Peggy Noonan on the Failure of Journalism (10/26/01)

“When the editors and publishers of our great magazines and networks want you to worry about something – child safety seats, the impact of air bags, drunken driving, insecticides on apples – they know how to make you worry. They know exactly how to capture your attention. Mathew Shephard and hate crimes, Rodney King and racism: The networks and great newspapers know how to hit Drive and go from zero to the American consciousness in 60 seconds. And the networks can do it on free airwaves, a gift from our government. Did the networks and great newspapers make us worry about what we knew we should be worried about? No. Did they bang the drums? No. Did they hit the right story like they know
how to hit a story? No.”