[beyond the sea]

"If knowledge of our government's deeds and words is indispensible to a free people, does it not follow that the quality of our government will be directly proportionate to the quality of journalism?" ----

****

I wish I would have said that.

Bravo!

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

"If knowledge of our government's deeds and words is indispensible to a free people, does it not follow that the quality of our government will be directly proportionate to the quality of journalism?"

Certainly it will be related to the quality of its nonfiction - of which journalism is a frail part.

Journalism is inherently frail as nonficition because of its deadline pressure. First reports are often wrong, which is what makes broadcast "breaking news" such a tenuous source to rely on. And journalism is frail as nonfiction because the deadline pressure is not only to get the story accurate today, the pressure is to get stories which will sell newspapers today. Whether or not anything happened yesterday that actually bears comparison with the sinking of the Titanic.

I insist that our chief problem lies in convincing people that journalism vastly overhypes itself. Which is hardly something which should be surprising, when you think about it that way . . .