"not primarily to amuse and entertain, not to emphasize the trivial and sentimental, not to simply 'give the public what it wants', but to inform, to arouse, to reflect, to state our dangers and our opportunities, to indicate our crises and our choices, to lead, mold, educate and sometimes even anger public opinion."
JFK's opinion on what the news should be. Pretty much sums up how dumb media coverage is nowadays.