The prevailing mass tone of news is . . . As an example of this point, Fallows argued that while crime has gone down in most major U.S. cities in recent years, the amount of reporting on crime has gone up. Leading the argument for the defense, Lewis Lapham argued that Fallows' position concentrated on a few major stations and papers, ignoring the enormity of the press. The two COM student debaters followed the opening arguments made by these prominent lead speakers. It doesn't seem logical that a system as large as mass media has no affect on democracy . . .
Politicians sacrifice their jobs as legislators in order to enhance their media images . .
Graduate student Chris Shepard, arguing for the negative, directed much of his rebuttal toward Fallows. Shepard said that, in his mind, democracy works. Shepard said he believes that most Americans get their news from local papers, not major national dailies such as The New York Times or the Washington Post . Jensen began his argument by saying he disagreed with everything in Fallow's book. Jensen said the crux of journalism lies in the Latin word, Veritas, meaning Truth.