Counting the Costs of the New-News Chaos

In the tweeted and blogged era of journalism, what is lost is a sense of coherence that helps keep us sane.

March 28, 2013 6:20 p.m. ET

Ridiculing the old media of newspapers, topical magazines and the network evening newscasts is almost automatic these days. The sins of Jurassic journalism—laziness, timidity, hidden agendas, political correctness and just being boring—have become old news. Yet the old-media dodos play a priceless psychological role that nearly everybody misses entirely: They don't drive us crazy. Indeed, they help keep us sane.

The essence of old-school journalism is making order out of a chaotic world. The reporters and broadcast...

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