Monday, March 07, 2005
The Death Of Journalism In America
Two brilliant articles to read today:
Welcome to Doomsday
By Bill Moyers
There are times when what we journalists see and intend to
write about dispassionately sends a shiver down the spine, shaking us from our
neutrality. This has been happening to me frequently of late as one story after
another drives home the fact that the delusional is no longer marginal but has
come in from the fringe to influence the seats of power. We are witnessing today
a coupling of ideology and theology that threatens our ability to meet the
growing ecological crisis. Theology asserts propositions that need not be proven
true, while ideologues hold stoutly to a world view despite being contradicted
by what is generally accepted as reality. The combination can make it impossible
for a democracy to fashion real-world solutions to otherwise intractable
challenges.
Read the rest here:
http://www.nybooks.com/articles/1785
Dough-faced nation
by Hal Crowther
'The doughface will always be with us; in a democracy he’s the dead weight the rest of us will always be obliged to carry.'
Are you gagging yet? But Iraq's old news.
The burning question this winter is whether any more news will get through.
Instead of accepting blame or even cutting its losses with some belated honesty,
the White House brain trust took dead aim at that inconvenient First Amendment:
We can parade catastrophe as triumph, they reasoned, if we simply cut off or
drown out anyone who objects. It's twilight time for the fourth estate.
Read more here:
http://indyweek.com/durham/2005-03-02/cover.html