One of the great achievements of the postwar American propaganda machine was the creation of a caste system in which facts and opinions dispensed were accorded differing credibilities based on where they were emanating from. This was the origin of the use of “official sources”,”a senior administration official” and other euphemisms that seek to hide the identity of the officials while providing the imprimatur that these are unimpeachable facts or opinions.That practice also succeeded in creating a whole class of sycophants like Broder,the Alsop brothers, James Reston and many of their successors who stood as gatekeepers of received wisdom and even defined what topics can be discussed and what were the perimeters of discourse.
Such a system suited the officials fine because exclusion of unpleasant and awkward questions on any issue automatically ensured that their own views would prevail.
This made it possible for mainstream outlets like CBS, NBC, ABC and NYT and WaPo to pose as the only print and TV media worthy of being given credibility.
Into this milieu we now have millions of people finding a way through the blogs to express their opinions on all and sundry matters without the established filters.That has thrown the news purveyors and their “official sources” in turmoil.What is worse is that opinions and facts that the mainstream pompous asses did not think were worth reporting on are grist for the mills of the blogs and reach many millions with the speed of an electron which the last time I checked was about 1.3 X 10 exp10 meters per second.Take it from me that is fast!
The pompous asses are now forced to compete with lowly Joe Schmos on a daily basis and are having a hard time monopolizing the discourse. We cannot have that, can we? Then what would they do with their Harvard and Princeton pedigreed journalism schools?
The democratization of opinion dissemination has set off a panic in, what else, “official circles” and it is bringing a welcome fragmentation of opinions and delivering a blow to the totalitarian control freaks of the NYT and WaPo. That is a result well worth celebrating, IMO.
