Long-time CBS News anchorperson Dan Rather spoke recently on the state of the media:
Addressing the Fordham University School of Law in Manhattan, occasionally forcing back tears, [Dan Rather] said that in the intervening years, politicians “of every persuasion” had gotten better at applying pressure on the conglomerates that own the broadcast networks. He called it a “new journalism order.”
He said this pressure — along with the “dumbed-down, tarted-up” coverage, the advent of 24-hour cable competition and the chase for ratings and demographics — has taken its toll on the news business. “All of this creates a bigger atmosphere of fear in newsrooms,” Rather said.