CNN has a new program called Dying to Tell the Story. It's a show dedicated to the journalists who gave or risked their lives to get the story out. I haven't seen it, but they are running ads for it pretty steadily. You can get the feel for what they're doing right away. They are laying another layer of treacle and hagiography on the press corps. Protectors of the first amendment who are willing to give their lives in defense of your right to know, or some other comic book drivel. CNN is part of that whole Freedom Forum cult which is trying to make journalism some sort of secular priesthood.
Go out to the Freedom Forum's “Newseum” in Arlington, Virginia and you'll see a lot of very interesting stuff about the press — old headlines, big TVs (gotta love really big TVs) and some great photography — but you will also see a celebration of journalists as a special caste. The press is so self-serving that we do not need to make these people martyrs to a great cause. My guess is that more Peace Corps volunteers have died digging wells than journalists “dying to tell the story.”
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