Like this:

I was watching a program on TV just the other day, and it was all about a fascinating little berry.  It’s called miracle fruit (or Synsepalum dulcificum, if you want to get all “genus” and “species” about it) and it might just be the future of food as we know it.

By eating just one of these little berries, it makes everything that’s sour or acidic taste sweet for the next 60 minutes or so.  You can bite right into a lemon, drink vinegar straight up, even Tabasco sauce, and it will be sweet like candy.   Now, scientists are trying to figure out ways to get the main taste-altering component of the berry (miraculin) into certain foods to make them taste better.  The hope is that the fruit can be harnessed to make unappetizing, healthy foods taste sweet and delicious.  So instead of munching on junk food to satisfy a hunger pang, you can reach for something a lot healthier.

Journalism is in desperate need of it’s own “miracle fruit”.  Unfortunately, Michael Rosenblum wants to keep feeding people potato chips.

There’s no doubt that Rosenblum brought up some great points about the business of journalism and the fact that profits shouldn’t be looked at as evil.  Because journalism IS a business and your news organization, however noble, WILL die if you don’t treat it like one.  But that doesn’t mean that you should sacrifice the foundations of good, honest, objective journalism in the name of capitalism.

In Rosenblum’s philosophy, the journalist is a slave to the bottom line.  So if it gets ratings, do it, otherwise, scrap it.  Who wants to hear about “news” anyway?  You know what people really want?  Zombies!!

Don’t get me wrong, the zombie thing was funny and entertaining.  But it’s not news.

IT IS NOT NEWS!

Rosenblum is more documentarian than journalist, which is fine.  Just don’t try to pass it off as news.  Because if you do, we’re all in trouble.  Big trouble.

Real journalism is the veggies: it’s not always the most appetizing, but it’s good for you.  Rosenblum claims to be pioneering the future of journalism, when what he’s really doing is trying to pass off candy as vegetables just because people like it better.  What journalism really needs is someone who knows how to get that miracle fruit, someone who knows how to make the veggies TASTE like candy.  That’s real innovation.

Michael Rosenblum is clearly a brilliant businessman and in many respects a visionary.  He’s also not afraid to tell you that profits are a good thing, and that’s definitely refreshing to hear.  But the truth is, what Rosenblum does is not journalism.  It’s entertaining, cutting edge, cost effective, and very impressive.  It’s just not journalism.  And hopefully, it’s not the direction the industry goes in.

The miracle fruit is out there, someone just needs to find it.  But to settle for less isn’t journalism, it’s lazy.

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