Article: Journalist bites reality! How broadcast journalism is flawed in such a fundamental way that its utility as a tool for informing viewers is almost nil.

IT IS THE MEASURE OF THE MEDIA'S obsession with its "pedophiles run amok!" story line that so many of us are on a lust-name basis with the victims: Polly, Amber, JonBenet, Danielle, Elizabeth, Samantha. And now there is Madeleine. Clearly these crimes were and are horrific, and nothing here is intended to diminish the parents' loss. But something else has been lost in the bargain as journalists tirelessly stoke fear of strangers, segueing from nightly-news segments about cyber-stalkers and "the rapist in your neighborhood" to prime-time reality series like Dateline's "To Catch a Predator." That "something else" is reality.

According to the U.S. Department of ...

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