The MSM

Sam Donaldson made the comment a few weeks back that the MSM is dying, that the internet is replacing the MSM. Many journalists now use blogs as a steady source of information. Why are the two linked? How about a loss of ethics as the answer.

I have seen recently where Dan Rather said that truth was the ultimate goal of journalism. The problem, if you've ever been trained in investigation or interviews, is that people inevitably see things through a filter. They see it from their viewpoint. Neutrality may be a worthy ideal, but it is not reality. Actions speak louder than words. Lately we are seeing a lot of biased reporting exposed for what it is. Everyone makes mistakes, but if the press is not willing to admit it, then they don't hold "TRUTH" as the ultimate ideal.

Never explain by conspiracy what can be explained by incompetence, or in this case a lack of morals and integrity

I don't think the MSM holds "Truth" as the ultimate goal. Selling newspapers, having ratings, getting to be the next Bob Woodward; those goals are being pursued. But truth very often is measured though our personal filters, so what filters should there be?

I this the US stands for some of the greatest filters. Freedom of speech,the rule of law, democracy, property ownership, intellectual property, meritocracy. Each of these is worth a book in itself, any many have been written about each. But I want to talk here about Freedom of Speech.

We can't have a press that turns a blind eye to corruption. We need someone who is free to speak out and point out mistakes. This is very important to improvement. To improve, you have to welcome constructive criticism. To get constructive criticism though, you need an additional word, perspective. In other words, criticism requires a standard to measure against. In teaching baseball, you don't use the same standard for little league that you use for pro-ball players. And you don't provide criticism that is out of date. To tell a major league ball player that 2 years ago he should be chocking up on his bat doesn'