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• Tuesday, April 10, 2007 11:14 AM

  The MSM hasn't changed, but we have

  I'd be interested to hear how other posters of my generation would compare MSM coverage of the Viet Nam war to that of Iraq. I recall having the same feelings of contempt for the bland recitation of government propaganda, the same disgust at the servile deference paid to lying politicians, the same revulsion at the persistent pimping of war-mongering demagogues. One difference now is that back then, it was only us dirty hippies who'd dare use terms like "propaganda" and "lies" to characterize the news media.

  One memorable bellwether, however, was the slow and steady awakening of skepticism in the voice of Walter Cronkite, in his nightly recap of the evening news. From the Tet Offensive, to the Chicago Democratic Convention police riots, to the Watergate scandal, Cronkite's dawning awareness of government duplicity fractured the glaze of conventional wisdom. Through his somber eyes, many ordinary Americans began to see through the veil.

  It seemed like there was a brief flashback of visceral understanding in the minds of some of the reporters covering the Katrina disaster. Shocking events taking place right before their eyes, outpacing the bureaucratic spin they were accustomed to regurgitating. It wasn't really a radicalizing experience, though, more like a brief glimpse out the door in the back of the sound stage, into the dark alley behind the network studios.

  —>Lish< Read >Lish<'s other letters
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