I’d venture that for many people in the college-age demo bracket, there’s nothing “faux” about Jon Stewart’s news program. To them, he’s as legitimate a news source as NBC or the New York Times.

What’s a journalist? Today, it’s anyone with a keyboard. But as you wisely point out in your previous post on newspapers, “…it’s a whole new world where rules of conduct, ethics and openness are still in flux.” Reader Beware.

Where were the tough questions to Bush about his lies to the country over the War on Terror, for example? Or the questions to big corporations that virtually okayed state terrorism in China by sponsoring the Olympics?

There are a lot of occasions when questions can, and should, be asked but never are. Maybe this is why a lot of the traditional media is in so much trouble? The public’s loss of belief?

China is now worried about their dangerous over investment in US Treasury obligations. Washington ’s long-term choice is either repudiation or monetization. For monetization to be effective, the depreciation in the dollar would have to be substantial and this in turn would dramatically raise prices of imports for American consumers which would mean a tremendous drop in foreign imports. Debt monetization would cause more disruption to exporting nations than selective repudiation of Treasury debt.

The Campaign to Cancel the Washington National Debt By 12/22/2013 Constitutional Amendment is starting now in the U.S. See: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=67594690498&ref=ts

Thanks,

Ron with 30 plus years in the investment business and banking industry.

Are they journalists? Not sure, having grown up with David Broder, Studs Terkl, Edwin Newman, and others of that thoughtful category, it’s hard to draw the parallel. Perhaps there is a greater connection with Andy Rooney and George Carlin.

Because we seem to progress faster in terms of what is accepted practice and what is the next big thing, let’s look at where we are going. Today’s mainstream media personalities are so connected to the social media world, who is to say where the journalists are coming from? Perhaps we have gone from the big 3 networks of the 60s to the thousand tweets that are monitored by network anchors like Rick Sanchez of CNN or to the Ellen Show with its 140 thousand Twitter followers, and growing, of Ellen Degeneres.

My take – in the 60s we watched the news of injustice or wrong doing and said “someone should do something about that” Some people did in civil rights and the Vietnam war, but little else.

In the 90s we watched the 24 hour news cycle and society’s reaction to injustice and wrongdoing was something like “crooks, it figures they are all no good”

Today perhaps we watch the expansion of news coverage to include the stars and the iReporter stories and say, “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it anymore” David, I know you see the irony in that line from the 1976 film Network. Difference is today we say it on blogs, on twitter, on YouTube and just maybe others are listening and taking action.

All the best to you David.