In 2016 when objective journalism died in major news institutions. Since then it is a cesspool of opinion pieces and advertising masquerading as content.
The problem is that bad, irresponsible, and / or wrong journalism still makes money. Newspapers rarely face consequences for their shoddy publications.
That type of journalism is going away fast. Often if you look at the New York Times, for example, almost every article on the front page is an anti-Republican op-ed style hit piece masquerading as journalism. CNN is the worst after that, followed closely by MSNBC, ABC News etc.
Best investigative journalism: Tampa Bay Times & Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Ever heard of them?
This is availability bias.
Good journalism is all over the place. If you're looking at CNN and MSNBC and Fox News and lamenting the state of journalism vs. fluff in the modern era, you're looking in the wrong places! You're literally singling out the shitty news and assuming that represents everything.
I guarantee if you go to your local paper or local news station and check out their investigative journalists, you'll find some incredibly talented, passionate people who report on real stories.
Yes, the economics are such that for every in-depth investigative piece, you have a ton of press release reports, and fluff. But that's true on blogs as well.
Lmao. Slam dunk. Except for insult to journalism: mainstream press has been quantity over quality for some time now. It's all shit minus the rare few that still practice the real thing.
You're right, the Guardian and the Intercept have done some very good investigative journalism in the last few years, particularly around Snowden and the US surveillance state. However they are certainly not the only ones producing impactful journalism.
Here is a good list of some great journalism from the last year. Some of the media outlets are "mainstream" (note I really dislike that term as it is usually used by people being adversarial towards the media for their own gain). Some are small local papers. Some have what is perceived to be a left leaning ideological bent, and some have a right.
I find that many people laud the journalism and outlets that support their viewpoint. However, they avoid or actively denigrate good journalism and outlets that oppose their viewpoint. From your reading choices, I'm guessing that you probably don't read the Wall Street Journal or other sources with a perceived conservative bent. If not, you should try. And try some sources such as the Associated Press and Reuters which focus on producing content for many media outlets with different viewpoints and biases. Good journalism is being done across the spectrum. It should be supported, regardless of your political leanings, as the basis of a shared reality in which we as humans can make good decisions.
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