Politics and the Media

That's a nice and vague title, don't you think?
As we approach the 2010 midterm elections we once again are treated to the specter of news as entertainment. The cable news networks have thrown objectivity and impartiality under the bus in the quest for ratings. FOX sounds like 24 advertisement for the Tea Party. MSNBC consists of a number of shills who think the President isn't Progressive enough, and CNN is the in the later stages of Alzheimers. It becomes increasingly difficult to see if they are operating from the same palnet.
It didn't used to be like this. For a brief instant the news media prided itself on its objectivity to the point that Walter Cronkite could be the most trusted man in America. But that trust was fleeting. President Nixon talked about the "silent majority" of Americans who supported the war in Vietnam ignored by the media. By the 1980s, conservatives were talking about a Liberal Media Agenda which gave rise to Rush Limbaugh. The 1980s gave rise to this joke about print media:
"How would the major newspapers report the end of the world?"
The Washington Post headline would be: "World to End White House Sources Say"
The New York Times would run: "World Ends. Reagan to Blame"
The Wall Street Journal: "World Ends. Markets to Close Early"
and
USA Today: "We're All Dead! Absolute Final Boxscores page 6G"
In England at the same time the television show Yes Prime Minister recycled this classically British version. The episode "A Conflict of Interest" humorously lampoons the various political stances of Britain's newspapers through their readers
Hacker: Don't tell me about the press. I know exactly who reads the papers: the Daily Mirror is read by people who think they run the country; The Guardian is read by people who think they ought to run the country; The Times is read by people who actually do run the country; the Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country; the Financial Times is read by people who own the country; The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by another country; and The Daily Telegraph is read by people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard: Sun readers don't care who runs the country, as long as she's got big tits.