Media and the market
A lot of people currently in professional journalism have been turned out by the leftist hothouses of journalism schools, and their attitudes are not that surprising.
When discussing the media turning out what the public wants, it should be remembered that a lot of the public is turning away from the mainstream networks and newspapers to the many other alternatives (cable news, internet) for news. Network news ratings and newspaper circulation are in the toilet in many areas. Apparently the media are turning out what they think the public should want.
A good article on media bias can be found here. The article, and its many links, is worth spending some time on. I will try and remember to post part 2 when it shows up.
Then the Blogosphere essentially had its grand opening on September 11th, when several million Americans who couldn't log onto the Websites of CNN, The New York Times and the Washington Post, instead began checking out alternatives whose servers weren't blown out from too much traffic. These newcomers to the Blogosphere stayed there, and often put down roots themselves, as the media trotted out its clichés of Quagmire! Failure! Evil imperialism! The brutal Afghan winter! Remember the Soviets!
So it began. What the internet has also done is removed a major weapon of those who deal in propaganda (from any part of the political spectrum): the ability to change a story and pretend it has never changed. Or bury a past mistake.
Just one example from the previous paragraph was the massive outpouring of protest from the Left on our invasion of Afghanistan. A lot of people are trying to give me the impression that if Bush had never gone into Iraq, he would now be enjoying massive support of his efforts in Afghanistan. I don't think so. While there are liberals who are against the war in Iraq who approve of the war in Afghanistan (some of them on this board), I don't think they are a huge majority.
I remember what a lot of people were saying about Afghanistan a couple of years ago. Believe me, if we had never gone into Iraq, the same reporters and activists would be saying exactly the same things about Afghanistan that they are saying about Iraq.