Quote:
Originally Posted by kendo65
And here is the problem. The Reagan administration in 1987 effectively abolished the requirement for television news to attempt to provide balanced and fair coverage (I believe the argument was that it infringes freedom of speech and property rights - i.e. wealthy media owners should be able to have their organizations say what they damn well want).
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The above statement is biased as it ascribes motives based on opinion, but the press as advocate began a long time prior to 1987.
It wasn't Walter Cronkite's place to declare the Vietnam war unwinnable in 1968.
History now tells us that the Tet offensive was a rather large military defeat, rendering the Viet Cong southern insurgency, combat ineffective. What militarily could have been a turning point for victory became politically, a turning point for failure.
Few would now disagree that the venture was a huge mistake from the beginning, but Cronkite had a huge amount of influence on the public and wasn't really qualified to make such a statement.
The press can and does agree on tables that have 4 legs, but the majority of "news" is more subjective.