The Decline of Muckraking.(Brief Article)

They call it the "news" business, but when it comes to the subjects they tackle, elite journalists live in the distant past. Today's press is so nostalgic for the days when muckraking meant exposing the evil doings of fatcat businessmen, it's become blind to new realities.

Consider the recent exposes of Jesse Jackson's obviously dubious finances. The Rev. says if it weren't for a "right-wing conspiracy" these allegations would never have arisen. And it's true conservative groups filed lawsuits to pry open Jackson's books. But only because the press refused to investigate on its own. You see, many journalists don't think it's possible for liberal groups, especially sacred cows like civil rights organizations, to be corrupt.

Yet can anyone doubt that if, say, Pat Robertson's Christian Coalition had "accounting practices" like the Rainbow/ PUSH Coalition--including scoring lucrative beer distributorships for Robertson's kids--we wouldn't have had to wait for an ACLU lawsuit to hear about it? Where were the fearless, icon-smashing reporters of Newsweek, CNN, and so forth when it came to Jesse's shenanigans? Why did it take a lawsuit from "knuckle-dragging conservatives" to bring the issue into the open?

Muckraking--from Upton Sinclair to Ralph Nader--was originally motivated by a desire to force government to rein in corporations that abused their employees, customers, and the environment. But today there are enough regulatory agencies--FCC, FTC, EPA, FDA, FERC, IRS, OSHA, FDIC, SEC, etc.--to frighten any business into submission, right down to the level of your local six-year-old's lemonade stand. Today's question is, Who is keeping an eye on the advocates of "reform" and expanded government?

Consider how journalists describe events in Washington. When legislation passes, government is "moving forward" and "taking action" in order to "address problems" and "unjust conditions." By contrast, when there are efforts to repeal bad laws and excessive regulations, or attempts to place more responsibility on individuals or local communities, we invariably hear talk of "moving backward" or "dismantling protections."

Race is one of the biggest distorters of media treatments. Convinced their role is always to expose white racism, the press ignores the fact that black bigotry against whites is just as common, perhaps more so. Have you heard of a well-documented, decade-long trend in staged racist hoaxes on college campuses? Probably not, because the press loves to spotlight a hate crime, and rarely admits it when they don't exist (as with the church-burning fraud of the ...