DESPERATELY SEEKING SILVER LININGS:

Have you noticed a change in the economic news over the past year or so? It’s a deliberately ambiguous question: The actual news has gotten worse, but the coverage of it has changed in tone. Today, reporters are eagerly looking for the light at the end of the tunnel. A year ago, and for a long time before that, they couldn’t wait to get into the tunnel.

What changed? Yeah, like you need to ask.

People have been joking about the “state-controlled media,” but in fact it’s worse — a real state-controlled media might be forced to maintain at least a pretense of objectivity and balance . . . .