Journalist Bill Moyers addresses the National Conference for Media Reform in Minneapolis, June 7, 2008.

Moyers challenges the current state of mainstream journalism in his talk:

“You couldn’t find a more revealing measure of the state of the dominant media today than the continuing ubiquitous presence — on the air and in print — of the very pundits and experts, self-selected ‘message multipliers’ of a disastrous foreign policy, who got it all wrong in the first place,” he said.

Moyers attributes the current state of journalism to media consolidation.

“As conglomerates swallow up newspapers, magazines, publishing houses and broadcast outlets, news organizations are folded into entertainment divisions. The news hole in the print media shrinks to make room for ads, celebrities, nonsense and propaganda, and the news we need to know slips from sight.”

Moyers makes a compelling argument that corporate journalism leads to propaganda.

Blogging, vlogging and podcasting offer an alternative to this. But will this lead to a digital divide, between those that get their news from the rich array of sources available on the Web and those that rely on mainstream journalism?

via alternet