I have always loved Maureen Dowd because of her feisty, outspoken eloquence. She has the ability to see through the hyperbole that obfuscates the self-serving tendentiousness that motivates much of contemporary life.
Her column "So much news isn't fit to see," April 25, once again hits the nail on the head and explains why it is vital why we preserve print journalism. Simply, it is run by professional journalists. If we are to know the truth, we must have professionals dedicated to discovering that truth and revealing it to us.
Granted, there are demagogues who distort and manipulate the news in order to promote their personal agendas; and granted most newspapers have an ideological bias. But, in a free society with a free press, different outlets provide a balanced perspective.
The Internet, on the other hand, is a cacophony of opinion and misinformation where ignorance and amateurism are allowed to run amok. Professionalism is an unknown commodity.
Our Founding Fathers feared over-democratization almost as much as they feared tyranny. Now, we live in a "tyranny of technology" in which the disenfranchised and disempowered are attempting to use the technologies that enslave them to liberate themselves. It ain't gonna happen. We must learn to think for ourselves on our own.
We are less free today than we were 20 years ago prior to the technologization of our culture. We need a vital, vibrant free press run by professional journalists if we are to reclaim our freedom.
Joseph H. Vanderpool
Rensselaer