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WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 25, 2009
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 OPINION 
14

ACORN Video Sting a Lesson in New Journalism

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(Newser) – Andrew Breitbart may have an ideological ax to grind, but so what? The undercover ACORN videos he's posted illustrate a significant strength of 21st-century American journalism, writes Jack Shafer: "It will accept contributions from everybody from amateurs to entertainers (I'm looking at you, Jon Stewart) to gadflies to billionaires to activists to students to genocidal tyrants." Breitbart's right-wing slant doesn't taint the work.

"Viewing the world through an ideological lens can sometimes help a journalist to discover a story," Shafer writes for Slate. And don't believe the specious argument that the videos aren't a legitimate story. They smack of Borat and are "kind of a mess," but they've resulted in deserved national scrutiny of ACORN. Breitbart, a Matt Drudge associate, has similarly embarrassed the NEA of late. "Give the man two cheers. If he keeps up the good work, toss him a third."

A Baltimore ACORN worker in one of the hidden-camera videos.
A Baltimore ACORN worker in one of the hidden-camera videos.   (AP Photo/Biggovernment.com)
One of the hidden-camera videos, this one in Baltimore.
One of the hidden-camera videos, this one in Baltimore.   (AP Photo/Biggovernment.com)
Andrew Breitbart.
Andrew Breitbart.   (Flickr)
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Among the many glorious things about American journalism is that no credentialing organization or regulatory body stands between an individual who wants to break a story and his public reporting of it. - Jack Shafer, Slate

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14 comments
VIEWING:
 
Woofer58
Sep 24, 09 2:54 PM CDT
He'll never have the raw talent for telling a story that Michael Moore has. Reply
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-2
IN RESPONSE:
Timinator2K
Sep 24, 09 4:32 PM CDT
Mr. Fat Tub of Goo himself? Yeah, MM sure can tell stories...only they have the smell of rancid burrito farts about them.
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+3
IN RESPONSE:
cornelison
Sep 24, 09 4:54 PM CDT
To Timin...Is that your real photo?
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0
IN RESPONSE:
riffran
Sep 25, 09 2:02 AM CDT
You gotta hand it to ole Pizz the Hut..he can sure spin bullshit out of a little hay
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UrUndertaker
Sep 24, 09 2:56 PM CDT
Perhaps someone needs to stuff a few envelopes and visit Republicans on the hill filming them telling them they are from the Insurance Pact and watch how the "new Journalism" fly in tree watering country, You know, that isn't a bad idea after all :) Reply
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