Many Americans are fed-up with a media blind to its own 
    bias, pretentiously soaring high above it all, circling 
    above the fray, above the politics, above it all, so high 
    above in fact, that they were unable to predict the 
    overwhelming turnout for Iraq’s first election, having 
    already decided the outcome was a quagmire. There might be
    less rancor about their coverage of the war if it weren’t 
    for the fact that this newfound detachment was being 
    postured by members of the same press that had been widely
    accused of “going native” during the heady days of the 
    invasion. But underlying the tension between the press and
    the people is disappointment based on a deeply held belief
    that a free press is a vital part of American democracy and
    so the standards should be higher. This is an important 
    distinction. Many British journalists I have spoken with 
    see their profession as inherently sleazy, and the 
    Australians and Kiwis are also quick to reject any 
    pretense about the nature of their work. These are not 
    burned out or disaffected reporters, crying into pints 
    about the glory days of war correspondence. They see 
    themselves as realists and their profession as a 
    commercial industry and many find the fuss in America 
    about media bias silly.

    "The UK media universe could benefit from a vibrant
    'Blogger Class,' which in the United States has shed its 
    gills and grown lungs and earned a place at the table. The
    Aussies and Canadians are developing strong Blogger 
    Classes, but the Brits are falling behind and leaving 
    their citizens lapping up the news from the commercial 
    providers and government mouthpieces."