infobong.com

This AP story on Bill Moyers' retirement helped me understand the journalist better. The article consists of largely biographical data, but sometimes basic facts help me put things together. The information about his production company, Public Affairs Television, gave me further insight into how PBS operates, It sort of strikes me as strange Moyers has become such a fierce critic of the mainstream media, when he has spent so much time in the establishment, even working as LBJ's press secretary. On one hand, I'm inclined to think the American media situation must be worse than ever, if Moyers is finally speaking out about the media. On the other hand, as a student of media history, I'm well aware that there's long been a stark contrast between how the media presents itself - as a champion of democracy and fairness - and the often unfair, undemocratic realities of the ways powerful interests intersect in the media world. I wonder if Moyers regards the early decades of television journalism as a golden age, where things like the fairness doctrine and news execs were sometimes able to act expressly in the public interest.