There is a silver lining in the growing clouds of misdeeds and misdirection of the Barack Obama administration.  The daily revelations of misdirected taxpayer funds and of U.S. weapons falling into the hands of Mexican gangs  is giving old-fashioned  in-depth investigative reporting a rebirth.

During the mid 1970’s when the Watergate scandal erupted, broadcast and print reporters were ignited by the success of Carl Bernstein and Bob Woodward of The Washington Post and their landmark reporting.  Suddenly print reporters were becoming superstars.  CBS White House correspondent Dan Rather became as well-known as Walter Cronkite for publicly challenging President Nixon about his knowledge of Watergate.  The New York Times and other media organizations began unleashing reporters and making court challenges to gain access to protected tapes and documents.

Investigative reporting became sexy.  It became a money-maker for broadcasters and newspaper chains.  Even local television stations began to drive up their ratings by uncovering consumer fraud and nursing home abuses.

But in the past 15 years the business of news has been hurting.  The internet has replaced the morning paper and The TODAY Show, and investigative units have felt the sharp knife of television and newspaper cutbacks.  Advertising revenue has taken a dive and so has the courage of managing editors and news directors.  Conglomerate media companies control

network television and their news organizations now, as well as major national newspapers.  Their Wall-Street sensitive C.E.O.’s are not

entertained when their names or the names of their corporate subsidiaries are blemished by negative stories.  General Electric for instance, which owns NBC,  gets kid glove treatment at that network, and so does Barack Obama because G.E. Jeffrey Immelt is a giant Obama supporter.  Perhaps you too have thought it a bit cozy to find Good Morning America broadcasting live from Disneyworld on Disney-owned ABC?

Frankly, for Fox News, CNN and the Big Three television networks, the trend has been to report on people, personal confrontations,  and sex scandals.  Not mining stories which take more than 15 seconds to explain and could touch a nerve with the boss.

But in the last month new energy has returned to the major media.  Giant White House scandals are lighting the fires of the few experienced and talented remaining news people still on the job in our network newsrooms and national papers.  There is still an espirit de corps among the elite media and their  personal commitment to continue to paint Obama with nothing but stunning colors.  But there are others who are breaking ranks because of the irresistible stories leaking from The White

House and the Justice Department.  There are hints that network newsrooms and stale city rooms might be mirroring the energetic and impactful citizen journalism which defines top blogs on the internet.  Solyndra is being chased by ABC News.  Fast & Furious is being torn apart by Sharyl Attkisson at CBS News, and NBC?  Sorry … did you really expect anything from NBC?

This rebirth is long overdue and is creating a siege mentality on Pennsylvania Avenue.  Inexperienced staffers are on the run, and high-paying donors who have demanded paybacks are fleeing on long vacations because even the liberal media senses blood ing the water.  Citizen journalism and the global influence of internet heroes is making it impossible for The White House to sweep its mistakes under the carpet.

Just in the nick of time, the fourth branch of government is awakening and is ready to pull back the drapes on the opportunists who are compromising the future of America.

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Filed under: Economy, Featured, Inside The KC, Politics, Sonja Eddings Brown, Uncategorized by Sonja Eddings Brown, Oct 8, 2011