It is still possible for the children of the middle-classes, and maybe a small handful of the working classes, to become journalists. The problem is that these folks will hardly ever enter that upper echelon. Instead they will eke out a living writing for the Spokane Statesman-Review or the Rocky Mountain News or the Monterey Herald. Their beats are very local - city hall, schools, local crime. Their pay is either stagnating or decreasing, and they face an increasing threat of buyouts or layoffs. And because of the class barriers to entering those upper echelons of the American press described in the diary, it's impossible to follow the path that Monbiot described.
Meanwhile, what national and international coverage these local papers carry is syndicated from the major outlets - the NYT, the WaPo, etc. So not only are those major outlets almost impossible to break into if you're not from a well-off background, but those are the outlets that dominate the reporting of everything from national health care plans to war with Iran. And the world will live as one
The problem is that these folks will hardly ever enter that upper echelon. Instead they will eke out a living writing for the Spokane Statesman-Review or the Rocky Mountain News or the Monterey Herald. Their beats are very local - city hall, schools, local crime. Their pay is either stagnating or decreasing, and they face an increasing threat of buyouts or layoffs. And because of the class barriers to entering those upper echelons of the American press described in the diary, it's impossible to follow the path that Monbiot described.
This is not, as pointed out above so aptly, limited to the means of communications, but also to the political classes. Fai de bèn a Bertrand, te lou rendra en cagant
