David Schmidt wrote:

Bob,
this goes back to the Civil War between the States. Look up "dime
store novels" and "yellow journalism" in any high school history book.

Ah, but there was always a difference between "yellow journalism"
tabloids and real reporting. If you got a Hearst paper, you could expect
hype (btw, that's the way I always spelled it!). You could expect
responsible journalism out of the respectable papers.

Today, competition and ratings seem to rule, to say nothing of biases of
publishers and editors.

Perhaps the last things that I trust these days are high school history
books. Advocacy groups have snuck into the text publishing business,
finding it fertile ground to advance their agendas to unsullied minds.
And politically correct school boards have played right into their
hands, neutering poetry, historical accounts, literature in texts and
school libraries.

If you don't believe me, compare your youngsters texts with those you
had in the 50s and before..

Cheers, Bob