It would be a challenge even for the most learned of historians to recall a time in our history when the political parties in the U.S. have been more polarized. It also would not be considered as hyperbolic to say that the image of the media as a reliable source of information, seekers of the truth and a critical check on the actions of our lawmakers in Washington as being under attack and as such the victims of an erosion in the esteem in which the best of them -- think Walter Cronkite -- were once held. Given these hard facts, what impact has this erosion in the confidence of the public's perception of the media had on the practice of public relations?