By Lisa Farrar Wellman
For years conservatives have blubbered and blustered about liberal media bias. In the past the liberal agenda promotion was subtle, now the mainstream media is basically one giant cheerleading squad for Team Obama. What is obvious and maddening to you and me, is still an accepted form of journalism to many people. The problem is that most Americans either don’t recognize it for what it is or don’t know where else to turn for information. For all our technology and forward movement, Americans are still pretty traditional. They turn on ABC, CBS or NBC out of habit. They know the anchors. They know the sets. They know the basic order of the programs and they find it comfortable. Just because something has been around for a long time does not give it integrity or ethics. The networks are entirely lacking in both. Familiarity is the only thing keeping the networks alive and don’t even get me started on MSNBC. They don’t even pretend to report anything positive about free markets, the tea parties, Sarah Palin, or America for that matter.
One problem conservatives face is proving to others that the media only tells one side of the story. If you need help backing up what your gut has told you for ages, look no further than the Media Research Center. It’s hard to remember details from individual news stories and with MRC, you don’t have to. They do the hard work for all of us. Subscribe to their daily digest and get a succinct, easy to understand analysis of the previous day’s television coverage. Sure it’ll make you hot under the collar but we all need to remain that way these days to stay on top of what is happening in our nation and our world. Get mad and have the unbelievable statistics to justify your anger to friends and family. Show them the truth about network television (and most cable sources) and challenge them to avoid further brainwashing by finding a more trustworthy news source.
Americans need to take ownership in what they read and watch. They need to investigate for themselves so they don’t fall into the lazy and comfortable practice of being spoon fed just what the Left wants them to hear or see. The MRC arms you with the ammunition you need to motivate yourselves and others away from the Kool-Aid drinkers and back to reality.
From its website: “The mission of the Media Research Center is to bring balance to the news media. Leaders of America's conservative movement have long believed that within the national news media a strident liberal bias existed that influenced the public's understanding of critical issues. On October 1, 1987, a group of young determined conservatives set out to not only prove — through sound scientific research — that liberal bias in the media does exist and undermines traditional American values, but also to neutralize its impact on the American political scene. What they launched that fall is the now acclaimed Media Research Center.”
Posts
8 comments:
These comments have been debunked so many times it is amazing that there are still people like you trying to peddle this kool aid. Please dig a bit deeper, the bias that you are referring to has a pretty remarkable asterisk at the end of it.
But if you think liberals have too big a voice, why don't we bring back the fairness doctrine? Think about that a bit, the same people who are insisting a liberal bias is in the media are fighting tooth and nail to prevent legislation to bring it to a close.
And lets take this further, these are the same people who successfully lobbied the FCC to open up broader penetration percentages in larger markets by broadening monopolies into print, radio, television, and internet services.
These folks are not the angels portrayed here, they are a very effective lobbying tool for large media centric monopoly. And before you write it off as "well they are conservatives so its okay". Its a business, what would your opinion be if a liberal bought say Fox?
Sorry poster, I call this one rubbish.
Peace.
Rick Beagle
The fairness doctrine is a violation of the 1st Amendment. Plain and simple. You can say what you like, it doesn't change what it is.
The fairness doctrine is not the answer in our society. It is the answer for liberals because it will silence the conservative voice. OF COURSE liberals and democrats will be for it.
The problem conservative and independent Americans have with the liberal biased media is that they PRETEND to be objective journalists and that they try to pass off their version of the news as unbiased reporting. If you are going to inject your personal slant when you report the news, then say so. Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and others don't pretend to be anything but what they are; CONSERVATIVE Talk Show hosts. Not supposedly objective minded journalists.
A liberal buying Fox news? If a liberal could, why not? The only reason Fox news exists in the first place is BECAUSE of the liberal slant in the main stream media. Fox News is wildly successful because there was a demand for that kind of news. If the mainstream media actually did it's job properly, you would find Fox News viewership drop significantly. And even if a liberal bought Fox News and dismantled it or changed its format, another one would pop up. That's the part you fail to understand. People are starving for a different perspective than the ones that spew out of the mouths of talking heads on ABC, NBC and CBS.
Try again Beagle.
Mr. Beagle is admirably highlighting the difference between "liberals" and "conservatives." (I don't like the terms; they're not exactly historically consistent, but you know what I mean.)
"Liberals" want to use government to change society's problems. The fairness doctrine is one example. The only poblem is it violates the freedom of speech.
"Conservatives" want the people to take responsibility for changing society's problems, often using the free market to do so. Hence Ms. Farrar Wellman's article pleading the PEOPLE to turn the channel.
We don't want to deny the liberal media a voice. We just want people to remember they don't have to listen. :)
The mainstream media is ridiculously liberal, Rick. We all know it. Stop pretending it’s not. Even Obama acknowledged that at the White House correspondents’ dinner on May 9th. He said, “You all voted for me” and it wasn’t just a joke. It was the truth.
New York Times columnist John Tierney surveyed 153 campaign journalists at a press party at the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston. Although it was not a scientific sampling, Tierney found a huge preference for Democratic Senator John Kerry over incumbent Republican President George W. Bush, particular among journalists based in Washington, D.C. He found that journalists from outside Washington preferred Kerry by a three-to-one margin, while those who work inside the Beltway favored Kerry’s election by a 12-to-1 ratio. (http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/01/politics/campaign/01points.html?ex=1249099200&en=11800ba25496a8cc&ei=5090&partner=rssuserland)
None of the three broadcast network aired a single story focused on whether President Obama’s economic policies were driving the U.S. towards European-style socialism.
Not a single network news reporter used the term “socialist” to describe how Obama’s policies are shifting economic authority to the federal government, away from the free market.
Amazingly, network reporters never even called Obama or his agenda “liberal.” NBC and CBS never even used the word in reporting on Obama’s radical agenda.
On three of Obama’s major economic policies and plans - his banking bailout, his auto bailout and his plans for universal health care - the networks never had a single sound bite from a conservative or a free market expert. (Media Research Center, May 2009)
The mainstream media is, well mainstream. If it is "liberal" then it is just that because most people lean to the left; They think for themselves, they question the government and politicians, and when America does something wrong, they SAY it, protest it, and fight it. Its not that we dispise America, it is that we do not hide behind the flag, but stand in front of it. Liberals serve their country in the military, have fought and died for this country, just like the so-called patriotic conservatives. Real journalist stand up and speak the TRUTH. Not just some silly, right wing political rubbish to keep the status quo in power. Sorry, but we are mainstream for a reason.
Webberpa,
The mainstream media is mainstream because they have been around since the 1920s, not because of the reasons you imply. Lets define the mainstream media here as the three big networks, NBC, ABC and CBS.
I agree with you that liberal Americans are patriotic. I agree with you that they serve in our military with distinction. No one here is saying that liberals are not these things.
Liberal and Democrat Politicians do not want to debate the merits of their ideas in an open forum because they would be shredded under the scrutiny of skeptics. So they resort to character assassination and politicizing the issues.
A good journalist is an objective one, allowing neither a conservative or liberal slant to affect their reporting. What you call the "TRUTH" is debatable, but the democrats and liberals won't debate it. And the liberal biased media continues to pass off biased reporting as objective and truthful, when it is anything but. That is the frustration with the media. You cannot call yourself objective and then cherry pick what you report to taint one view and extol another.
Republican and Democrat labels notwithstanding, I believe that most Americans are conservative by nature (even you are pro-life). I don't argue that there are liberal qualities in us as well. I have view points that can be construed as liberal, but I consider myself a conservative. You and I can argue all day about whose ideas are better, but in the end they are simply opinions until they are proven otherwise. One would expect the media to take an objective stance, and allow people to make their own minds up. Sadly over the years, the media has leaned toward the left and could not resist the temptation to use their position in the media (a very powerful one indeed) to promote their own views.
I can disagree with someone without calling them Nazis and Fascists. I can debate a person on the merits of their ideas, not the way they speak, the way they dress or the way that they look. A person who disagrees with you is not a bad person, simply one who does not see what you see, or hear what you hear. Your mainstream media uses their position to attack ideas that run counter to theirs and portray these individuals in undesirable ways to affect the way Americans perceive them and their words.
This IS un-American. If there is any hostility on the part of conservatives, it is because of the frustration with the intellectual dishonesty of those in power.
The "TRUTH" is far more ambiguous than you believe, and real, objective journalists know this. Because their views coincide with yours does not make them any more truthful than my own views.
Bravo33,
Yeppers, conservatives are a kind bunch who want to argue the merit of a topic rather than demeaning their opponents with comments proclaiming the end of America through fascism, communism, or some great religious event. There is no way that they could be the party of racism, fear mongering, and questionable moral fiber, or could that really be today's Republican Party?
I am sure that there are fine people in the Republican Party, but chance are they either went Independent, or are keeping their heads down.
Shameful behavior all around, and pretending it did not, nor is happening simply relegates you comments to the ludicrous bin.
Peace.
Rick Beagle
Lisa,
"Although it was not a scientific sampling...." That quote means that you are referring to someone's opinion and trying to pass it off as fact, and in a vacuum no less.
To illustrate my point, if I were to ask The Heritage Foundation (a very conservative group) to judge the media, it would be their opinion (in my opinion) that yes indeed, the entire media of the world in Liberal! If I were to ask the writers of KOS, or C&L the same question (in my opinion) they would surely exclaim that the media was run by big corporations with corrupt conservative ideals. Both would provide me with a list of items that would clearly support their respective views.
And let us not even mention the "shiny and new" aspect of the news....
The news is biased toward its audience, because that is how they make their money.
Anonymous,
You have an interesting point, but let me counter you argument with "Remember the Maine!" Nothing like a little history to debunk a thought or two, or in this case illustrate where unregulated market practices combined with greed and power lead to thousands and thousands dead.
I am not a fan of the fairness doctrine in its current state (never said that I was), but I do support allowing all voices to be heard. And you do not do achieve this noble ideal by allowing greater market penetration for monopolies.
Peace.
Rick Beagle
Post a Comment