However, it was only a partial victory for the journalists - jury members did not find sufficient evidence Fox had slanted the news. Neither of them has been offered a career job in mainstream media since their dismissal from Fox four years ago, and both have become highly skeptical of the news business. Maybe it is just not the right place for me. I'm just flat out terrified that this might happen again. In her eyes, the entire media industry has become soft.
Broadcasters are more desperate for dollars, which has cheapened the product.
In the last five or six years, the media has reduced ownership of broadcasting stations to a handful of companies. Akre has experienced how the newsroom has become a business operation, where the dollar is always the bottom line. You are down to a dozen owners, who are basically churning out the same sort of news product based on what they see on the wire service or what the local public relations professional churns out for them to turn into a daily story. It is a very good time for white-collar crime because nobody is watching. Oftentimes these mouthpieces for business are connected to an institute, such as the American Counsel on Science and Health or the Hudson Institute, which receives funding from chemical giants, including DuPont, Monsanto and Dow.