RIO DE JANEIRO -- This is what it is all about. This is why we need to find answers. In a nation beset with a breathtaking convergence of crises -- of which even the glory of hosting the Olympics turns out to be a major one -- the media are struggling to do their basic jobs.

If one were in the doom-and-gloom business, hypothetically, one would be hard-pressed to explain the surge in the TV upfront market, in which the broadcast networks apparently now fetch CPMs of up to $24.40 for 18+-year-old viewers in prime time.

If you want to find a sympathetic figure in the $140 million Hulk Hogan jury verdict and ensuing Gawker Media bankruptcy, it's going to take a while.

This is a real Q&A with a real teenager. It has been edited only for length.