In this day and age, we swim in a sea of information. Or pseudo-information. So for news mediums, Job #1 must be to give coherence, meaning, by aligning these bits into a necklace, like a string of pearls.
But two stories in today's New York Times remind me of the power of the fact. One, which analyzes the Republican use of TV advertising in the campaign just past, tells me that Republicans like "Will & Grace" a lot. Also, they prefer Leno to Letterman.
I don't know what those bits mean, if anything, but they are making me think.
(I have never cottoned to "Will & Grace." Why? Because I am a Democrat? And neither Leno nor Letterman makes me laugh. Does this make me "undecided"?)
The other story reports that while Internet use in China keeps growing, the government still censors it.
This is useful, reminding me to be careful when I email friends I made in China this summer.
I guess that digging for facts is still important, maybe Job #1.5.