The purpose of the news is to make money for the network by selling advertising. They find that stories about Britney, Paris, etc. brings in more viewers and sells more advertising than "real news" ever did. It's that simple. Be like Atl, and don't watch the crap.
Dan Rather and his fellow newscasters that had their own political slants were directly responsible for their downfall, if the national TV newscasts had/could retain any vestige of objectivity they would still be pertinent.
Crankmas - Rather still maintains that those Microsoft Word documents were the product of 1960s era government typewriters. Now that's some funny shit. Is there a Pulitzer category for comedy/farce?
In my short screed on the "Purpose" of Network New$ I left out objective #2 of reporters like Rather to "make a difference" apparently by manufacturing the news as opposed to simply reporting it.
CBS newswriters threaten strike for dec 10, same date as democratic presidential debates, lead candidates indicate they will not cross picket lines to participate- party faithful plans to reschedule debate at abortion clinic to calm the situation: Developing...