The Real Role of the Fourth Estate
“The rhetoric of American journalism describes an adversarial fourth estate, a redoubt for professional skeptics who scrutinize authority in the name of the public and help keep public discourse honest. As long as our newspapers enjoyed quasi-monopolies and the evening newscasts were a national touchstone, the moth-eaten reality of this self-image was easily ignored. But the hard truth is that the press mostly amplifies the agendas of others—the prominent and the powerful—and tends to aggressively assume its adversarial role only when someone or something . . . is wounded and vulnerable.”—Brent Cunningham, managing editor, Columbia Journalism Review, 2009
Editor’s Note: I have no questions.
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Ouch! The truth hurts.
ReplyDeleteYikes!
ReplyDeleteAND
Self-delusion is endemic everywhere.
In individuals, we call it projection and denial.
In family systems, we call it dysfunction.
In corporations, we call it greed.
I could go on but this is giving me a tummy ache.
And, of course, I am entirely free from any self-delusion.
OOPS.
ReplyDelete"Endemic everywhere" is redundant.
Among my delusions is the belief I can communicate effectively.
Endemic everywhere is not redundant, as something could be endemic in only one or some parts of the world.
DeleteSelf-delusion is redundant.
ReplyDelete