McClatchy reporter: 'Alarming power grab' of GOP by 'misguided group of extremists'

[BlueStreak]

36. I think the problem is QUANTITY more than quality

Let me explain.

It was not that long ago that teevee news consisted of 3 networks each going at it for a 30-minute slice each evening, or 60 minutes if you include PBS. That format included 7 minutes of ads and about 8 minutes of soft news. So at most, there was 15 minutes to cover all the issues of national importance. There was little time for opinionating, and indeed on those infrequent occasions where people like Walter Cronkite took time to lay out an extended opinion, it was usually a matter of great weight and that commentary itself was a significant news item.

Because of the limited format, the news programs felt no obligation to present "the other side" on a 50/50 basis. They just tried to get the facts as well as they could.

Having said that, the format also didn't allow them to dig into the soft underbelly, so stories like Watergate and Iran-Contra languished for months before being taken up by the networks.

Today we have the opposite situation -- a vast surplus of time and a virtually unlimited number of microphones. There still is high-quality reporting going on, but much of it is buried by the huge corporate megaphones. The problem is not the journalism. The problem is the 95% of what is out there that is NOT journalism.