Mainstream Media's Demise as a Check on Corruption: Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes' Divorce Crushes LIBOR Scandal Coverage

If one were to judge the importance of news items based on the amount of mainstream media coverage they attract, one would end up concluding the following:

By far the most important event of the past few weeks has been the divorce of Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. Based on the time spent on that story relative to say, the coverage of the Libor scandal, one would have to conclude that the Cruise/Holmes divorce is about 750% more important than the biggest rigging of financial markets in history. One would also have to conclude that shark sightings are 530% more important than the Libor scandal.

It is disheartening to have front row seats to the real-time rewriting of history. But that is what our media is engaged in right now - diminishing the importance of systemic issues of corruption, in favor of fluff, gossip, and a never-ending parade of stupid pet tricks. There are exceptions, but the trend is unmistakably to inanity, compromised storytelling masquerading as journalism, and outright fantasy. The ultimate victims of this trend: justice, free markets, and democracy.

Link to full report at Media Matters

Jaime Falcon