Stanley Kutler is the author of “The Wars of Watergate” and other writings.
Writing in "Our Enabling Media Is Worse Than Ever" on truthdig, he rightly criticises the shallowness of the media and its failure to do its job in holding politicians accountable. Although the piece is American-centric - where the media is so poor to make one cry! - much of Kutler's observations apply equally to many other countries.
"Thomas Jefferson periodically expressed support for a free press as essential to an “enlightened citizenry,” but when the reality of political life settled on him during his presidency and beyond, Jefferson had harsh words for it. The newspapers, he complained in 1803, “present only the caricatures of disaffected minds.” In his “retirement” a decade later, Jefferson deplored the “putrid state into which our newspapers have passed and the malignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit of those who write for them.” The press’ capacity for mischief was ravenous, Jefferson complained. The media of the day, he said, were “like the clergy, [who] live by the zeal they can kindle and the schisms they can create.”
Jefferson never met 21st century radio and television, with their volatile contributions to the media mix. Today, the media largely offers us the irresponsible, shoddy, pernicious zeal and schisms he so deplored and feared. Recently, Maureen Dowd channeled Jefferson’s criticisms with her searing characterization of her colleagues as “spreading fear and disinformation that is amplified by the poisonous echo chamber that is the modern media environment.”
Writing in "Our Enabling Media Is Worse Than Ever" on truthdig, he rightly criticises the shallowness of the media and its failure to do its job in holding politicians accountable. Although the piece is American-centric - where the media is so poor to make one cry! - much of Kutler's observations apply equally to many other countries.
"Thomas Jefferson periodically expressed support for a free press as essential to an “enlightened citizenry,” but when the reality of political life settled on him during his presidency and beyond, Jefferson had harsh words for it. The newspapers, he complained in 1803, “present only the caricatures of disaffected minds.” In his “retirement” a decade later, Jefferson deplored the “putrid state into which our newspapers have passed and the malignity, the vulgarity, and mendacious spirit of those who write for them.” The press’ capacity for mischief was ravenous, Jefferson complained. The media of the day, he said, were “like the clergy, [who] live by the zeal they can kindle and the schisms they can create.”
Jefferson never met 21st century radio and television, with their volatile contributions to the media mix. Today, the media largely offers us the irresponsible, shoddy, pernicious zeal and schisms he so deplored and feared. Recently, Maureen Dowd channeled Jefferson’s criticisms with her searing characterization of her colleagues as “spreading fear and disinformation that is amplified by the poisonous echo chamber that is the modern media environment.”
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