Why the media is a global village idiot

It's no wonder business psychos get away with their crimes for so long.

The media these days are pretty toothless.

In fact, journalists these days are likely to be part of the problem.

In his new book, Flat Earth News, writer Nick Davies sets out to expose the falsehood, distortion and propaganda endemic in the global media these days.

The problem for journalists these days is that there are millions of them, in competition, and they're thinly spread across almost as many news outlets. Nobody has the resources to come up with any stories of their own, so they frequently regurgitate second hand news. They don't have the time or the man power to verify the story, or even get a fresh interview. They're more likely to make a quote up.

There has never been a better opportunity for unscrupulous PR spinners to feed stories into the global news machine. Nobody checks their story, and once it's in circulation, it can spread right across the world.

Even those journalists who aren't, as Davies calls them, "moral cowards, intellectual quislings, boot lickers, butt kissers or natural born liars" are unlikely to be able to maintain standards given the deluge of sewage they are expected to churn out.

Modern writers are not journalists, says Davies, they're churnalists.

Great news for pyshopaths. Pyschos are magnificent liars.

There's never been a better time for the shameless, ruthless exploitation of opportunities.