Letters to the Editor
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Unwring those hands!
As always, Glenn Greenwald's column is eminently insightful, intelligent, and pertinent. The one fault I find is a slight tinge of handwringing.
Unwring those hands, Glenn! Change is on the way. Actually, change is constant, as noted by sages as varied as Heraclitus, Marx, Isaac Asimov, and Thomas Kuhn. There are three factors to look at as change looms on the horizon: Global Warming, the unsustainability of our economic system, and all the other "countries" on this planet. These factors are interdependent, and the changes that are pending will be synergystic and monumental. An entertainment-oriented news industry will find itself under extreme pressure to adjust to these changes.
As I have noted elsewhere, the Bush criminal regime is both the end result of a frivolous and enabling news media and a catalyst for change. It takes a lot to hold a society together, and it has to effectively hold to a certain level of social contract. People have to agree to drive on the right side of the street, for example, and pay for what they buy. Businesses have to provide safe and useful products, and pay honest wages to their employees. When the example at the top is complete lawlessness, it filters throughout the social order. Antecedent yields consequence, cause yields effect, sow yields reap.
One example of the changes that are already taking place is Salon. Writers here are not likely to be making big money, but the quality is at the highest level. As the synergy among the various factors of change intensifies, we can hope and expect Salon to grow in influence and readership. The handwringing will be at Fox News, CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS, the Washington Post, the New York Times, and their imitators. It couldn't happen to a nicer bunch of guys.