The quality of news dissemination today is a shadow of its heydays of the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Walter Cronkite, Chet Huntley, David Brinkley and a few others told the news as it happened and did their editorial at the end of the half hour. They often wrote their own scripts and edited the other reports for accuracy and time. The scripted talking heads giving out the corporate agenda didn’t exist then.

            Now the news is designed to be a profit center so it is slanted to target an audience and given by people who have little gravitas. Even a low level news junkie can spot skewed reporting or partial reporting which causes misinformation. The Fourth Amendment was added to the Constitution to investigate and report the news to the public. Watergate was a great example of real reporting. Reporting Trump’s antics was for entertainment factor, not news. Greater number of viewers means higher bottom line.

            Today we have millions of people who are addicted to watching Fox News and News Nation. They are designed to cater to their viewers leading them farther from truth and reality. In addition to those outlets we have podcasters who create conspiracies which are then repeated by other podcasters and cable media. No wonder so many Americans are warped.

            News reporting today has become a profit source and part of the cost-cutting means replacing experienced reporters with millennial novices. Journalism should be an advocate for truth and honesty and not more profit so some billionaires can get richer.