Like any profession, the media has its share of rogues and whores.   A few years ago, a production company came out here (Riley’s Farm) and promised us they intended to film a simple reality show featuring a family who loved visiting our farm.   That was just about the last true statement they made in our brief history with each other.  They lied about everything else.  They said it was a brand new reality show that had never been aired.  (A lie).  They told us they respected what we do and they wanted to paint us in a favorable light.  (Another lie).   They said the show would be life-affirming and family-friendly.  (More lies).   The experience we had with the subjects of the story was amiable, fun, slightly comic.   The final piece was full of shallow irony and open contempt for the people whose lives were being chronicled.    I remember watching the final broadcast version and feeling embarassed I had put my family through the ordeal.

It was, however, good for businesses.

Bad press does at least two things:  it identifies your friends, even the ones you’ve never met.   People are sick of the press — the urban, self-obsessed elitism of the news-gathering class, and many people think if a reporter is making fun of you, you must be okay.   It’s also, on one level, just a big paint bucket, a huge virtual billboard.  If they are willing to spend the money to have your name funneled through their expensive cable system, or microwaved up to their satellite, it’s a lot cheaper than paying for that yourself.

In the era of the blogosphere, you get the honor of hearing all of that, plus the obsessive scribbling of those who can’t get anyone to pay for their opinion but who are willing to give it nonetheless.  I won’t honor the blogger who wrote about the costuming for Courage, by naming her, but it was clear she (it?) had absolutely no idea what she (it?)was talking about, and she (it?) didn’t even make a pretext of proving her (its) case.   Reporters have to at least put their name to their work.   Bloggers just slither along in the slime.

Of course, they’re good for business too.

Fortunately, there are still more honest people in media than there are dishonest, as long as the echoes of the Judeo – Christian tradition hold.

And they’re good for business too.