Newspapering

Brian Lambert is not my political cup of tea. Having said this, his article “Newspapers in Turmoil” [October] was a finely crafted insight into the corporate culture of our mainstream media (MSM). As a critic of MSM myself, I have watched the downward spiral of news delivery over the years with shock and awe. Lambert draws the same conclusions as I–but for different reasons. He claims boardroom weasels, along with unfounded claims of media bias, have torpedoed the business of news writing and commentary. I contend that it is the journalists themselves who have sealed their own fate. Where Lambert seems to miss the point is when he implies “media bias” is an invention of the Right. As long as he believes MSM critics are fueled by bile, he misses the larger point: There is a media bias. It is profound, it is tilted dangerously to the left and it is an institutional, intractable, and lethal bias precisely because it is considered only to exist in the minds of uninformed conservative Christian idealogues. It doesn’t.
Lambert rightly blames corporate suits for the demise of the newsroom. His analysis is convincing, well-documented, and provocative. That he does not see a very real MSM bias as an equal co-conspirator in that demise is symptomatic of the very disease he claims is exaggerated. All in all, though, it was an excellent treatment of a story no journalist could address while in the employ of MSM. Kudos to The Rake for pointing a finger at a cultural phenomenon which has yet to play itself out. I look forward to more of Mr. Lambert’s insightful commentary. I also look forward to not agreeing with all of it which is the essence of the very journalism the MSM have sadly tossed overboard in their cowardice and myopia.

Jerry Lindberg, Crystal