The traditional role of the press; to make distant events seem immediate, Today, the sad truth is that most Americans spend much more time obsessing Well heck, it is a lot more FUN to worry about Manny or Jennifer, and For better or worse, this is the way a majority of Americans think. In What made the American system so revolutionary 250 years ago, and remains But for this intuition to come into play, they need good information; Ah, but the content….What is all the talk ABOUT? Who sets the agenda? The average, overscheduled American has only so many spare moments We have, in the past, been decried for raising alarms without offering People WANT to do the right thing. They just need good information and The collapse of the Fourth Estate and the failure of the American press to perform the sacred mission with which it was entrusted by the Founding FAthers is more than a scandal. It is a threat to our form of … Continue reading ![](\"http:\/\/cyber.law.harvard.edu\/blogs\/static\/dowbrigade\/fourthestate.gif\")
The
\n collapse of the Fourth Estate and the failure of the American press to
\n perform the sacred mission with which it was entrusted by the Founding
\n FAthers is more than a scandal. It is a threat to our form of government
\n and threatens to bring down the entire structure of <\/a>the
\n American Experiment by removing one of the fundamental pillars of its
\n superstructure.<\/p>\n
\n to open the eyes of the public to things they wouldn’t otherwise be aware
\n of, to put things into context and to demystify them so that ordinary
\n people can get a handle on them, and to keep politicians honest has been
\n a cornerstone of our free society since it’s inception. <\/p>\n
\n over the latest missing blond or the emotional state of their favorite
\n ballplayer than thinking about the thousands of men of principle (just
\n because we don’t share those principals doesn’t mean they don’t exist)
\n who have committed their lives to killing as many of us as possible while
\n destroying our country and everything it stands for, or the thousands
\n of innocent men, women and especially children who are dying EVERT DAY
\n in genocide and famine in hellholes like Niger, Dafur, and the Sudan.<\/p>\n
\n anyway, who really understands what is going on in Africa, much less what
\n to do about it? It’s depressing to even think about it!<\/p>\n
\n the final analysis, this is the responsibility, and critical historic
\n failure, of the American Press. The modern Media Monopoly into which the
\n American Press has morphed has failed abysmally in its traditional responsibility
\n to explain and expose the issues of substance to the general population.<\/p>\n
\n so today, is the proposition that the PEOPLE are WISE, in their aggregate
\n judgment, and have an uncanny intuition as to their true interests in
\n almost any situation or circumstance.<\/p>\n
\n good both in form and content. Form we do in spades – we have perfected
\n the presentation formats for 24-hr, always on news, TV news magazines,
\n boutique news on the internet, talk TV, talk radio, online chat, discussion
\n boards and blogs.<\/p>\n
\n Who decides what is worthy of attention? Therein lies the rub, to paraphrase
\n the bard.<\/p>\n
\n in his or her day to think about things other than those directly related
\n to navigating between job, family and community commitments. By filling
\n 90% of that particular precious partial attention track with mental fluff
\n and eye candy, the media is doing a tremendous, perhaps fatal disservice
\n to our very way of life.<\/p>\n
\n solutions. What are we proposing the press do to make Dafur less depressing
\n to the American palate? We are not advocating plopping Paris Hilton down
\n in Mogadishu in some famine-themed reality show, or some sick game show
\n in which mothers of starving children beat the stuffing out of each other
\n for a cup of rice, but there must be some way to make the stark realities
\n of the world we live in palatable, confrontable, perhaps even comprehensible.
\n There must be some way to suggest or inspire people to find solutions
\n to the very real, pressing problems of our times.<\/p>\n
\n somebody to show them where to start. If the monopoly inheritors of the
\n traditions of the American press aren’t up to the task, then we must find
\n somebody who is, and fast. The clock is ticking on the American Dream.<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"