P. J. O'Rourke Quote

Newsmen believe that news is a tacitly acknowledged fourth branch of the federal system. This is why most news about government sounds as if it were federally mandated — serious, bulky and blandly worthwhile, like a high-fiber diet set in type.

PARLIAMENT OF WHORES A Lone Humorist Attempts to Explain the Entire U.S. Government (ed. 1991)