JAY ROSEN suggests that Big Media failed the country before 9/11. And after, I’d say.

It’s not just the slant of their coverage — it’s also what they choose to cover, and what they choose not to cover. And he’s right about this: “This summer, with Michael Jackson and Kobe Bryant on trial, but also an election and so much at stake in the world, the descendants of Murrow, Friendly and Cronkite will be tested.” So far it’s not looking good.

UPDATE: Roger Simon: “You can see this will to look the other way being played out all over again in the lack of coverage of the UN Oil-for-Food scandal. The majority of our media just don’t want to go there, because to go there they would have to question a great many long held deep assumptions.”