Do You Think Journalism as a Whole is Mostly Going Downhill

These are minor mistakes, and probably due to time constraint for online publishing. I notice there are many mistakes in Reuters too, especially when the news break and the facts are unverified yet. That is why they have so many "corrections".

Yes, to function well a democracy needs a balance of power between a free press and government (and other groups); power tending to corrupt. Here in UK, the press has become too strong overbalancing matters. Furthermore the press is largely controlled by those with vested interest and written by those with specific agendas. Journalists tend to be strong in humanities and weak in science, religion and other matters again giving a slant; and often research their material poorly. I wish I could remember that quote by Thoreau, words to the effect, Journalists, give me just the facts, I am an adult and can form my own opinions all the best urban

Journalism has been overwhelmed by other media and the Internet. Journalism will never be the same as it used to be. Writing used to be an artform and description and setting were a major part of the writing process. Today people get quick snippets of a subject and think they know about it. Journalism has changed. It will never be the same.

In a lot ways it's because they are cutting budgets, which means fewer editors, fact-checkers and whatnot. This in turn means each article is probably read over fewer times, which likely results in more errors. There will always be errors, mind you (always have been and always will be). Journalism is also going downhill because of the speed at which they need to push it out to be current. I could probably think of more if I thought about it.

Yes, I do think journalism skill has gone down in the recent past. A big part of it is the proliferation of new media on the internet. There are far more sources for news, entertainment, or any other reporting then there ever has been. However, I don't think the training that journalist's once received in order to become professionals, and be taken seriously has kept up with the pace. What is far more disturbing to me is what the public accepts these days as news worthy. The main stream media, in my opinion, has a "Kick you in head when your down", mentality, and the public eats it up. For example, How long, and in what further detail do we really need to delve into the private life of Tiger Woods. I'm not condoning him, and he is just one example, but the media builds individuals up to this unreal status in many cases, and when they are found to not be perfect, all of the sudden it's world wide news.