Sources

[dukealien]

I like that this commentary on news media is a lot more reasonable than usual, especially since its register seems to be more detached, more didactic. I don't really buy the whole "the media is lying to us" angle, even from the standpoint as mass media as agents of the capitalist machine -- it's a lot more nuanced than that, I'm certain. The only real reason to prefer less traditional sources is, yes, "character, identity, / variety" -- at least when a major news outlet gets it wrong, there's a much bigger chance it gets called out. On this note, however, I do wish there was a little more granularity in the poem: "no less chlorine", by my read, could mean either that these alternative sources are just as truthful as modern news media, or that these alternative sources are just as toxic, and both cases have plenty of exceptions. I also like the confessional, somewhat self-deprecating nature of the whole thing -- it's that sort of humility that could really keep a conversation civil.

Thanks!  Good to know what's working... if by "granularity" you mean returning to the referent of the extended simile, it seemed like explaining.  You may be right, but the ambiguity could also represent indecision.  Maybe.