"The profession of journalism also experienced a dramatic cultural change during the latter half of the 20th century. From its inception until the 1960s, journalism operated like a guild. Apprentices began their careers as copy boys, made their way through a succession of newsroom jobs, and graduated, in time, to become reporters or editors. Along the way, they acquired important tools of the trade -- experience, skepticism, and an informed humility about what they could and could not do. That tradition came a cropper sometime between the Second World War and Watergate. Journalists began to fancy themselves more as professionals -- akin to doctors and lawyers -- or as intellectuals. Media organizations sought out and promoted young graduates of elite educational institutions and set them loose without any of the basic training that earlier generations took for granted. In addition, reporters began to view themselves as crusaders rather than eyewitnesses. They set out to change the world rather than to describe it. This combination of factors produced a press corps too often afflicted with the odd combination of callowness, callousness, cluelessness and arrogance. As the intelligentsia turned sharply leftward in the 1960s, so did the press. ...Patriotism became deeply unfashionable. So did optimism. The things that made Americans proud had the opposite effect on media stars, who found the old-fashioned customs embarrassing. ...This would explain why the press, once seen as the voice of the Common Man, now has become his nemesis -- and why polls continue to rate journalists just above felons in terms of public approval."  --Tony Snow

important tools of the [journalism] trade--experience, skepticism, and an informed humility

"...reporters began to view themselves as crusaders rather than eyewitnesses. They set out to change the world rather than to describe it. "  --Tony Snow

Quoted:
i found this in [i]The Federalist[/i], an online conservative news journal, and i think this is the absolute best description of the what has occurred in the journalism industry.



too bad "news" doesn't stand for the same things anymore.