Digby rips another one in the mainstream media today in a post that quite accurately summarizes how Washington journalists have swallowed all the GOP kool-aid. It's a very good read and I recommend it highly. But I also want to add to what Digby has to say.

First, a little background.

Some time ago, the right-wing bloggers got their panties all twisted because they considered Dan Froomkin's blog on the WaPo Online to be "liberal", with no conservative "counterbalance". Nevermind that Froomkin will rip into any politician of any persuasion who's an idiot and that it just happens to be that the main idiots in recent drama are Republican. The WaPo got all nervous (why?) and decided to add a new blogger, Ben Domenech.

For the last two days, a number of very prominent bloggers have been doing their research. It turns out that Domenech is the 24 year old son of a Bush administration official, is a known plagarizer (too many links, just go to Atrios), and has made some pretty stupid statements in the past. In short? He's a rabid wingnut. Digby's article examines why WaPo felt the need to bring Domenech on board, and why the mainstream media in general feels a need to kiss Bush's ring.

But I think there's something missing in Digby's analysis.

The concensus seems to be that the media is in the tank because of their inside connections, need to be close to the power, incompetence, and laziness. I propose this. I think along with those reasons, the movers/shakers in the media are also getting older. Age generally = establishmentarianism and conservatism. It's true that the media audience is aging and I think that is true of media decision-makers. What do you want to bet that the average age of the prominent bloggers is significantly younger than the average age of any media outlet's policy movers and shakers?

If that's true, media outlets would be easily swayed into publishing information consistent with their biases, just as was the accusation of the right in past years when we were all a lot younger. It could be as simple as this. The main media outlets are putting out stories that they actually believe, not stories simply to placate and pander to power.

If true, it would go a long way toward's explaining the incredible tension between the left-wing bloggers and outlets like the WaPo, as the two sides battle over deeply held beliefs.

Another generation gap?

Hmmm.....

UPDATED: Ben Domenech has resigned.