Tuesday, May 31, 2005
The Making of the News
A thoughtful, intriguing, and complete post from Iraq by Michael Yon. (hat tip: SMASH.)
He begins thus:
The media is an industry; but their business is not to report news. The industry needs a captive audience to beat the bottom line. The product is advertisement.At this point, a light began to dawn for me...
This is not a right or wrong. It's just a business concept for moving merchandise, and every profession or industry has one. Doctors, soldiers, preachers, lawyers, journalists: everyone needs to earn a living. Only a reclusive holy man might argue otherwise, but most holy men also expect alms.
Finding or generating news can be costly. A good businessperson buys cheap, sells high. These points are obvious, but less conspicuous is how the media squeezes news cheaply from Iraq.
By all means, read the whole thing.
