[quote=natty]
free press is not being lost-in fact, it has grown infinitely. an experienced investigative reporter means nothing more to me than an accountant who has been self employed for decades. individual could be no better or worse than fulfilling a void, doing a job, providing a service to those who will pay for it. the ‘experienced investigative reporter’ could be no more talented than a 16 year old who has learned to track and trace bank account information across the globe via internet.

do i expect a reader to fact check every word/article read, no, but said person does have choice and more immediate access to information than ever before. More meaning, the internet is super tool.

it’s easy to wax about days past. the reality is, all generations live and adapt to new technology. arguable of as whole, some generations more, some less. but the outcome is same, some as result of vocation choice and monetary wealth appear more mentally flexible with the times, than the part time employed local school janitor who can recite canterbury tales and works on statistical algorithms as hobby by night.[/quote]

Natty: Since I’m not entirely sure what your answer is, I’ll simply focus on a couple of things that have been, indeed, lost.

First and foremost, the notion of a free and engaged press as a counterbalance to the powers that be and a countervailing force is being rapidly eroded to the point where what we’re being served up on television and in newspapers and periodicals is a mere shadow of what it used to be.

Second, and more important, the notional sense of being able to fact check and utilize this “infinite” engine that is the internet is exactly that: Notional. The whole purpose of investigative journalism is to investigate. Do you mean to tell me that, sitting in the comfort of your own home, you’re going to go out and ferret out stories of corporate malfeasance and governmental misdeeds? I think not. Where would you begin? How on earth would you even know where to look? The answer? You wouldn’t and its nonsensical to expect that you would.

So, with all due respect to your “Good Will Hunting” idiot savant janitor (and I’m not entirely sure why he’s even appearing in your response), we are losing something very important and technology isn’t going to replace it. Any more than “democracy” is going to replace “capitalism”, no matter how much Michael Moore wants it to.