"Even when [news organizations] report the facts," wrote Kurtz, "they have had trouble influencing public opinion."
Did you catch that? Even when they report the facts, as though reporting the facts has become some sort of noble, experimental enterprise within the otherwise (ab)normal course of mainstream journalism, for which Kurtz expected, I guess, awe-inspired applause and instant civic snap-to-it-ness.
Thriving on myths: Television news and the corruption of the American mind
