This is ridiculous. Dan Rather, a man who has blood on his hands for helping to kill mainstream media, is calling for a government commission to save it.
What he, and the others calling for media/journalism/newspapers to be saved, don’t understand is that journalism/media isn’t dying, it’s just changing. Calling for journalism to be saved is what it would have been like calling for transportation to be saved because horse & buggy manufacturers were going out of business a hundred years ago. Transportation wasn’t dying, it was evolving. Automobiles were better at getting people from point A to point B, and they did it for less money. It was just business.
And it’s the same now. Old newspapers have massive budgets and overhead while bloggers and other internet news orgs do not. The latter is arguably better at covering the news than the former, and they can do it for less. It’s just business.
press
Another bit of missed irony is that the MSM along with Rather and CBS are part of the power groups that need watch dogs.
Former CBS News anchor Dan Rather called on President Barack Obama to form a White House commission to help save the press Tuesday night in an impassioned speech at the Aspen Institute.
“I personally encourage the president to establish a White House commission on public media,” the legendary newsman said.
Such a commission on media reform, Rather said, ought to make recommendations on saving journalism jobs and creating new business models to keep news organizations alive.
What he, and the others calling for journalism to be saved, don’t understand is that journalism isn’t dying, it’s just changing. Asking the government to save the press now is what it would have been like calling for transportation to be saved because horse & buggy manufacturers were going out of business a hundred years ago. Transportation wasn’t dying, it was evolving. Automobiles were better at getting people from point A to point B, and they did it for less money. When a better product comes out you either adapt or die. It was just business.
And it’s the same now. Old newspapers have massive budgets and overhead, while bloggers and other internet news organizations do not. The latter is arguably better at covering the news than the former, and because of the minimal costs involved with distibuting over the intenet, they can do it for less. It’s just business. If MSM can’t adapt, they will die.
At stake, he argued, is the very survival of American democracy.
“A truly free and independent press is the red beating heart of democracy and freedom,” Rather said in an interview yesterday afternoon. “This is not something just for journalists to be concerned about, and the loss of jobs and the loss of newspapers, and the diminution of the American press’ traditional role of being the watchdog on power. This is something every citizen should be concerned about.” (Emphasis mine)
Another bit of irony missed by Rather is that he, CBS, and the rest of the MSM are to many the very power group that needs watch dogs. It was brilliant watch-dogging by bloggers that caught Rather in a lie and forced him from his chair at CBS. The free press isn’t dying. It’s been reborn and is alive and kicking.
Rather Begs for a Bailout
This is ridiculous. Dan Rather, a man who has blood on his hands for helping to kill mainstream media, is calling for a government commission to save it.
What he, and the others calling for journalism to be saved, don’t understand is that journalism isn’t dying, it’s just changing. Asking the government to save the press now is what it would have been like calling for transportation to be saved because horse & buggy manufacturers were going out of business a hundred years ago. Transportation wasn’t dying, it was evolving. Automobiles were better at getting people from point A to point B, and they did it for less money. When a better product comes out you either adapt or die. It was just business.
And it’s the same now. Old newspapers have massive budgets and overhead, while bloggers and other internet news organizations do not. The latter is arguably better at covering the news than the former, and because of the minimal costs involved with distibuting over the intenet, they can do it for less. It’s just business. If MSM can’t adapt, they will die.
Another bit of irony missed by Rather is that he, CBS, and the rest of the MSM are to many the very power group that needs watch dogs. It was brilliant watch-dogging by bloggers that caught Rather in a lie and forced him from his chair at CBS. The free press isn’t dying. It’s been reborn and is alive and kicking.