Explanation or Excuse?

Newspaper bias linked to readers' political preferences. Well, duh!

As Stephen Spruiell wonders, "That's fine when it comes to newspapers that serve local constituencies. But what about TV networks that provide news to the entire nation?" The First Amendment's press clause was based on the understanding that various publications would have different politics and that many voices make for greater public awareness of issues and a more robust debate on them. But today's media are hampered by costs of reporting and the use of a few press services with a uniformity of attitudes, because they hire from a limited pool of bien pensants with the "right" education and backgrounds and, more recently, from local stringers who tend to manufacture news as much as they report it.

All of that is quite irrelevant when it comes to broadcast and cable news who have less excuse for pandering to only one slice of their national audience. The result has been the rise of talk radio and Fox News, but with the rise of personal computers, these older media are losing their readers and viewers. Talk radio is less affected, because people listen while doing other tasks. In the end, modern MSM are mere middle-men for the international press services which are now available online. What remains for their consumers is local reporting and "analysis," as people grow more sophisticated and read and post to blogs, the need for media elites to explain things is receding.