From Murrow and Cronkite... to Olbermann and Beck

I was talking to a friend about Walter Cronkite’s death and I brought up the fact that I found it interesting to hear people call him the "most trusted man in America." The idea of everyone getting news from the same source is truly unfathomable to members of my generation.

I was talking to one of my friends on Saturday night about Walter Cronkite’s death and I brought up the fact that I found it interesting to hear people call him the “most trusted man in America.”  As I spoke, my friend stopped me to clarify whether Democrats or Republicans considered him trustworthy.  I said both.  He looked confused, which of course is my point. My friend is 21. The idea of everyone getting news from the same source is truly unfathomable to members of my generation. It is before 8 am and since 5:30 am, I have scanned the headlines of sixteen different “news” sites.  I have looked at the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and the Washington Post. But I have also looked at RealClearPolitics, the Huffington Post, and the Drudge Report.  “Looked” is key here, because I have not read these publications or websites in full.  On each site, I scanned the headlines for things that appealed to me and I simply ignored everything that didn’t.  This is great because it obviously gives me a lot of content options.  But it is also dangerous. One of the things that I do at NewMajority is go through the papers and suggest articles to David to put in the “rail” for your viewing. I am to a certain degree guided by the big news stories, but there is also no question that I look for stories that specifically are of interest to conservatives.  I am probably the most liberal member of the FF staff, but I am unlikely to send a New York Times story on wiretapping to David to put up in the rail.  Now, I would probably read it, but I am a Newsy.  If you are older, and you only have time to read one or two websites a day, you might not read that story.  You might only read those things that appeal to you… and not those stories that don’t. Back in the day when everyone read the local paper and watched the evening news,  Republicans and Democrats were presented the same information in the same way.  Today, many Republicans get their information from talk radio, Fox News, and Drudge. A lot of Democrats will read HuffPo, watch MSNBC, and listen to Olbermann.  The two sides aren’t even getting the same facts. It’s mighty hard to have an intelligent discussion between people who don't agree on the shape of reality.