MEDIA
Beating the press in the globalized age
Sometimes it seems that globalization, like some medieval king, has given the world many more unintended offspring than rightful heirs. Miseries are globalized, too.
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Can journalism continue to happen if there's no money for it? That's a real question right now, as the news business grapples for a way to cope with a craven new world where neither readers nor advertisers will pay what they've traditionally paid for what journalists do.
Sometimes it seems that globalization, like some medieval king, has given the world many more unintended offspring than rightful heirs. Miseries are globalized, too.
Here's a question: Since being gay has lost much of the stigma it once had among heterosexuals in this country, should a celebrity who is falsely reported to have same-sex lovers still be able to sue for libel?
The media have discovered the poor, some of them anyway. As the recession slices deep into the U.S. middle class, people who have lost jobs or homes and now face the miseries of sudden poverty are in the news. That's as it should be, and if the news media weren't so cash-strapped themselves we'd see more reporters talking to people instead of officials, and visiting families who are huddled in motels or living out of their cars, trying to get by with dignity and hope.