-
The Politicization Crusade
May 8, 2013 | 56 comments
-
Deceiver in Chief
March 20, 2013 | 204 comments
-
Chronicle of Liberal Disasters
February 25, 2013 | 70 comments
-
President Obama’s Minimum Wage Delusion
February 14, 2013 | 203 comments
-
The Democrats’ Rough Re-entry Into Reality
October 19, 2012 | 148 comments
Media Matters
The Plot Thickens
The self-destructive behavior of the mainstream media.
(Page 2 of 2)
The MSM loathed George W. Bush and adores Barack Obama. They have allowed both of these extreme attitudes to corrupt and distort their reporting.
From the standpoint of a functioning democracy, there is probably no other institution as important as a free press. Unfortunately, those at the highest echelons of the press are guilty of journalistic dereliction of duty. The MSM is grossly abusing the special freedoms, privileges, and responsibilities it’s been granted.
Whether or not you think Barack Obama has been a good president, he would probably not be president if the MSM had come within a country mile of its professional responsibilities. They effectively colluded with the Obama campaign to keep who he is and what he believes hidden from view.
There is no reason to expect the MSM to change its behavior. If anything the bias is increasing as they become more and more desperate. However, their bias is becoming more transparent and media consumers have more choices — Fox News, talk radio, and the Internet, for example. The price they pay for their malpractice is just going to increase.
On the first night of the RNC, Fox News had 44 percent more viewers than NBC, more than twice as many viewers as CBS or ABC, and more than four times as many viewers as either CNN or MSNBC.
The main reason for optimism is that, although powerful, the MSM is not omnipotent. It’s entirely possible that, despite their best efforts, Barack Obama will not be reelected.
About the Author
Ron Ross Ph.D. is an economist who lives in Arcata, California. He is the author of The Unbeatable Market. Reach him at rossecon@gmail.com.
Letter to the Editor View all comments (41) | Leave a comment
More Articles by Ron Ross
More Articles From Media Matters
http://spectator.org/archives/2012/09/12/the-plot-thickens
Follow us:
ADVERTISEMENT
SPONSORED LINKS
FLASHBACK TO: 1995
-
Pope Culture
A man of faith in a godless age is hitting Americans where it hurts.
-
Why the GOP Does Not, Like, Totally Suck
Mr. and Mrs. American Spectator Reader, let P.J. O’Rourke talk sense to your kids.
-
Dames at Sea
-
In the Absence of Guns
In Britain, defending your property can get you life.
-
The Metaphysical Martini
-
Counting the Costs of Clintonism
The debacle of this president’s administration is both a cause and a symptom of the decline of American values. Unless Congress impeaches him, that decline will go on unchecked. An eminent jurist surveys the damage and assesses the chances for the recovery of our culture.
-
Chuck McHagel
It won’t take long for conservatives to scratch this presidential wannabe off their 2008 scorecard.
-
The Legacy of Old John and Mother Fresh-Roasted
-
It’s the Best Time of the Year
The American Christmas, like the songs that celebrate it, makes room for everybody under the rainbow. Is that why so many people seem to be hostile to it?
-
The Bush Crack-Up
Was the President done in by the economy, or by the politics of the economy?
Clip of the Day
H/T to National Review Online
ADVERTISEMENT
Von Mises Jr| 9.12.12 @ 7:22AM
Unwittingly, they have helped fuel a new "Great Awakening." Without liberal morons spewing socialist diatribes, Rush would not have opened up the airwaves over 24 years ago. While Fox has been infiltrated, FBN and even CNBC have provided accurate financial data to the public that can be interpreted and the truth found by those that can think critically. And Breitbart and Drudge would be unknown.
By extension, we knew to look at our educational institutions where these "Brave New World" drones had hatched. Now even many of the unquestioning among us realize that we must reverse the indoctrination of liberal manure that fertilized little Johnny's head.
We realize that the educational system seeks out the most dull and compliant to be our teachers. If they rebel and have too many original thoughts, they do not get tenure.
So the MSM and our education system have made it understandable what socialism is. It is obedience to the state.
fmm| 9.12.12 @ 10:33AM
Those who can not do, teach.
Those who can not do, report.
Both of these truths are the result of the biased education system whicn trains mush heads to follow doctrine above all else.
Unfortunately, we must now add a third: Those who can not do, become POTUS.
TinaB| 9.12.12 @ 1:31PM
VonM, because I love you, I will not take the adjectives "dull and compliant" personally, and because it may be true but didn't apply to me
when I was a public school math teacher, last year and 20 years prior. When I found myself tasting the rotten kool-aid, I exited, like Snagglepuss, stage left.
Keep preaching it, brother, on mountaintops if you can. Loudly. I cannot tell you how I have lost respect for the majority of my excolleagues, in a matter of 11 months on fb. I couldn't have looked many of them in the eye had I known the inanity of their world views and the lack of integrity, or even intelligence, in their regular postings. Not just the teachers, but most of all the teachers.
And like a dumba--, I also thought teachers were educated truth tellers, because I was private school educated and believed in seeking and speaking Truth. Now I know they were taught the revisionist lies when THEY were in public school, and this started back in the early 1900s. I know my RC education was full of the RC slant, which wasn't as bad as the secular lies of Progressivism and Sustainability. It took almost a year of research to educate myself and I can see the writing on the wall.
I homeschool one grandchild now, but God help the rest of them.
Von Mises Jr| 9.12.12 @ 4:52PM
God blesses you TinaB. I use generalizations to make a point, not to disparage. I had several good teachers in college and graduate school that were in public institutions.
The trend is not good and I commend you for standing tall. Many are just happy to benefit and toe the party line.
tankrtrash| 9.13.12 @ 7:07AM
You can thank Stalin for infiltrating many colleges and universities (including journalism departments) during the great progressive push of FDR's reign. If my memory serves me, I believe "Tail Gunner" Joe McCarthy was starting to dig into that particular nest of vipers when, with much howling from the national press, they pulled the plug on his Senate investigation and proceeded to vilify him into infamy.
Left to its own devices and coddled in the warm and fuzzy world of academia, this culture of journalism has grown into what it is today...not unlike sneezing in a petri dish and leaving it in a warm, dark place for 60 years.
Gary B| 9.12.12 @ 7:32AM
"My mission as a journalist/reporter is to show my like-minded colleagues that I'm one of them."
This explains a lot. The MSM and their liberal flock compose a cult with ideological tunnel vision. Telling the truth about the world around them would mean expulsion from the cult. Being shunned in DC is a career killer. I mean what's the point of being there if you're not a member of the club?
fmm| 9.12.12 @ 10:36AM
The point is to do the work required to safeguard the nation as outlined in the Constitution. That is why the work of Senator DeMint's Senate Conservative Fund in supporting constitutionalists for senate is so important. Check it out.
MyGirlFriday| 9.13.12 @ 12:24AM
Thank you fmm for mentioning Seantor DeMint's Conservative Fund, which is now a PAC. I donated again yesterday. Please all, visit the site and donate where you can. We need to take the senate in 2012 especially if all else fails.
TinaB| 9.12.12 @ 1:32PM
Nice use of the verb compose.
PJ| 9.12.12 @ 7:38AM
My question is when will the MSM go belly-up? Most have been in the red for a long time. Who is financing them? I know MSNBC & NBC are getting their cash from Microsoft & GE & the NY Times from that Mexican billionaire, but what about the rest?
daddio| 9.12.12 @ 11:11AM
Could we please stop calling them the MSM or Mainstream Media? They are not mainstream any longer.
Gary B| 9.12.12 @ 11:44AM
Right... They've made it perfectly clear. They are the enemy. They declare war on America every day of the week.
Ian Cognito | 9.12.12 @ 5:48PM
They are the MEDIA - Malfeasant, Egalitarian, Demagogic, Ideological, Anarchists
MyGirlFriday| 9.13.12 @ 12:29AM
Someone on another blog named them the "MAYTAG MEDIA" for their spin. I liked it.
Alan| 9.12.12 @ 7:44AM
Sooner or later, a government sponsored bailout will occur to keep some of these bootlicking media outlets in operation. Just a matter of time.
Ken (Old Texican)| 9.12.12 @ 8:16AM
A last huirrah for the MSM. If they can cramb Obama baca back into office, some 49% of productive Americans simply "drop out" of the tax base. Oops!
rjh| 9.12.12 @ 8:32AM
" They effectively colluded with the Obama campaign to keep who he is and what he believes hidden from view."...That is very true, sir. However, it did not take a lot of effort to apply a little common sense to the information that was out there to see through obama's act. I fear that our major problem is the electorate.
Parker| 9.12.12 @ 8:40AM
Here's a clue: "As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly." Pr. 26:11
The only solution to the disease of group-think by a majority in the 'free' press, is to kill the host, which all thinking men should have identified by now: The Public/State education System. Primary, secondary and graduate. This is where most, if not all, "qualified" journalists are developed. Not until the indoctrination and subliminal brain-washing by these organized institutions ends, will we see an end to the propagandizing of Americans end. Just keep sending your progeny into the halls of indoctrination and keep asking yourselves, "How is this happening?" This is where the propaganda of Environmentalism, Political correctness, anti-Christ(ism), anti-Americanism, anti-capitalism, anti-constitutionalism, anti-freedom are all developed, nurtured and foisted upon the masses. Deny it all you want. Most Americans are guilty of allowing it to be done by continuing to prop up and support the Public Education System at all levels. It's our own fault.
Pecos Pete| 9.12.12 @ 10:29AM
Parker: Ditto with lots of exclamation!!!!!!!!!
Ian Cognito | 9.12.12 @ 6:10PM
Tax dollars for education must never go to Institutions that:
Award degrees in "disciplines" that do not lead to employment in the private sector
That employ AA policies over Merit
That demand a student regurgitate dogma to graduate
That restrict Constitutional Freedoms on campus
That welcome enemies of the USA on campus
That refuse to enforce civility rules when "guests" speak
That deny the Military access to Campus
That develop and promote unproven/faux sciences and teach those as fact
Whose policies insult and contradict 1/2 of Americans beliefs and demand fealty to same
Whose faculties have members with allegiances to terror groups and other enemies of the USA
Who seek to promote an anti-American ideological agenda in its mission statement and in application
That restrict the investigation, use of critique, specific and generic language, and thoughts they deem "offensive" to sanctioned groups
That ignores information on potential students that render them unqualified candidates for admission to fulfill a quota
Who award scholarships to athletes who cannot meet the average admission qualifications of the general student body
Who purposely subsidize athletic programs that cannot self support from attendance revenues
brianthedawg| 9.12.12 @ 9:25AM
Fox News is omitted from the list of MSM. Despite its bias, which generally supports Republicans, it is very much mainstream (even if not MSM?), and not acknowledging the success of the past decade is a travesty. The viewership of Fox News is greater than CNN and MSNBC; either this is a triumph of "real" over mainstream media or a mix of some much-needed balance into the mainstream media.
David T| 9.12.12 @ 10:37AM
Fox does not hide its conservative leanings, but it does make an effort to present both sides. The MSM, on the other hand, try to cloak their liberal bias under the mantle of "objectivity."
RCV| 9.12.12 @ 12:11PM
Tee hee hee...
Mimi | 9.12.12 @ 9:38AM
Journalism Education stresses HONOR, FAIRNESS and above all TRUTH....If it is a GOOD scchool! Integrity in all professions is stressed...and this attribute help's people rise in their chosen field.
These present poor excuses MSM dishes out to us...WHO never saw a Democrat or Liberal they didn't favor...should be called on the CARPET and ousted from the PROFESSION !!!
JeMeRappelle| 9.12.12 @ 10:05AM
There is no mystery. Whatever journalism might have been in the past, it is a free-lance propaganda machine in our time. The obvious answers to your questions are yes and yes: journalists pick winner and losers, reveling in their self-perceived power; and they crave the esteem of their like-minded colleagues.
Pecos Pete| 9.12.12 @ 10:33AM
The MSM, for the most part, is planning how to be in the ruling class when chaos erupts.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.12.12 @ 10:24PM
I think you're on to something there. It is important to recall, though, that after "Helter Skelter" was over, Charles Manson thought he and his family were going to run everything, too. Same dream, slightly different plan.
Controse| 9.12.12 @ 10:59AM
The behavior of the MSM has evolved into the highest form of treason possible. It is treason against our very form of government. Our citizens own our country and are therefor charged with its success. Free citizens informed by a free press is the very foundation of freedom. The authors of our Constitution looked to a free press as the one institution that would not fail to safe guard our freedoms as long as "Congress shall make no law abridging..." How can it be this last best hope of the nation seen as the last best hope is owned and operated by freedom destroyers? A form of a free press now actively and relentlessly misinforms to make ineffectual the owners America. A crime of treason is being committed here; the highest form of treason.
Who Knows?| 9.12.12 @ 11:26AM
At least since Cronkite’s “That’s the way it is” sign off, the MSM has been consolidating its power.
For quite a while now, it’s been apparent to me that the MSM is like the NFL, in that ABC-NBC-CBS-NY Times Wash Post et al are owners of the dominant team, the Democratic Party, and the players of that team come and go.
Ask, why does anyone vote the way they do?
They gather the “facts” from where? They listen to, bow down to, which opinion makers?
Puppets on a string dance, pulled this way and that by—the MSM
It turns out we DO have a representative republic. Except, the high officials the public hires end up representing their puppet masters, the MSM---which is socialism in not so successful disguise, these days.
Out damned spot!
It seems like only yesterday when the radical profs were fighting for tenure at universities. And, NOW, going on 50 years, THEY are the status quo, and the plucked taxpayers are the true radicals.
Shall we start a revolution, or shall we leave things like they are, yah yah, yah yah.
True revolutionaries---Steyn, Limbaugh, Coulter, Don Luskin, Podhoretz, Jen Rubin, Vic Hanson, Michael Ledeen, American Spectator, Bob Tyrrell, the Tea Party,
RCV| 9.12.12 @ 12:10PM
Once again, the "whining" complaints about "the mainstream media". It's OK for Haniity, Limbaugh, Beck, Fox, TAS, CBN, Ingrahm, et al. to express conservative propaganda all day long, but everybody who holds a different view is "biased". Here's a news flash: In our country, EVERYBODY gets to have and express a viewpoint. The fact that it isn't in agreement with yours? Tough.
PolishKnight| 9.12.12 @ 12:21PM
Er, it's the left that's crying for the "fairness doctrine" to be reestablished to try to chase off Rush Limbaugh and they seeth when the words "foxnews" are mentioned. Leftists I know engage in a knee jerk reaction when I disagree with them "You got that from foxnews, didn't you?" Tee hee, they don't know about drudgereport, TV polonia, or the dozens of blogs I frequent. In their world, if they could just get rid of evil foxnews, (and white guys), then the world would become Sweden. Yeah, good luck with that.
C. Vernon Crisler | 9.12.12 @ 5:10PM
Last I heard, Rush, Beck, Ingrahm, and Fox News's O'Reilly, Hannity, Greta, et al., are not journalists or newsreaders. They are opinion personalities.
Nick| 9.12.12 @ 8:07PM
You are projecting and throwing up straw men at the same time, RCV.
That's quite a feat. I give it a difficulty factor of 3.8.
As Mr. Crisler already stated, none on your list are journalists. Journalists aren't supposed to give their opinions, remember?
Journalists aren't supposed to conspire on how to cross-examine the candidate with which they don't agree, either:
http://www.therightscoop.com/e.....e-covered/
Defend that, if you can, RCV.
spike59| 9.13.12 @ 6:50AM
{crickets}
PolishKnight| 9.12.12 @ 12:18PM
Here's the rational explanation for the MSM's bias: short-term thinking and group conformity. Even if jobs as "journalists" (Dr. Evil double quotes justified) are becoming harder to find, they are especially hard to find for young people who haven't drunk leftist cool aid. A young person entering the field isn't going to go out and open his own right-wing newspaper but has to start somewhere, so they drink the cool aid and find it hard to leave the convent after that.
This is an indictment of the faith many conservatives have in so-called "free market" economics. Perhaps it's the least worst economic system around, but it's far from perfect as this scenario demonstrates. Well, at least the emergence of foxnews and talk radio illustrates that a market need (alternative viewpoints) helped to create a highly profitable condition where a few tv channels and what was considered dead air (AM radio) would make a ton of money while the hundreds of redundant leftist journals dried up.
Martin kzovich| 9.12.12 @ 12:57PM
Yes just listen to Romney's statement on the Islamic violence in Libya and Egypt and in particular the reporter's questions. All about "Jumping the Gun".
Boy there was a lot of guns and jumping going on.
Dave Williams| 9.12.12 @ 3:01PM
The MSM is composed of brain-dead lemmings, and nothing they say is of any interest to me whatsoever. Don't waste your time with the big 3 newscasts, or any major metropolitan newspaper, esp. the times....read some Shakespeare, Tolstoy, Thucydides, etc. instead.
Jane Chingo| 9.12.12 @ 4:39PM
No, no, no. You are being a useful idiot. The Constitution refers to the literal mechanical printing press. It guarantees you, me, everybody the right to have in their possession the means of producing and distributing printed material.
Ian Cognito | 9.12.12 @ 5:44PM
When an organization betrays its ethical code, resorts to lies and distraction, in every way acting as the campaign arm of one political party, it not longer deserves the protections in the Constitution. They will scream and throw a tantrum if their fealty is exposed and their ability to lie truncated. But this must be done. It is a matter of national security, and, a to secure legitimate political playing field. As currently operated, the MEDIA is running cover for Obama and Democrats. Bozell's organization has the facts regarding the MEDIA's imbalance and servitude. Weighed in a Courtroom I doubt the MEDIA survives - unless of course, the judge belongs to the Stateists. Judges too need evaluation to examine their loyalty to the oaths they took. An end to life time appointments has arrived. Our Constitution only works when reasonable men behave reasonably - a fundamental allegiance to truth, honor is essential. One party refuses. Our founding documents respect and rely upon a belief in God. When one political party refuses to acknowledge God, they will not respect documents dedicated to preserving Godly gifts. People in our nation have changed and they will not revert. If our Constitution and our nation will survive we must secure the fundamental basis for it existence - God, truth, honor. If Democrats reject these principles, let us separate. Democrats will only learn the errors of their thinking after they suffer the consequences of their beliefs.
Albert Constantine Jr.| 9.12.12 @ 10:29PM
“A central tenant of information theory is there is no information in a predictable statement.”
The central tenant lives in your middle apartment and hopefully pays rent. The central “tenet” is a principle or belief generally held to be true.
Carroll | 9.13.12 @ 12:10AM
My name is Purp I live in a shoe. Woof. That's my dog Heathcliff he lives in here too.