As long as news is considered a profit center and not a civic duty, I expect there to be no changes.
I do agree that the ability of profit motive to influence reporting is a major problem, but I have to note that that is more an indictment of the people of the United States than the individuals running for profit media companies.
If there was profit in good reporting, then most companies would follow demand. Apparently most people only want infotainment (at best) and so that is where the profit is. Facts should not be followed to conclusion, but rather "debates" to their conclusion (which is yelling and screaming with more to follow later).
The journalists now must keep these "debates" alive through pretense that all sides must simply be heard and not accurately fact or logic checked. And if any facts might overtly injure one side, especially a very powerful side, then it must be kept out of the debate.
We can all fault the media moguls and journalists for not having the sense of civic duty that they should have, but that is to shift the burden off the shoulders of the much greater force who have lost their sense of civic duty.
I agree with Brenna, one of the best sources of news today is the Dailyshow, with BBC coming in next, tied (pretty much) with CNN Europe. It is ironic that a purely comedic entertainment enterprise surpasses most purported news outlets.
The rest look more or less like Jerry Springer or something out of 1984. And that is what the masses want. Eternal argument.
This message has been edited by holmes, 12-28-2005 06:26 AM
holmes
"...what a fool believes he sees, no wise man has the power to reason away.."(D. Bros)
™ Version 4.2
