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John Sommerville

The idea that all “viewpoints” are somehow equal is the reason that we do so badly in arguing our great social issues. We are so used to the News' juggling approach to ideas that we have lost the patience and the humility to submit our opinions to true argumentation. Is abortion murder? How would one decide? Should we try to deduce an answer from philosophical principles or from our feelings or from polls? We wouldn't know how to begin to answer. What is compelling about philosophical principles, for instance?
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To be fair, Newspeople never claimed that the News represented everything important. Unfortunately, that assumption has been made by the rest of us, so that the ultimate concerns of life have been steadily declining in intellectual status.
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Once the News identifies the disadvantaged groups, it doesn't really have to discuss their situation. It can just keep score. If you have to capsulize the day's events, you cannot debate situations fully. Discussing moral dilemmas is complicated and often discouraging. So News just reports on who has insulted, slighted, or supported one of the target groups in its morality play.
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Perhaps, then, it is time for people to stop apologizing for ignoring the News. It would be nice if the declining interest in the ephemeral were being compensated by a growing concern for something more solid. -John Sommerville
http://www.firstthings.com/article/2007/11/004-why-the-news-makes-us-dumb-17
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