Is the reporting of “straight” news dead?

Is the reporting of “straight” news dead?  Do people want the “facts” (the traditional 5Ws and H) and then make up their own minds? Or, do the people want someone to give them an opinion?  And, “It had better be the opinion I want to hear.”

For some time, the Fox News Channel has been faulted for not really being a “news” channel–even by those who watch it faithfully. These people want to have their views confirmed.

The subject will be the topic of a program cosponsored by the Philadelphia chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists and the Philadelphia Public Relations Association, on Wednesday, April 27. Watch this site for details.

Meanwhile, it might be worth noting that Media Matters is taking on Fox on this subject, more or less. Media Matters labels itself a “media critic” and not a news organization and, thus, feels it has to challenge those “news” sources that it feels are not what they proclaim to be.

Or, is it a matter of “politics”? In this report, Media Matters states its case.