<p>In a culture that equates accomplishment with economic success, where the pursuit of profit is the ultimate aim, should it really surprise us that news organizations pander to their audiences by using tried-and-true marketing tactics–fear, sex, sensationalism, speed, etc–often at the expense of accuracy or thoroughness? In this sense, news outlets are just doing their jobs. As advocates for the virtues of our market economy, shouldn’t we commend them for it? Another reminder that capitalism and democracy sometimes make for strange bedfellows, and that our free-market system is, ironically enough, like the very gasoline it depends upon–the price can be high, but in the absence of viable alternatives, we all gotta pay it.</p>