BROADCAST NEWS
“Broadcast News, L.A.,” by Dennis McDougal (Jan. 24), glamorizes an enterprise that should, by now, be disgraced. “Information” from 1980s-style local television news should never be confused with truth, reality or even good journalism. In the race for viewers, the definition of news was enlarged to include anything a publicist could sell that might concern “family,” “the consumer,” “health” or “entertainment.” As a result, broadcast news has become a subtle propaganda machine for the corporate culture that controls it. The days of tough investigative-reporting teams are long gone. The best revenge for the intelligent individual is to simply turn off the TV.
FRANK BEACHAM
Los Angeles
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