Yak Yak

Photo © Per-Andre Hoffman
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Yak + yak grazing in Mongolia, fifteen thousand miles from our "reality" here in the U.S. And yet their name has come to define the world's largest and most powerful communication media: a woo-ly, horn-y, milk-producing, fully domesticated herd, devoid of ambition beyond survival.

'Course the animals smell better, and never shit where they eat.
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Prompted in part by the constant stream of vacuous data being passed to the public as "news"; the presentation of opposing views without context or historical perspective; and the obvious dumbing-down by editors and publishers to accommodate the REM-reading online audience.

Two specific orgs I have in the past respected as "trusted sources" - the Newshour, McClatchy - have apparently joined the crowded house of editors and publishers choosing the phone-it-in method of "s-he said/s-he said" banter as actual "news". Fatal error. Solid reporting consistently draws more eyeballs, for longer periods of time than drafting and publishing "blasts".

Way, way beyond the point editors and publishers need to recognize the talent they have working for them, and let them do their jobs. Even if it takes more airtime, or eats column inches.