The media celebrities who modestly claim only to report the news are clearly its arbiters now.
Corporate conglomerates have taken over the news business.
Television has taken over the role that party bosses once played in selecting political candidates and issues.
Producers and their telegenic news superstars define the issues for the public and decide who does and does not get to speak to them.
The commentators tell us what reasonable people should think about the issues, and then they take another poll to see what we think abut what they have told us.
Right on cue, the eager politicians, along with their own pollsters and "spin doctors," take the results and announce their positions on the major questions of our public life.
This closed system of media-oriented political entertainment continually preempts genuine public dialogue and debate about the issues that most affect people's lives and the character of the nation.
Jim Wallis
