NEWS MEDIA, INFOTAINMENT, AND THE DECLINE OF REPORTING

ABSTRACT. Shoemaker states that Internet news portals have broken the geographic boundaries of "local" news. Martin notices that news reports on television are typically given without much overt context. Merritt claims that one can be objective in looking at the facts and still care about the implications of those facts. Bird claims that only the most naïve journalist would cling to the idea that newspapers simply transmit "reality" to the printed page.