The western news media are in crisis and turning their backs on the world, but we hardly ever notice.
Where correspondents were once assigned to a place for months or years, reporters now handle often 20 countries.
Bureaus are in hub cities, far from many of the countries they cover. And journalists are often lodged in expensive houses or five-star hotels. As the news has receded, so have our minds.
To the consumer, the news can seem authoritative. But the 24-hour news cycle rarely gives us the stories essential for us to understand the important events of our time.
The news machine, confused about its mandate, has faltered. Big stories are often missed.
Huge swaths of the world are forgotten or shrouded in myth. The news both creates these myths and dispels them, in a pretence of providing us with truth.
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