Letters to the Editor
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Media crosspollination
ramoncreager, you reminded me that it used to be that you would read the newspaper to get the full information on what was reported on the TV news; the idea was that there was a limited amount of time to develop stories on air. Then, it seemed like TV was merely repeating what was already in the papers (except for the breaking news that had high visual appeal and some consumer segments). Now, it appears that MSM is mainly self-referential, and outside sources do not exist to them; i.e., if we do not feel it is fit to discuss, we won't (or in the Post/Reed story, unless we do). This is a profoundly corporate mindset, where something doesn't exist unless the leaders (political, business, media) say it does. I have encountered this repeatedly in my corporate work, where I will repeatedly point out problems that are occurring (morale, fraud, process), but, despite ROI and documented effects, no action occurs until and unless a high enough manager confirms or states that there is a problem (usually taking credit for discovering it at the same time).
The internet allows many little (in the corporate minds) people to join together and point out all of the many things that we see that are wrong, as opposed to waiting to be told what is acceptably wrong. But it often takes enough noise to be heard at the management level to get them to take action.