News the old way

There was panic in some conservative areas when it was announced that Disney will buy Fox news. For many others this was welcome news. There is a nostalgia for the good old days when people got their news from the three main networks and the networks got their news from the NY Times. It didn’t matter whether you watched Huntley-Brinkley, Walter Cronkite or John Charles Daly the news was the same. Of course they were only on for 15 minutes and for most people that was all the news they needed or wanted. At least in those days the NY Times tried to give balance coverage and that carried over to the networks. They followed Mr. Dooley who in 1902 said the job of the newspaper is to comfort the afflicted and to afflict the comfortable which mainly meant go after the rich and powerful which translated into go after big business. The constitution meant for them to go after big government which they slid into when business and government got in bed together.