Traditional American media has, in some ways, passed the point of no return. With the advent of the 24-hour news cycle, the Internet has become the source for the most up-to-date information on any and every topic, from sports to domestic and international politics to celebrity gossip.
The ready availability of information has resulted in nothing short of clamor. We have become dependent on the Internet for what we require to be the latest and greatest news, complete with immediate video upload. As a result, news outlets that were formerly the go-to sources, such as newspapers and national magazines, are forced into playing on this field, detracting from their former goals of reporting the pure news.
Political endorsements are but one arena where this traditional media has been eclipsed. As the Fourth Estate becomes swiftly and inexorably linked with corporate interests and the will of individuals, thoughtful prose like the following has all but disappeared:
His life story is in so many ways ours. In his political pursuits, he has defied both traditional paths pursued by minority politicians: identity politics built on narrow affiliations, typical of most ethnic leaders...who run from their history and identity.
Before yesterday, I had no idea that Little India magazine existed. My wife and I tried out a new Indian restaurant and I grabbed a copy on my way out the door, drawn in by a cover article on the murder of two Indian students at LSU.
Given the tepid endorsement of Sen. Hillary Clinton last month in the New York Times, I certainly have not become inured to high expectations from endorsements by the traditional media. Tired ideas put forth in endorsements like this from the Times:
We know that she is capable of both uniting and leading. We saw her going town by town through New York in 2000, including places where Clinton-bashing was a popular sport. She won over skeptical voters and then delivered on her promises and handily won re-election in 2006.
(In actuality, Clinton's "town hall" meetings in upstate New York were mere dog-and-pony shows, where promises and platitudes along the lines of "I feel your pain" were delivered to residents of one of the most depressed regions of the nation. Seven years later, upstate New York has not begun to climb out of the economic abyss.)
Little India magazine, the voice of nearly three million expatriate and immigrant Indian-Americans, delivered the most clear and convincing argument for Barack Obama that I have read this entire election season:
We take this unusual step as we have come to share his inspiring message and his call for the "fierce urgency of now."...[t]here is something magical and transcendental in this moment about Sen. Obama both for the country and the Indian American community.
In the wake of the disastrous Bush presidency, Democrats are wistful about the Clinton era. In actual fact, the Clinton presidency was a period of political gridlock and public venom.
It is the ability to cut through the chaff and the noise and the clamor of the invasive nature of information exchange that allows a reader to experience truth. Truth and clarity-the ultimate purpose of information.