Not so crackpot, and not so theoretical.  Public television is so terrified of the right in Congress that its mission is already to bring us more Tucker Carlson and Paul Gigot.  The cheerful underwriting credits on public radio for Wal-Mart are already written by George Orwell.   Half a dozen media companies already bring us all the television we see, and their owners are begging FCC and Congress for the privilege to gobble up more stations and more newspapers in media markets where they already dominate.  So-called mainstream media, print and broadcast, have abandoned the mission to figure out what's accurate, and insteady they have become cowardly stenographers, juxtaposing charges and countercharges without regard for whether one side might be lying outrageously and gaming the system by claiming moral equivalence.   If you want to seem paranoid, Emily, you'll need more tinfoil for your hat.

Marty Kaplan, Associate Dean, USC Annenberg School for Communication; Director, The Norman Lear Center; Host of "So What Else Is News?" on Air America Radio

Back To "Reality, C'est Moi!"