What’s the only private business that gives the equivalent of an
obscene gesture to forty percent of its potential customers? Hint:
it’s also the only private institution mentioned in the
Constitution. The answer, of course, is the press, or more
specifically, that segment of the press known as the mainstream
media or MSM. The MSM is a strange animal in more ways than one, an
animal with puzzling behavior.
The MSM consists of ABC, CBS, NBC, and most big city newspapers.
The supporting cast includes CNN, MSNBC, and NPR.
If you’re a conservative there have probably been countless
times you’ve felt disgusted and infuriated at the bias, double
standards, and lack of balance exhibited by the MSM. As a
conservative I can’t count the times my mouth has dropped by what
I’ve heard said and written in the mainstream media. The bias is
dumbfounding.
According to the latest installment of a poll Gallop has
conducted since 1992, 41 percent of the respondents self-identified
as conservative, 36 percent moderate, and 21 percent liberal.
Another recent Gallup poll reported that “Americans’ confidence
in television news is at a new low by one percentage point, with
21% of adults expressing a great deal or quite a lot of confidence
in it. This marks a decline from 27% last year and from 46% when
Gallup stared tracking confidence in television news in 1993….
Confidence in newspapers is now half of what it was at its peak of
51% in 1979.”
Obviously the MSM is paying a high price for its bias and lack
of balance. Scoring only a 21% confidence level is quite an
indictment. Obviously they have lost the trust of more than just
conservatives. The MSM has squandered its credibility.
By all outward appearances it seems that their compensation is
being provided by the Democratic Party. They behave as though their
primary loyalty is to the Democratic Party rather than the news
organization they ostensibly work for.
The MSM is the only private business that seems all but immune
to the profit motive. If they simply treated all of their audience
with respect it’s hard to tell how much how much of an increase
they would see in their gross and net revenues.
It makes me wonder if they have any explicit or implicit mission
statement. For example, is it, “My mission as a journalist is to
choose a political candidate and then select and slant what I
report so as to help him/her get into office.” Or possibly, “My
mission as a journalist/reporter is to show my like-minded
colleagues that I’m one of them.” I simply cannot conceive
what they perceive their professional responsibilities to be. It
apparently never enters their minds.
Economists hate to attribute behavior to irrationality. It’s
essentially a cop out. It’s like saying, “I can’t explain the
behavior, so I’ll just say it’s irrational.” Therefore, I won’t
categorize the MSM behavior as irrational. Let’s just say it’s
unusual. They have other priorities and values that are not obvious
to the rest of us.
There is a stunning amount of conformity. Does that ever bother
them? They behave like a flock of sheep. There seems to be no sense
of originality, no desire to be different. They usually report
stories with exactly the same slant and often with almost identical
wording.
Recently, for example, when reporting on the beginning of the
Republican National Convention, several reporters used almost
exactly the same words in saying that Hurricane Isaac “was sure to
revive memories of Hurricane Katrina.” Obviously, they sure hoped
it would. (Hurricane Katrina was, in their minds, a perfect example
of the incompetence and insensitivity of George W. Bush’s
presidency.) At least the same number of reporters told us how
terrible it would look to viewers when they saw a “split screen”
with the devastation of the hurricane on one side and the
convention festivities on the other.
You have to admire whoever orchestrates their performances. They
definitely are all kept on the same sheet of music and sing the
same lyrics.
When I write a column, I have absolutely no interest in making
the same observations someone else has made or sounding like
someone else. Saying what has been said by someone else is a waste
of my time and the reader’s. I don’t think that’s an unusual
attitude, but the MSM certainly don’t share it.
In most instances the perspective and analysis of the MSM is
largely predictable. A central tenet of information theory is there
is no information in a predictable statement.
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.
