QotD

"Deciding what does and does not legitimately belong within the national debate is -- no way around it -- a political act. And yet a pervasive belief within the press is that journalists do not engage in such action, for to do so would be against their principles. As Len Downie, former editor of the Washington Post once said about why things make the front page, 'We think it's important informationally. We are not allowing ourselves to think politically.' I think he's right. The press does not permit itself to think politically. But it does engage in political acts. Ergo, it is an unthinking actor, which is not good." -- Jay Rosen, Audience Atomization Overcome: Why the Internet Weakens the Authority of the Press, 2009-01-12