"The term Fourth Estate refers to the press, both in its explicit capacity of advocacy and in its implicit ability to frame political issues."

It can be argued that Charles Dickens was the first investigative journalist. Through his many novels, Dickens exposed the dark underbelly of 19th century Victorian England...the brutal life of the poor. Poverty was in itself a crime and was harshly punished by confinement to debtors' prison where the treadmill was their daily activity and punishment. Or voluntarily seeking solace and succor inside the execrable poor houses, the poor led wretched lives. And should they attempt to feed themselves or their families through the commission of some petty larceny or theft, the punishment was even more swift and harsh. The Law demanded that such miscreants be either hanged or transported for life to Australia.

Dickens exposure of these terrible conditions set in motion a myriad of social and legal reforms over the balance of the century.

In early 20th century America, the muckraker Upton Sinclair in his sensational expose of the deplorable and unsanitary practices of the meat-packing industry in his novel "The Jungle" was single-handedly responsible for the creation of the Federal government's oversight of what Americans eat and drink.

In the 1950's, the pioneering journalist, Edward R. Murrow dared to face down the most powerful politician of the day, Senator Joseph McCarthy whose red-baiting witch hunts and sham congressional hearings cast a shroud of fear and terror across America. In a series of searing broadcasts on his CBS Television program "See It Now", Murrow succeeded in destroying McCarthy by exposing him as the malevolent, self-serving, career-destroying fraud that he was.

And finally in the 1970's, what is now the most famous example of investigative journalism, Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein exposed the Watergate conspiracy and set in motion the downfall of an American president.

It was that seminal moment in the relationship between the political realm and journalists that awakened politicians to the danger inherent in the power of a free press in American society.

Thus an inchoate plan was formulated to both diminish this power and at the same time co-opt it for their own purpose. Recalling Lyndon Johnson's maxim that it was better to have your enemies on the inside of the tent pissing out rather than on the outside pissing in, the seduction of American journalism began in earnest. Through the promise of inside information and unique and privileged access to the corridors of power, many journalists unknowingly were ceding their independence and integrity to the very people they were supposed to be keeping honest and truthful.

At the same time, the way that Americans got their news and information was about to be transformed forever.

In 1980, Ted Turner started a small 24 hour cable TV news service called CNN. Very few American households had cable TV service in those days and satellite TV was years in the future. But as more and more people converted to cable, CNN began to take root as the primary source for news and information. Followed in the 1990's by both MSNBC (Does anyone remember that the 'MS' stands for Microsoft?) and Fox News, 24/7 cable/satellite news took pre-eminence over newspapers, news magazines, and even local and national network television broadcasts.
MSNBC continues to struggle in third place not for lack of trying. And Fox News is the de facto propaganda arm of the Republican party. It is a cross between a sideshow and a brothel filled with failed would-be journalists. A fence that is easily straddled by the likes of Ann Coulter and Michelle Malkin.

The result is that CNN has become the giant megaphone used by both parties to their own advantage. And the seduction process which began in the 1970's has resulted in the majority of today's journalists being nothing more than political concubines. The era of the probing, challenging journalist is over.

There are still a relative handful who have not fallen prey to the siren's call. People like Seymour Hersh writing in The New Yorker, Bob Schieffer at CBS's Face the Nation, and Keith Olbermann at MSNBC have managed to maintain their integrity and independence.

But the giant dominates: CNN..."The best politicized team on television".