Thursday, April 16, 2009

Tea Party Coverage, or lack thereof

On April 15, 2009, I awoke with a feeling of culmination. Here it is. Our time has come to make our voices heard. I get online to check the MSM news outlets. I'm searching and searching and then it hits me: They are honestly refusing coverage. But how can this be? I mean, newsworthy things come in positive and negative forms. Certainly the MSM doesn't "like" to have to cover stories about the deaths of children because that is depressing, but it's news, and so they do their job. Certainly there are some in the MSM who favor traditional marriage (while this is not true of most of them), yet they earnestly covered the recent state decisions on gay marriage. If Jessica Simpson takes a bad photo and seems to have gained weight, THAT is newsworthy to every news outlet around.
Every MSM news outlet covered Simpsons supposed weight gain with zest.
If you've been hiding under a rock, or if you happen to be one of the few people who don't watch FOX news, you may never have even heard of a Tea Party. I'll give you a quick refresher course. As a tea party co-organizer, I think I have a bit of expertise on the subject. Many Americans are sick and tired of out of control government spending, runaway powers being added to governmental agencies that were not bestowed in the Constitution, and taxation without deliberate representation. It's really that simple. It is not an attack on President Obama. It is an attack on an abuse of power that has been brewing for a very long time, and from both sides of the aisle. We're mad at Republicans and Democrats alike. If we're "haters" I guess the good thing about that is that we are equal opportunity haters. MSNBC had no tea party coverage on its home page. However, for those interested, one can read about the new report which labels those against abortion or illegal immigration as "right-wing extremists." One can read about exactly how "gays won a marriage victory in the Midwest." One can even read about Bo, the President's new dog. Over on CNN, you've got to search for it, but you'll find a report from Howard Kurtz, entitled, "Who's Promoting Tax Protests?"


In the video, Kurtz proclaims that CNN is not covering the Tea Party Protests. He notes that none of his cohorts are covering the protests, other than FOX News. He seems to think that by actually reporting on the news, FOX is a "co-sponsor." So are we to surmise from this that MSNBC was a co-sponsor for the gay marriage passage bills? Are they also co-sponsoring American Idol and the President's new dog? No, I think not. I think that they were either amused or intrigued by the aforementioned stories, and they thought that the public would be as well. I think back to the protests of other groups that I've seen on the news and I can't for the life of me understand why it could be that any reputable news source would PURPOSEFULLY and DELIBERATELY not cover the Tax Day Tea Party Protests. I watch the above video and I see Howard Kurtz smirking and laughing in a knowing way when he describes how MSNBC's coverage has consisted of Rachel Maddow "making fun of this thing." He has the audacity--I like that word, it caused so many people to think that Obama was a genius, so I'll use it here--to state that the FOX News analysts, "said little or nothing about the huge deficits run up by President Bush..." and his aim is clear. He honestly thinks that if he can falsely convince the public that FOX News analysts didn't speak up with dissent under President Bush, then the droves of American citizens who are mobilizing, should be dismissed. Kurtz sums up his rant by acknowledging that Hannity, Beck, et al on FOX are "commentators who are paid for their opinions." As such, they are not obligated to give anything other than their opinions. Seeing the MSM outright ignore the protests has enraged the FOX News commentators, I'm thinking it's because they have this strange notion that NEWS should be covered by those employed by news outlets. The MSM has not only taken a deliberate stand on the sidelines on this issue, but they have gone out of their way to discredit and belittle average American citizens. No one is funding this movement. We are choosing to use our money to make phone calls, pay for gas, and make photocopies. Sure, FOX News is a news outlet, and as such, is covering the movement. You might have missed that day in Journalism school. Newt Gingrich may be lending his name and he may be encouraging like-minded people to act, but he is being supportive, not giving financial support. We demand that our voices be heard, NOW. I've heard it said by some of the MSM who are mocking us, "if this outrage is real and not staged, where were all of these people before now?" Some of us weren't involved. Some of us didn't care about politics. I, myself, didn't have much interest in politics because I just thought it was a network of "good old boys" and that they didn't care what I thought. I will be the first to admit that myself and others like me were ignorant. But guess what MSM? We're standing up now. Regardless of when the problems started, regardless of who is in office, regardless of who you think is promoting our cause...WE THE PEOPLE have woken up. So in closing, I'd like to issue a public "thank you" to the likes of MSNBC and CNN for dismissing us. You've only managed to make us that more determined. I guess you could even say that by your inaction, YOU are the true force that is guiding us.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The smug MSMers who think they can control the unwashed masses are in for an awakening as the movement grows. Ordinary Americans are getting fed up with being patronized by self-important, incredibly inept "elites". www.shirts4freedom.com

Anonymous said...

Welcome to the Democratic Party!

We have been sick of them for YEARS, thank you for finally catching up!

Anonymous said...

Quoted from Crooks and Liars:
"A giveaway moment came during Hannity's evening broadcast from Atlanta, when he brought in a live feed from the Rick and Bubba Tea Tantrum in Alabama:

Hannity: And I'm going to tell you one other thing: When did we ever get to a point in America where, we're nearly at the point where fifty percent of Americans don't pay anything in taxes! Nothing!

[Crowd boos]

Rick: The numbers out are just astounding that, that, how much that the very top taxpayers actually pay. I feel like these taxpayers are disenfranchised. I want them to have a share of the burden just like they have a share of the vote.

That's right -- it's the wealthy top percentage of the country that needs a tax break. After all, they are the one Obama's targeting, right? So at least they're being upfront about just who "the taxpayers" are whose interests they're out marching to defend."

ROFL!

BlondeBlogger said...

Anonymous #3- Here's a much better speech that should enlighten you:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xbRr-wCH6Rc

Anonymous said...

Thank you for your post.... to create a working link here use the following syntax

less than sign
then a
then space

type in href="link"
greater than sign

word you want to use as a link: words like here, link, whatever you want

less than sign
forward slash (the one below the question mark)
greater than sign

if you follow that you get this.

Someone on this site taught me that a long time ago, just passing on the favor.

Peace.
Rick Beagle

and im anonymous 2 and 3....

Anonymous said...

Aack, I skipped a step (added in bold):

less than sign
forward slash (the one below the question mark)
type agreater than sign


sorry about that

JoyFull said...

When tens of thousands of your fellow Americans hit the streets in PEACEFUL protest and it is besmirched by mainstream media, then something is terribly wrong in America. But more importantly, it was besmirched by the President. Something is terribly wrong with this picture. The journalist and newscasters of msm must have a different set of job descriptions that beseeches them to belittle their fellow Americans. As Roesgen said: "not fit for family viewing." Mainstream media is just that: "not fit for family viewing."

Rick Beagle said...

Joyfull,

You know, when hundreds of thousands marched to protest the war in Iraq it was pretty simple to understand what it was that they wanted.... Your little protest, other than a group hug of fellow Obama haters, no on really knows what the heck you were all protesting. And given the answers on this web site, looks like you folks were confused too (as a sponsor, that kind of says a lot).

Peace.
Rick Beagle

jane bennet said...

I was in Chicago for the tea party...It was not at all the way CNN made it look. It is eye opening to see media bias first hand. Our local media pretty much ignored it...big shocker.

The tea party was a gathering together of like-minds...citizens who are tired of government waste. We are tired of politicians who care more about getting re-elected than bettering our country.

Doubters, we know exactly why we were there. You shouldn't be so threatened by those who seek to peacefully assemble...it's the American way.

Publius said...

Dear Rick Beagle,

The message was clear and understandable to anyone who has the capacity for reason. The protest sought to draw attention to the outrageous spending in the Stimulus Bill and the pork-filled budget. It was a grassroots movement, which protested the irresponsible fiscal policies of our over-sized government. What people were commenting on here was the lack of coverage from major media outlets and what little coverage there was, was spiteful, immature, and frankly hateful. It was the biggest example of liberal media bias I have ever seen in my life and if you are not reasonable enough to have ascertained all of this on your own then I don't know why you are confident enough to address any American on this site. Furthermore, I attended two Tea Parties and spoke to a number of people who had voted for Obama in November, many expressed feeling disillusioned and abandoned. The only "group hugs" that went on took place before November and were superficial attempts at tricking the masses into believing in a junior senator who doesn't know how to adequately run the budget.

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