Britney and Paris to blame for horrible reporting?

An interesting premise from a veteran investigative reporter:

"A culture coarsened by celebrity news is to blame for inadequate
public affairs journalism, Watergate reporter Carl Bernstein told a
group of college preparatory students."

I agree with him that the glitterizing of news has lead to less in-depth
investigative news reporting. However, the glitterizing of news not only
includes the inclusion of celebrity news but also how the programs look.
News programs are starting to look like "Entertainment Tonight" in the
way they are edited together, sound effects, music, graphics, catchy sound
bites. Here is an interesting video sort of on this topic (albeit anti-Fox News
but I think other cable news networks are guilty of this too):



There are other issues when it comes to our "inadequate" reporting that
come into the equation. I think we have seen a slow decline of comprehensive
journalism since the onset of cable news. The 24 hour news cycle puts pressure
on news outlets to process a story more quickly. Therefore, fact checking and
more thorough digging for information is lacking. This may be why bloggers are
becoming known for spotting inaccuracies in news reports that some of the
mainstream reporters missed. Bloggers are not beholden to a deadline and are
able to fact check.