I don't want to shock anyone, even those who already know there is something quite awry in the contemporary news media, but I have come to realize that it is not merely a temporary condition that will soon pass away, and that the problem cannot be simply repaired. The news media, as we have known it in the three quarters of a century since World War II, is disappearing much faster than we realize.  It might soon be extinct. I am being very specific in speaking about the "news" media.  Communications, in some older and innovative forms, will continue, but what we have understood to be "the news" will come to us in other ways, perhaps primarily as data and notifications.  Advertising, promotions, storytelling,editorial writing, gossip, etc., will  still find their way to the citizenry in a variety of formats, many of which we know today and some of which are being now invented. I...(Read Full Article)