Video: Aunt Bethany says, “Everyone with a laptop thinks they’re a journalist”
posted at 3:25 pm on March 6, 2007 by Allahpundit
Share on Facebook | regular view
Why is it always the most buffoonishly left-wing members of the media who want to lecture everyone else about journalism? If it’s not Olby parroting Murrow’s sign off or disingenuous hack Greg Mitchell defending fauxtograph jackassery, it’s the woman famous for presenting the Hezbollah view during White House press conferences solemnly warning that “just getting something off your chest is not journalism.” Right — that’s the sort of thing that should be saved for public appearances.
The relevant part starts at 2:30. Click the image to watch.
Update: By popular demand, the Aunt Bethany clip from “Christmas Vacation.”
You must be logged in to post a comment.
Blowback
Note from Hot Air management: This section is for comments from Hot Air's community of registered readers. Please don't assume that Hot Air management agrees with or otherwise endorses any particular comment just because we let it stand. A reminder: Anyone who fails to comply with our terms of use may lose their posting privilege.
Trackbacks/Pings
Trackback URL
Comments
Comment pages:
If France has their way, you’ll need a license to practice journalism.
How to silence bloggers and photojournalists.
Gregor on March 6, 2007 at 3:34 PM
Hey, that’s my high school she’s getting her Hez germs on! Get her out of there, Soboroff!
Alex K on March 6, 2007 at 3:36 PM
Wow – who’d have thunk I’d have something in common with Helen? We both worry about accuracy; it’s just that she worries about bloggers and I worry about journalists. What she doesn’t get is the rise of blog popularity is directly related to failure of journalists to stick to those rules she’s bragging about. We DO know “the rules of the game” and we’ve started to look elsewhere for news because they cheat.
Laura on March 6, 2007 at 3:37 PM
No comment. I thought that the white house decides who gets the seat.
Ouabam on March 6, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Was that her speaking or did she just fart?
PinkyBigglesworth on March 6, 2007 at 3:38 PM
Can someone please direct her to the nearest tar-pit?
x95b10 on March 6, 2007 at 3:40 PM
Cripes. Woman makes it sound like rocket science.
I have a degree in it (no, I’m not proud of that fact) so let me give you a short journalism primer:
1. Go to an event.
2. Write down what people say.
3. Go back to the newsroom.
4. Describe what you saw and heard.
That’s it, folks.
Slublog on March 6, 2007 at 3:43 PM
“Grace? She’s been dead thirty years.”
Wineaholic on March 6, 2007 at 3:44 PM
When I see Bethany, I think Real Verse. Damn You.
lorien1973 on March 6, 2007 at 3:45 PM
Hehehehe. Classic.
Allahpundit on March 6, 2007 at 3:47 PM
I don’t know if it’s a mark of honor anymore to be in a job for 46 years. Speaks more to tradition than to skills and abilities.
askheaves on March 6, 2007 at 3:54 PM
I
Mindcrime on March 6, 2007 at 4:05 PM
Yeah… she’s worried about the accuracy all right.
She’s worried it might actually be accurate.
CrazyFool on March 6, 2007 at 4:05 PM
“Did the room clear out?! Hell no! He wants you to say the blessing!”
natesnake on March 6, 2007 at 4:07 PM
Yeah, where has Bethany been anyway?
sunny on March 6, 2007 at 4:07 PM
source
Pam on March 6, 2007 at 4:09 PM
Talk about getting something off your chest…
She needs to get her chest off her lap.
JetBoy on March 6, 2007 at 4:21 PM
Tell me again why anyone with a laptop can’t be a journalist.
rplat on March 6, 2007 at 4:24 PM
She couldn’t hear a dumptruck driving through a nitroglycerin factory.
ScottMcC on March 6, 2007 at 4:27 PM
I have a degree in journalism, and believe me – there’s nothing that U of Iowa taught me that you couldn’t figure out on your own by reading a newspaper and trying to imitate the style.
When journalists return to the tired line “anybody with a laptop thinks they’re a journalist,” what they’re really saying is “I need to justify my student loans/tuition with an inflated sense of self-importance.”
Enrique on March 6, 2007 at 4:35 PM
Using the name “Bethany” in the same context as a story centered on Helen Thomas is criminal. You should give yourself 30 lashes with a rattan cane.
thirteen28 on March 6, 2007 at 4:35 PM
Everyone in the WH Press Room thinks they’re a journalist.
CP on March 6, 2007 at 4:37 PM
Yeah, I saw the name Bethany in the title… then I saw the miserable creature in the picture below the post. Now I feel dead inside. Thanks, Allah.
Watcher on March 6, 2007 at 4:38 PM
**IRONY ALERT**
Did anyone else notice that she said, “Anyone with a laptop can be a journalist” to a guy that probably uses a laptop to be a journalist?
BigOrangeAxe on March 6, 2007 at 4:45 PM
:) Love that line!
Pam on March 6, 2007 at 4:46 PM
Let’s test the pain ray on Helen. No need for the puke ray, her photo did that.
BacaDog on March 6, 2007 at 4:59 PM
This Aunt Bethany? The resemblance is uncanny.
Valiant on March 6, 2007 at 4:59 PM
LOL! Valiant – That’s got to be the one! Loved her rendition of “saying grace”.
warriorlawyer on March 6, 2007 at 5:06 PM
Caption “Ian and Maureen, at a later stage in life”.
On a more serious and consequential note:
Fixed it for you Slublog – thanks for starting :)
Enrique on March 6, 2007 at 4:35 PM – always liked you but lately more so than before :)
Entelechy on March 6, 2007 at 5:20 PM
Good edits, but you have to put #6 just behind #3.
Then it will be perfect.
Slublog on March 6, 2007 at 5:27 PM
Dinosaur Lady: Welcome to the world of outsourcing.
Dave Shay on March 6, 2007 at 5:42 PM
Slublog, agreed!
Entelechy on March 6, 2007 at 5:45 PM
Are you hitting on me? Shucks.
Enrique on March 6, 2007 at 6:00 PM
No, I’m not. Too late for that – you’re safe :)
Seriously now, I liked your objectivity about the overblown significance journalists attribute to themselves.
Entelechy on March 6, 2007 at 6:07 PM
Aunt Bethany, priceless.
Theworldisnotenough on March 6, 2007 at 6:12 PM
Does she prefer this type of journalist: Journalist Fired for Cemetery Urination
Pam on March 6, 2007 at 7:56 PM
But everyone with a front row seat in the White House Press Room is a journalist?
……nkay…..
seejanemom on March 7, 2007 at 5:24 AM
The reason so many people with a laptop think they’re journalists is that it’s so easy for amateurs to do a better job than the professional journalists.
Tantor on March 7, 2007 at 6:35 PM
“… the average citizen doesn’t understand the rules…” Spoken like a true elitist.
Helen, it’s time for the old rocking chair.
Zorro on March 7, 2007 at 6:54 PM
Comment pages: