[forgingahead]

Then why does he keep making them? And getting paid to make them? Generally if you are hired to do something, and fail at it multiple times, you are fired, and in the case of potentially moving markets and affecting livelihoods, you should be banned from ever saying anything again!

[chillingeffect]

A fair question. It really sheds light on how most of the media make their money: by kicking up drama within the boundaries of our own belief systems, not by being accurate. He is hired to stir up the pot and he does that well, because we are poor at critical thinking.

We can learn this from the Chomsky/Zinn's media manipulation model.....

....or simply from Criswell's monologue to Ed Wood.

If you were to corner most newspaper editors, they would simply say "it's up to readers to do research and make up their minds" or "we provide a service by stimulating conversation and making you think." These are both true, but don't undo the damage caused by sending us careening around in fear and uncertainty by whipping us into perpetual emotional dissonance.

[tptacek]

That's not what he's paid to do.