Unhinged: Being a member of the MSM in the Alternate Media and Internet age

The Mask Slips

Thomas Lifson, RealClearPolitics - Commentary

"The rise of alternate media - talk radio, Fox News, and the internet - has not simply allowed competing voices to be heard in the public square, it has robbed many media grandees of the ultimate reward of their striving after careers as shapers of mass opinion. Some have become unbalanced mentally, and emotionally overwhelmed by the loss."

This perfectly describes the minds of many of the reporters with whom I deal with from time to time. A couple of years ago, I had a ranting TV beat reporter shrieking like a Sheehan at me because I couldn't answer her questions that second regarding a crisis we were handling. Organizational policy and fact-checking be damned, her psychosis may have actually had her believing that my conservative client was intentionally trying to ruin her career because our "no comment" answer at 4:30 p.m. would become a full-blown media release later that evening.

She actually accused us of dodging a news cycle. Now, any good crisis communicator knows it is best to get the facts out as soon as possible. Missing a news cycle was bad for us, as I tried to explain. But she insisted upon laminating some evil motive to it. As I read the commentary by Mr. Lifson, I had a scary series of flashbacks.

The pieces all fit for me. There are some in the MSM who have lost their minds over not being the only game in town any more.

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