Beat the press

There were two good pieces yesterday on the role of the press, or lack thereof, in providing information to our people so they can intelligently participate in their government.

Jack Shafer, who writes mostly about media for Slate, is one of my favorite columnists. His column yesterday is about what Bush has learned about media manipulation from his North Korean counterpart, Kim Jung Il. Not as far-fetched as you might imagine.

Columnist Mike Hedricks of the KC Star is more flippant when he puts the blame for the denigration of the press on Rush Limbaugh and his clones. But there is a smidgen of truth in there, too.

I won’t deny that Dan Rather, Jayson Blair, Stephen Glass and others played right into the hands of those who would bring this plague down upon the journalistic house, but when it comes to getting information about your government, whom are you going to trust? The government itself? There’s a disinterested and unbiased source for you.