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Originally Posted by theknife
the media is a critical part of this debate, and it is because of the media's failures that this debate is even necessary.
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The critical part the media plays is to report on
both sides of the debate fairly, and when the media fails in this respect then debate becomes impossible despite its necessity. Granted, there is no law that requires news outlets to provide equal time, but there's still a code of ethics that the media follows (however selectively), and when a scandal of this magnatude comes to light it is important for journalists to double and triple check their sources and hunt down corroborating evidence. As watchdogs they tend to ask questions no one else asks, and those are the true powers of the free press. Make no mistake here knife, the press isn't staying away from this story for fear of being called unpatriotic, they're refraining because they know that one-sided reporting is wreckless and irresponsible, and that would be far more damning in the public eye than mere unpatriotism. To keep their audiences loyal to them the media need to appear fair and balanced (sorry to repeat that epithet here, but why do you think Fox News uses such a phrase to advertise themselves?).
The divide and conquer approach does not work for political reporting. Convincing one half of the citizenry of a presidential conspiracy doesn't make convincing the other half any easier, and in fact it may make that other half more vocal and disidient. In that situation the lessons to be learned would be hard and few; mostly you would learn that polarizing the nation is a mistake to begin with. If the media is to report on the Downing Street minutes it must frame the debate in a way that allows all points of view to be understood, all evidence to be admited, and all accusations to be cross examined, and
after that you may begin to question, to investigate, and ultimately to hold someone accountable. This can be done in public forums, in Congress, and in the courts as well as the media, but the point is that the truth is meaningless unless you follow a logical, balanced, methodic process to uncover it. This has yet to happen.
The media may not have created this problem, but it can sure make it worse. Raising awareness is one thing, but the reporters you've quoted so far are just drawing lines in the sand.