Confessional talk shows, trashy reality shows, “soft” news focused on crime and celebrity gossip — the “infotainment” side of contemporary media is routinely justified as “the price we pay for freedom.” Behind this cliché is the assumption that America’s constitutional tradition has always entailed not just the liberty to express oneself politically but also the license to disseminate trash.
Unfortunately, a rather recent American tendency to treat political and nonpolitical expression as rough equivalents is encouraging people all around the world to do the same.
Comments
> What they need is the kind of news and public-affairs programming that their rulers don’t want them to have.
Yes. And what WE need is the kind of news and public-affairs programming that OUR rulers don’t want US to have.