Why Americans Hate the Media by James Fallows

[Hamlette]

"Before there was Digby, or before The Assault on Reason, there was James Fallows. When you've got half an hour, read his 1996 piece "Why Americans Hate the Media", wherein you will discover that everything old is new again. If I ran the Washington Post newsroom, I'd make every political reporter read this during their first day on the job, and again annually thereafter." Nicholas Beaudrot


http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/199602/americans-media

It's by the guy who wrote Breaking the News. I remember reading this when it first came out but its the kind of thing we should all read every few years.

[TechBear_Seattle]

1. The reason is quite simple, actually

Every semblance of journalistic integrity has been replaced by meaningless, sensationalist pablum ("reality" television, celebrity buzz, smut and/or empty minded sitcoms) and government propaganda.

[Hamlette]

2. but why did that happen? I think that is what Fallows tries to answer

and when Fallows wrote this, 1996, it wasn't nearly as bad as it is now...as evidenced by the program he describes on page one of the article...the ethics programs? Remember those? It is unthinkable we could have programs like that now. In part, I think, because of religion. The conservatives, who you'd want to include for balance, would refuse to discuss ethics and would simply say "the bible says" in answer to any hypothetical.

[Cassandra]

3. I have the Ethics in America series on tape.

Fantastic series produced by Fred Friendly.