Ultimately, the prevalence of irresponsible journalism derives from media corporations presenting news as entertainment, with the goal of making it a profit center. Accuracy and truth become casualties when the goal is merely to capture as many eyeballs as possible.
In print, this sort of thing has been happening forever; it was, after all, William Randolph Hearst who started the Spanish-American War. But broadcasters, who are trustees of the airwaves, a limited public resource, should be held to a higher standard and compelled to present news for its own sake, as a public service, part of the price they pay for the use of the airwaves. Every administration since Jimmy Carter's has been content to let market forces have their way when it comes to program content, regardless of the consequences, among which are an ignorant, ill-informed, unthinking electorate largely incapable of perceiving subtleties. If it bleeds, it leads, and if not, no one pays any attention.
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In print, this sort of thing has been happening forever; it was, after all, William Randolph Hearst who started the Spanish-American War. But broadcasters, who are trustees of the airwaves, a limited public resource, should be held to a higher standard and compelled to present news for its own sake, as a public service, part of the price they pay for the use of the airwaves. Every administration since Jimmy Carter's has been content to let market forces have their way when it comes to program content, regardless of the consequences, among which are an ignorant, ill-informed, unthinking electorate largely incapable of perceiving subtleties. If it bleeds, it leads, and if not, no one pays any attention.