Wow. See this DailyKOS thread for a discussion of some very harsh criticism of the media, from a longtime media insider. Maybe the blogs are not too far off the mark when we chastize real journalists for refusing to confront and oppose the propaganda and misinformation that is rampant in the media today.

Daily Kos :: Pulitzer winner Laurie Garrett blasts media, quits today: “This is terrible for democracy. I have been in 47 states of the USA since 9/11, and I can attest to the horrible impact the deterioration of journalism has had on the national psyche. I have found America a place of great and confused fearfulness, in which cynically placed bits of misinformation (e.g. Cheney’s, ‘If John Kerry had been President during the Cold War we would have had thermonuclear war.’) fall on ears that absorb all, without filtration or fact-checking. Leading journalists have tried to defend their mission, pointing to the paucity of accurate, edited coverage found in blogs, internet sites, Fox-TV and talk radio. They argue that good old-fashioned newspaper editing is the key to providing America with credible information, forming the basis for wise voting and enlightened governance. But their claims have been undermined by Jayson Blair’s blatant fabrications, Judy Miller’s bogus weapons of mass destruction coverage, the media’s inaccurate and inappropriate convictions of Wen Ho Lee, Richard Jewell and Steven Hatfill, CBS’ failure to smell a con job regarding Bush’s Texas Air Guard career and, sadly, so on.”