Is the "new" media a good thing?

While I have always had my doubts that the new type of media (citizen reporting, 24 hour networks, etc.) may have its downfalls, the positives would always outweigh the bad. It was not until the past week or two that I have realized that the media is failing to do its job.

With the constant coverage of Anna Nicole Smith's death, the coverage of the trial (which had decided who gets custody of Smith's body), and the coverage of Britney Spears shaving her head, it has just been too much. Events such as Al-Qaeda becoming reorganized in Pakistan and Iran not complying with UN's request to stop enriching uranium have slipped from the headlines.

One of the jobs of the media is to be a watchdog for the people. Over the past months there have been several salmonella out breaks in food processing plants and all the media did was warn people that it was happening. No investigative reports. No hard hitting interviews. At least from what I saw.

At a job interview, a man told me that the future of newspapers was in the local news. He continued to say that if people want to hear about what is going on in the world they can turn on CNN or FoxNews, watch it for a few minutes and get their fill of national and world news.
What he said is correct and wrong at the same time. He is correct in saying that after watching only a few minutes of CNN or FoxNews a person can get a good idea of what is going on in the world that day (mainly becuase the 24 hour networks only run a few stories a day over and over again). He is wrong because the couple of stories that the networks chose to show are not a complete picture of what is going on in the world. I can guarantee that no network had a story on the genocide in Darfur since around September. The BBC has had several stories (on their website) the past couple of months pertaining to troop levels and the ongoing negotiations between the Sudanese government and the UN. But who is to blame for the public's lack of interest in national and global news, unless it pertains to stars (not the ones in space)?

My proposal is unless the 24 hour networks do not start doing their job, acutally start informing people of the world around them, that they should be disbanded. Then sign control of those networks to MTV so we can watch countless hours of teenage reality television. But seriously, maybe the news media needs to take a step back and look at its roots. Look back to when there wasn't a constant need to fill 24 hours, a time when journalists took pride in their work and did a service to the people. I'm talking about the "muckrakers" and the Woodwards and Bernsteins of journalism.