Credibility in "the 10 o'clock news" (you know, that quaint, old-fashioned method of attempting to summarize noteworthy events of the day via the cathode-ray delivery system) has been on trial of late in Chicago. The brouhaha began when bosses at the local NBC affiliate WMAQ-TV announced plans to have daytime yakker Jerry Springer (the youngest mayor in the history of Cincinatti, doncha know) deliver personal editorials, or "commentaries," several days a week. It's important to note …showed first 75 words of 442 total…

…showed last 75 words of 442 total…walk in favor of whatever it is they think Springer brings to the ratings party. And it won't change the way TV news operations are run, like information chop-shops that cram as many riveting images as possible into the allotted time. Every once in a while, freedom of speech, and freedom of the press, translate into freedom to make aprofit. The paying customer can only make a difference by finding the remote, and clicking OFF.