CJR - the Columbia Journalism Review - posted an important story this morning, linked below in the first comment. It's about a 5-minute read that breaks down the failures of the New York Times and the Washington Post regarding political reporting. Consumers of both broadsheets will note that CJR correctly tars the Times as significantly worse at their job, though both papers of record are shitting the bed when it comes to maintaining a properly informed public.

For all the talk about the polarization of news, the siloing of information, or even the bizarre and mindless assertion of a liberal-biased media, the real problem is capitalism - though CJR doesn't come right out and say that, so I'm saying it here.

Before anything noble or enlightened about informing the public and the virtues of independent journalism, newspapers want to keep their readers' attention. So, when it comes to politics, the absolute imperative is to sell the horserace. If, by the very nature of the horses involved, that race is a thoroughbred vs. an old nag, then the media needs to boost the slowpoke, hobble the speedster, or both.

I’ve been in the wilderness for a while, trying to find peace, perspective, and a path forward. I think I share that sense of dislocation with most of you. These are some deeply dark days.

That sense has led to a strong impulse toward flight. So, for the past month, I've fled - as far away from the present darkness as I could find, away from the political, religious, ethnic, sectarian, tribal, and even technological blinders of the present day. When I began to flee, I wasn’t sure what I was looking for or where I'd go, but I knew it was not here in the present moment of loss, agony, and pain.

I’ve lived much of my life this way. When confronted by a great fear or a situation I do not understand, I see which way the crowd is running, and I bolt the other way. That goes a long way to explaining why I live down here in Guatemala rather than near my family and friends back north.