Nation editrix Katrina Vanden Heuevel, whose commitment to liberalism is almost as strong as her commitment to snuffing out all forms of humor or excitement in her magazine, offers her take on the Dan Rather-Katie Couric kerfuffle. Guess who's to blame? Big corporations!

Recently, NBC News led its evening news program with two-and-a-half minutes on Paris Hilton. Coverage of Anna Nicole Smith topped Iraq War coverage on the networks night after night. There is no question that the network news programs have become cogs in the conglomerate machine where news is a profit center. We desperately need a news media that raises the tough questions, acts as watchdogs of the public interest, questions authority—performs the basic duties required of a free press in a democracy.

Sure thing, Katrina! As long as we're asking for things we'll never get, you wanna add on our urgent request for a magically filling yet energizing pastrami sandwich that will also make it suddenly be quitting time for the day? A sandwich that could bend time and space and also be really tasty? And maybe it could be delivered on a pillow balanced on a unicorn's horn?

It's Not About Dan and Katie [The Nation]

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