Re Why does air travel seem so miserable? | TheHill

["Dave Farber" <dave () farber net>]

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Andrew Bridges <apbridges () gmail com>
Date: Sun, May 14, 2017 at 1:21 PM
Subject: Re: [IP] Re Why does air travel seem so miserable? | TheHill
To: Dave Farber <dave () farber net>


The previous comment about a travel article would not have provoked me to
respond, if it were just about the article.  But the writer's pivot, to
condemn the current state of journalism, feeds into an important public
debate.

To start with the article:  Jean Camp misread the article if she, applying
her own standard of "basic logic," believes that the writer was hopelessly
inconsistent.  The article pointed out that airline revenue has shifted
more from fares to fees.  It was an airline trade representative who
focused on fares, and the writer balanced that with a critic who
highlighted the role on fees.  And judging from my own experience with air
fares over several decades, I believe it is a fact that flying *is* largely
more affordable for the general public.  Is it a fatal inconsistency to say
that profits go up when some prices go down?  Not at all, when lower prices
mean more volume and each transaction is profitable.  Among retailers, the
highest profits often accompany the lowest prices.  Wal-Mart is an
example.  Among airlines, Southwest has a reputation for generally low
fares and generally high profits.

But Dr. Camp's message used this an an example to lament the state of
"journalism in its current form."  She thus attacks "journalism" with a
broad brush.

Is "journalism" in the toilet?  To begin with that term that is vague that
because arguably anyone with a public forum like Paul Krugman Sean Hannity
can be a "journalist."  I prefer to focus instead on "reporters and
editors."  Are "reporting and editing" in the toilet?  They are under
intense pressure on numerous fronts, but many excellent and noble reporters
and editors persevere.  Is the best response to wish their efforts a quick
death?  To the contrary, these parlous times call for intensive support of
those reporters and editors who are trying to uncover facts and to present
them objectively with insight and in context.  I think the writer of the
article did exactly that here.  Pot shots against articles like this,
however, feed the sense that all public discourse is chaotic and there is
no virtue on any front.  That takes us in exactly the wrong direction.

Andrew Bridges



On Sun, May 14, 2017 at 7:37 AM, Dave Farber <farber () gmail com> wrote:

> Begin forwarded message:
>
> *From:* L Jean Camp <ljeanc () gmail com>
> *Date:* May 14, 2017 at 10:28:52 AM EDT
> *To:* Dave Farber <dave () farber net>
> *Cc:* ip <ip () listbox com>
> *Subject:* *Re: [IP] Why does air travel seem so miserable? | TheHill*
> *Reply-To:* ljeanc () gmail com
>
> It is not possible that airlines are focusing on making flying more
> affordable and tripling their profits through fees. This flies in the face
> of basic logic. Airlines are focusing on maximizing revenue not increasing
> the number of flights or providing lower travel cost.
>
> It is so common today to have reporters write two things that cannot
> simultaneously be true and for us just to breeze past this. Because they is
> only one crime in journalism: embracing a fact or logic so that one has a
> "bias"  towards reality (and maybe forgetting to hate the Clintons).
>
> Journalism in is current form cannot die soon enough.
>
> On May 14, 2017 10:06, "Dave Farber" <farber () gmail com> wrote:
>
> http://thehill.com/policy/transportation/333036-why-does-air-travel-seem-so-miserable
>
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