I grew up reading the Washington Post and Washington Star in Washington DC. Those were the days of Watergate and Investgative Journalism. You found news FIRST in the paper, and you could believe what you read! Contrast that era with the run-up to war in Iraq, when no dissenting voices could be found in the papers or on television. Look at the coverage of the last Presidential Election campaigns, where nothing critical of Obama was ever seen in any mainstream media outlet (‘thrill up my leg’). Look at the New York Times reportage of the recent tax protest demonstrations in Washington DC. The BBC and other independant agencies estimated crowds of anywhere from 150,000 to a half million protestors. The NY Times headline? ‘Thousands March’. So , too, did the Washington Post report ‘thousands’ marching. Well, the marchers sent their message, and so did the newspapers. THEY have become corporate flacks enlisted to voice whatever opinion their bosses have arranged for them to parrot, so WHO is going to take them as credible sources? Of COURSE the papers will get a govt handout ‘for a job well done’, but they have alienated fully half their readership by their current actions. I still get the daily paper, but it’s for the coupons, and nobody in my house, conservative or liberal, has been seen reading the front page for news for months. The paper sits where I leave it ‘post-coupons’ without being touched until I throw it away. That, in the final analysis, is the best forcaster of the future of the newspaper industry that I can offer. When those who have it no longer trust, need, or use it, what future CAN it have?

We need to make a thorough examination of the editor class, a perusal of their “objectivity” in the selection and coverage of stories that are “fit to print.”

Like other media industries there has been a constant recycling of the same brand thinkers, general deference to authority and power, and predilection to promoting lunatics of the right wing fringe, belying any “liberal media” attributions. To wit,Beck’s sagelike like puss on the cover of Time magazine, which some snarky editor(s)views as harmless parody, laced with sadism.

Did we mention the fourth republic, the eyes, ears, and nose of the nation, becoming deaf, dumb, and blind to disasters present and future while pretending to be on watch?

Journalism isn’t very popular with those who value power
above all else.
The loss of newspapers, traditionally responsible for in
depth investigative journalism will not be lamented in the
halls of power.
Where once newspapers provided news, they are now history by
the time they are read as opposed to what passes for news on
TV and the internet. This and the tendency of electronic
media to fade rapidly is a favorite for those who habitually
avoid accountability.
The demise of our traditional free press opens opportunities
for the rich and powerful to field propaganda publications
that have the look and feel of newspapers with out the
responsible and independent content.
The plight of newspapers and a free press will have little
hope of a bail out. I hope that alert minds and a sense of
justice will find a safe harbor for journalism on the
internet.

ardee, well said. A financial bailout to mainstream news media won’t do a darn thing to improve the quality of content or to advance real fact-finding (and reporting!) journalism.

I do hope that Obama supports other initiatives to cultivate a truly free press, like breaking up the media monopolies we have now. We shall see.