The failing fourth estate

How did a Rolling Stone journalist scoop the major media on Gen. McChrystal?  Ken Connor at the Center for Just Society has it right; they're too closely tied to the people they cover. And that should make us suspicious of what they do or don't report.

What price do the American people pay for the symbiotic relationship between the media and Washington? Quite simply, we can’t trust that the primary sources of information used to form our political opinions are accurate, objective, or complete. Compromised news is no news at all. This is problematic, particularly because Americans’ most cherished civil liberty – the franchise – is often heavily influenced by the media’s portrayal of the candidates and the issues. The American people must, therefore, adopt a high index of suspicion of the news we read and watch, and take pains to get “the whole story” before we draw any conclusions.