The New Transparency

[The Mad Monk]

Thanks, guys.

[The Mad Monk]

Bob Schieffer said it best in that WaPo article.

Agreed, but does that excuse any given President (yes, any given President) for abusing the position?

[DaShi]

A pity you weren't here for the Bush administration.

[DaShi]

Yes, but needed saying.

Weren't you the guy who Ben proved wrong? If not, then there's nothing I recall about you.

[Felch]

Here's a more interesting topic:

Does the media actually inform people or does it just provide opinions that support whatever its target viewer already believes?

You know, thinking about this more, it's really a hallmark of old media that it tended to challenge your views. If you were to read the op-ed section in tomorrow's Washington Post, you'd find a pretty decent mix of view points. There are right wingers like Will and Krauthammer, lefties like Eugene Robinson and E.J. Dionne, and some more wonkish establishment types like Anne Applebaum and David Ignatius (who both focus more on foreign policy than domestic politics). You can actually inform yourself pretty well just by reading that one page in the back of the A section.

Obviously modern media just provides opinions that support whatever its target viewer already believes. But the old guard still does it right.

[DaShi]

I've heard that the 24 hour news cycle is a primary cause. The need not only to fill that time, but to grab those eyeballs. FOX News was designed to meet the demands of a conservative demographic, just like MSNBC transformed to meet the demands of the liberal one. CNN tries to hold the middle ground but just ends up stumbling over itself trying not to offend anyone while at the same time being "edgy."

I'd say an important characteristic of the old guard that much of the current media lacks is simply integrity. They understood the responsibility of the media in a functional democracy.

[Guynemer]

I really feel that there's a very foul song on the internet about Papa Smurf and ass licking.

It is the internet, after all. I'd be weirdly disappointed if such a thing didn't exist.

[notyoueither]

Weren't you the guy who Ben proved wrong? If not, then there's nothing I recall about you.

Then there's nothing for you to recall, and that's good.

In the mean time, you're still a waste of bits on the internet. That's saying something.

[Captain ******* Kirk]

A pity you weren't here for the Bush administration.

The Obama administration is worse on transparency than the Bush administration was.

[Guynemer]

The Obama administration is worse on transparency than the Bush administration was.

A $20 Bangkok whore is worse than a $40 Reno whore, but both will give you a raging case of crabs.

[Captain ******* Kirk]

I'd say an important characteristic of the old guard that much of the current media lacks is simply integrity. They understood the responsibility of the media in a functional democracy.

It's easy to have integrity when you're part of an oligopoly that doesn't have to respond to market incentives. The current media, on the other hand, actually has to give the people what they want. We're the problem.

[Captain ******* Kirk]

A $20 Bangkok whore is worse than a $40 Reno whore, but both will give you a raging case of crabs.

Agreed. That sounds like the voice of experience talking.

[Guynemer]

It's easy to have integrity when you're part of an oligopoly that doesn't have to respond to market incentives. The current media, on the other hand, actually has to give the people what they want. We're the problem.

We get the government and the media we deserve.

[notyoueither]

Why this sounds like an argument for a public broadcaster.

[Guynemer]

Indeed.