I went to journalism school, actually it was broadcasting school 'cause I am a techie and just wanted to 'play with the toys' as it were, but was forced to take journalism courses as a requirement for my BA degree. This was in the late 70's
The "Woodward/Bernstein" drone couldn't have been more clear ... they said "You have more power with that video camera in your hands than the president of the United States" ... or some such pap. I didn't like that at all, thought it was all a bunch of self-grandizing nonesense. But then it happened in the 1980's ... "60 Minutes" and "2020" become the most watched and influential 'news magazine' programs ... local stations stage similar 'GOTCHA!' pieces, and an entire cottage industry sprug up with "Shame On You" expose's .....
What a mess ... so glad I never went into that morass of maroons :)
The "Gotcha!" journalism is particularly disturbing, since the media folks who are constantly tut-tutting American culture for its crassness are the same folks who thrive on that. Every week you'd think the world was ending according to 60 Minutes. And yet these problems they get everyone worked up about are rarely mentioned again after the "hard-hitting" expose is broadcast...so how important could each of them be?