More of a Dustbuster

There was a very good article in the Times this Sunday about the increasing number of news reports being paid for and produced by the government. The article itself revealed nothing new. If you have been paying attention, you should have heard all of these stories before. Still, it is a good summary of what has been happening with increasing frequency.

In case anyone was confused, the practice of governmental interference in / influence over the media is nothing new. Anyone remember the Alien and Sedition Act? Well, at least no reporters have been put in jail recently. (Though, they may have been targeted by the US army!)

While I don’t think we are living in an Orwellian world quite yet, these things do bother me. Relaxed restrictions on media ownership lead to fewer, more powerful voices. These voices are openly operating in a capacity to help themselves and other corporations. (Yes, I know about the blogosphere, but have you ever heard of shouting in a vacuum?) In addition, there are now greater incentives for the networks to use government made media aside from the purely selfish motives. One reason is the expanding and insatiable need for video content as a result of emergence of 24-hour cable news. Exacerbating this problem is that news room staffs are shrinking to satisfy the constant need to increase profits in the face of an ever shrinking number of viewers.

Is all hope lost? No. At some point, it will all balance itself out. I just expect it to get worse before it gets better. Which reminds me, have I told you about my latest idea?