
so do you think that youve accomplished some great breakthrough in communication?
Hows this? I see the points youve attempted, but I dont believe them to be worthy of more than a passing glance. I believe that you, like spendi, make sense two times a day.
Dont be gettin all "google dictionary" like Ican, Its beneath you.
@farmerman,
yes, you're quite right. my reaction/post was knee-jerk but my intentions were honest. I apologize for my extremely poor attempt at communication of my thoughts, I didn't think it out very well. I do that all too often.
I don't think it was that hard to know the metaphor. I got dazzled by the cars and went off that way. Tomorrow, I will come back and start over.
In a day when reporters were allowed to think for themselves, there was probably a good deal of creative writing. But a courageous and honest journalist could also have his say. I first became aware of news getting manipulated, back in the 60s. Before that, I did not know to look for it. After all, the craven bunch that followed Joe McCarthy had already had their say before the time I am writing of. By the late 50s, TV should have helped open our eyes to the truth. It helped a great deal during Vietnam and the McCarthy hearings, but the window was short. Today, blogs by people with no credentials at all get posted along with the news items. Ideology determines the content of most of the stories. I think Daniel Schorr might have sought other employment, were he starting today.
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