Second, with a few honourable exceptions the mainstream media are no longer to be believed in anything they transmit, either in words or pictures, about the Middle East. It is only the blogosphere which is now performing the most elementary disciplines of journalism: to aspire to objectivity, to separate facts from prejudices, to apply basic checks to claims being made by partisans to a conflict, and to be particularly wary of those with a proven track record of lying.
Granted, the media is a competitive business, and the media is simply providing their customers content that they want (lies are apparently more profitable than facts). And that's the problem. For the past ten years I've questioned the notion that the mainstream media in America qualifies as "The Press" that is protected in the First Amendment. Seems to me that in order to qualify as the press, as protected by the First Amendment, you must commit to the truth (as in facts) and relaying the entire story. Unfortunately, I haven't seen any media channel that would qualify. And I've seen plenty of bloggers that would.
How backward is that? Remember the Israel-Lebanon conflict of 2006. The conflict that turned the media world upside down.
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