Last year, sadly, too many millions of lite aka amateur media users let media tell them what to think. . . .

What I miss is the watchdog role of media.  It is a costly role, but was worth it to make me and many others read, listen, watch -- and keep coming back for more.  It's almost gone now.

I mean, who has that kind of time?

Newspapers have cut staffs to ridiculously low levels, not just on the reporting end, but on the editorial end - so there is less fact-checking, and, because a lot of material goes straight to the online outlet, the reliability of the information is even more suspect.

I think that's partly because I have become much more proficient at "reading" the media -- seeing what they are really saying when they "report" the news.  How the Village mentality infuses practically everything they print or report.  How -- mainly because of the media -- there is so little hope for democracy anymore.  And this just irritates me.

Now, this is strictly my own opinion, and it's not meant as disparagement of the man, but I think that BTD's frustration comes in large part from having spent an inordinate amount of time of late discussing what other pundits such as Ezra Klein and Matt Yglesias are writing about issues, rather than analyzing primary sources of material himself and then offering his own original take and observations.

In that regard, my reading of the back-and-forth indirect exchanges between a select number of pundits becomes the online equvalent of watching my cat amuse herself by chasing her own tail.

In BTD's defense, I suppose that it's an easy enough trap to fall into, and I can understand his frustration, given that the media itself has become increasingly reliant on punditry to fill its pages, bandwidth and airtime. But there is still a lot of primary-sourced material out there, if one takes time to find it. You and BTD do it all the time in your work as attorneys, particularly since hearsay is rarely allowed into evidence.

Whether it be for the most part the right wing wackos at Fox, the misogynists at MSNBC, or the lefty sensationalism of CNN - it's all entertainment.

The print media is better, but still designed to print what sells, particularly in choosing and writing headline and front page stories.  Often analysis is minimal, and that might be just a good thing.

exactly the point,

1. that you must factcheck US corporate media, and with sources other than US corporate media or you'll never know the truth - should NOT be the case at all.

2. most people do NOT factcheck the media, they read or watch their favorite outlets and absorb their lies without question. This is exactly the problem with America, why republican extremism has had control of the levers of power AND the national dialogue, and been successful in destroying rational thought, literally ending any accountability of republican extremism and criminality, and undermined everything America once stood for.

Today there was a march on DC to protest government takeover of health care - among other things - and despite the involvement of organizations like FreedomWorks, it was billed by the reporters as a grassroots effort.  They spoke to some of the attendees, and what a bunch they were: one woman was there because, she said, "Muslims are taking over the country."  One man railed about the Communists.  

Did the reporter tell the public who and what FreedomWorks is?  Or comment at all on these outrageous comments by marchers?  OF course not.  It all just stood as though there was nothing else that needed to be said about it.

Was there any attempt by NBC to provide the kind of info ThinkProgress has?

Speaking to reporters and ThinkProgress after the rally, Armey pretended that the upcoming 9/12 anti-Obama march on D.C. was entirely "grassroots," and that his corporate-backed group only provided "consulting." In fact, most of the groups paying for the rally are front groups and phony think tanks fully-funded by big business to create an image of public and academic support for their special interest agenda. One of the most visible organizations mobilizing the protest this Saturday is the Tea Party Patriots group. As Talking Points Memo has reported, the Tea Party Patriots' listserv is managed by FreedomWorks staffer Tom Gaitens. Not only is the list managed by FreedomWorks, but Armey's staffers have final say on decisions such as the logo for the event this Saturday. Tea Party Patriots does not even hide its close affiliation with corporate front groups, since it lists FreedomWorks as a coalition partner. The Tea Party Patriots listserv was used to distribute the infamous memo from a Tea Party Patriots volunteer detailing how town hall attendees should "rattle" Democrats by interrupting their events with coordinated yelling and shrieks.

Second story was Obama in Minnesota doing a campaign-style rally for "his" health care plan.  Not much real info there, either.

So they can't be characterized as truly useless.

For commentary and opinion, I'm going to read the sources I trust whose views I generally agree with, like the ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights, Human Rights Watch.

We get so wrapped up in reading blogs we like who agree with each other, and never reading blogs for opinions that differ from ours. When someone introduces a point made on a conservative blog, it is immediately shot down by other commenters as dumb, stupid, unreliable, etc.  Sorry folks - all "liberal" blogs are not 100% accurate and all conservative blogs are not 100% wrong. Seriously - I would no more completely rely on facts introduced in a column by Ezra Klein or Markos without serious fact-checking than I would on a column by Byron York or any of the posters on the Corner.  And as others have said - who has the time?

Instead of digging deeper and checking facts to find out what was really going on, CNN and then Fox ran with the "raw story".  So what should have been a minor story became a breathless, hysterical pandering to the American public's base insecurities and fear.  Especially given the significance of the day.