Santorum and The Bias of Balance
Santorum and The Bias of Balance
The media — desperate not to appear biased — tries to create balance between competing points of view in each story. This kind of artificial balancing act is, of course, it’s own type of bias. But people tend to get less upset about it, so the media is less concerned.
A perfect example is the coverage of Sen. Rick Santorum’s remarks Thursday night, when he compared opponents of the nuclear option to Hitler. The media couldn’t allow itself to report Santorum’s comments in isolation. Rather, reporters paired Santorum’s comments with those of Frank Lautenberg, who compared filibuster proponents to a Star Wars character named Palpatine.
Never mind that Santorum compared his opponents to a reviled historical figure who murdered millions and Lautenberg’s comments involved a fictional character in a summer movie. Treating Lautenberg’s and Santorum’s comments as equivalents created the balance the media wanted.
Washington Post, 5/19/05:
The number three Republican, Sen. Rick Santorum (Pa.), said Democratic arguments are “the equivalent of Adolf Hitler in 1942 saying, I’m in Paris. How dare you invade me? How dare you bomb my city?”…Still, it was hard to top Lautenberg…[who] likened Republican leader Bill Frist (Tenn.) to Palpatine.
New York Times, 5/20/05:
One Republican compared Democrats to Hitler, and a Democrat compared the Senate majority leader to a “Star Wars” villain.
New York Times, 5/22/05:
The images of senators taking to the floor and comparing members of the opposing party to Hitler and “Star Wars” villains may only serve to heighten public discontent with the partisan warfare.
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If anything, Lautenberg was worse. That Palpatine is one bad dude.
May 22nd, 2005 at 9:53 pmTehpurpose of a newspaper is to generate income from ad revenue. Controversy is managed. Not to much not too little. Just enough to keep circulation at max.
May 22nd, 2005 at 10:19 pmThe media grew this reflex after 20 years of constant harassment from the right wing. It’s purely Pavlovian: they got to where they went WAY out of their way to avoid anything that would make those folks screech.
Nothing in this country is going to change until they are more afraid of us than they are of them.
That means we need a posse of a hundred letter-writers standing by for every single news outlet in the country, ready to make those calls and write those letters at the first whiff of right-wing bias. And those folks will need to be relentless in their nagging, because it’s going to take a long time to retrain those reflexes.
In the end, it’s the media Kool Kidz who will decide the fate of our republic. They don’t have the guts to do the right thing — unless we make it clear that they’d better find their guts, or find themselves relieved of them.
May 23rd, 2005 at 1:06 amGone at last,
How silly. The ‘Media Cool kids” stayed home on election day. Sure, they ran their mouths about doing “compassionate” things (with other people’s money) but when it came time to vote, the percentage of the youth vote did not change a singel percentage point.
It was all noise.
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:10 amThe media is unquestionably the greatest long-term threat to American democracy (the voting machine hanky-panky and voter suppression is more blatant and obvious and ranks up there)…..and they continue to pretend that spending time on foolish pop scandals, runaway brides and Britney Spears are “giving the people what they want”. It’s so insulting and should be viewed as a direct and deliberate effort to undermine democracy.
They want the citizens distracted, dumbed down and too uninformed to ask any questions. This is how they steal elections. This is how they kill the American experiment.
May 23rd, 2005 at 9:24 amIt’s not the claim by itself that matters, it’s whether the claim makes sense and has any validity. The fictional Emperor Palpitation may be as bad as Hitler, but E.P.’s power grab in that movie is a valid analogy for the Republicans’ power grab in real life. Santorum’s equating of the Democrats’ defense of checks and balances is just nuts. It’s like looking at two people who accuse each other of murder and declaring them to be equivalent, without bothering to look at the evidence as to which one of them actually committed murder.
May 23rd, 2005 at 10:36 amWe have to rely on Comedy Central’s sarcasm to highlight mainsteam media’s sad situation… here’s a scene from the Daily Show with Jon Stewart:
CORDDRY: I’m a reporter, Jon, and my job is to spend half the time repeating what one side says, and half the time repeating the other. Little thing called “objectivity”–might wanna look it up someday.
STEWART: Doesn’t objectivity mean objectively weighing the evidence and calling out what’s credible and what isn’t?
CORDDRY: Whoa-ho! Well, well, well–sounds like someone wants the media to act as a filter! [high-pitched, effeminate] “Ooh, this allegation is spurious! Upon investigation this claim lacks any basis in reality! Mmm, mmm, mmm.” Listen buddy: not my job to stand between the people talking to me and the people listening to me.
May 23rd, 2005 at 11:14 amJay,
When you start talking about how “they” want this, and “they” want that, you sound like one of those “conspiracy theorists” who blames everything they don’t understand on “they”.
The media is in business to make a profit, like Cara said. They get advertising dollars based on their circulation. While the editorial page of most papers leans either left or right, they aren’t interested in determining whether people want to discuss unfunded liabilities or the Michael Jackson case.
That’s why you see a little bit of everything in the paper – front page news stories, next page editorial, letters to the editor, obituaries, court report, comics, crossword, dear abby, horoscope, a puzzle, classifieds, and of course the TV GUIDE.
Something for everyone. The idea is to sell as many papers as possible, so their advertising revenue is at the maximum level.
Put the conspiracy theories to rest, Jay. The “dumbing down” you speak of comes from a the compassionate left, who want kids to “feel good about themselves” but don’t want them to have to take tests or demonstrate ability.
May 23rd, 2005 at 1:23 pmuh, only difference, media, between hitler and palpatine is, one is real and one is made up.
other than that, imagine those poor little wookies getting killed! the horror! the horror! has moveon.org no shame?
remember, sith happens.
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:50 pmI’d just like to add a tidbit here.
May 23rd, 2005 at 2:51 pmOn another discussion forum a guy from France asked how much the media covered the story about the grenade that landed near Bushie while in Georgia.
A self proclaimed republican resonded, “we didn’t hear anything about that in America”.
I set the Frenchman straight and informed him that everybody who lives outside a remote wilderness shack heard the story.
Some people hear what they want to hear, the rest just doesnt exist to them.
Hey buckshot,
I certainly understand where the namecallers that got you so upset were coming from, you’re difficult to take seriously.
That said, “they”, as I’ve mentioned in previous posts, are the huge media conglomerates in tandem with the BIG BUSINESS, spurred by powerful think-tank’s (Heritage Foundation, AEI whose Chairman is the CEO of Exxon Mobil)….one big juggernaut, controlling the message.
Every time Tim Russert, Chris Matthews and the other so-called journalists look into that camera and avoid asking real questions about real issues (do I have to list them all?) they do us a disservice. They focus on scandals when they should be collecting evidence for impeachment hearings for the Bush administration.
The job of journalists is NOT TO MAKE MONEY its to keep the public informed. The public airwaves are OURS and they should not be used for peddling insignifigance. The dumbing down is a concerted effort. Conspiracy theory my ASS! I understand EXACTLY what’s going on. I’m arguing with the dumbed down right now.
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:11 pmJay,
Somewhere along the way, you missed the boat.
Your desire to change the world is not that unusual, however, changing yourself in order to prosper may offer you more success, wealth, and financial security.
But go ahead. Rant about how evil “they” all are. Let me know in ten years how much your rants changed them all.
In the meantime, you will have allowed ten years to go by, that could have been used to increase your skills, your earning potential, and your happiness.
Either way, it doesn’t affect me.
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:23 pmNo buckshot, you’re right. I need to focus more on my earning potential and what’s in it for me and less on the criminals that are ruining our country. I’ll get right on that.
Any hot stock tips? Greed is good, greed is good, greed is good and I’m HAPPY about our current political situation. Thanks for the guidance Dr. Phil.
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:33 pmbuzzflash.com
May 23rd, 2005 at 3:38 pmtruthout.com
commondreams.org
bushwatch.com
Since there seems to be an obsession with wealth for space…er..buckshot, I can only tell you that you’re coming off as shortsighted and even greedy. It’s not all about you man. Many responsible adults think beyond their own personal fortunes and how they can get theirs. It’s called the commonwealth. A republic, and it’s not supposed to protect only the interests of the wealthiest 2-10%. This democracy is about all of its citizens. As cynical as I’ve become about the current state of affairs I still believe that if given the choice, the majority of human beings would choose to give rather than take. Share rather than hoard. Lift up the less fortunate rather than keep them down. If that sounds socialist or too selfless for you than I would submit that you are a small person. Self-reliance is a worthy personal goal and capitalism is still the best of all economic systems, but it cannot be allowed to spiral out of control or we wind up with plutocratic, fascistic government.
If our so-called leaders don’t get on the ball about the looming energy crisis, we’ll all be living in tenements in short order. It’s time to make “peak oil” part of the everyday discussion.
A GREAT website:
http://www.energybulletin.net
May 23rd, 2005 at 6:57 pmJay,
I’ve known many people who feel the way you do. They want to do great things for the “little guy”. And they want to do it with SOMEONE ELSE’S MONEY.
If you wanted to help the downtrodden with your own money, it would be something to respect. Instead, your focus on trying to get something from someone is causing you to lose focus on taking care of yourself, so others don’t have to.
May 23rd, 2005 at 10:59 pmbuck,
The US spends bazillions of dollars on its military budget, missile defense, star wars program, preemptive war, etc. I would prefer to see taxpayer dollars spent on the commonwealth and not on are own weapons of mass destruction, war and death. Call me crazy. And don’t give me this it’s not an either or proposition crap because either we spend the money on one thing or another. It’s ridiculous that the US now outspends ALL OTHER NATIONS COMBINED on military. If we reduced military spending by virtual drops in the proverbial bucket we could fund a more universal healthcare system so people aren’t left desperate when jobs are shipped to India and China, we could sink money into paying teachers a better wage, we could pay the cops and the firefighters their fair share of overtime when warranted, we could start to get serious about R & D on alternative sources of energy.
I’m not trying to GET ANYTHING from anyone, I’m trying to lobby for investing our tax dollars on the betterment of the citizenry as opposed to wasting our treasure on death and destruction…..but then where would that leave the CEO of United Defense the poor bastard.
You don’t know me, you don’t know what I spend my own money on and frankly it’s not your business, but don’t assume anything. There is a big difference between charity and INVESTING IN THE FUTURE by spending our treasure wisely.
May 24th, 2005 at 9:23 amAhhhh….so naive, my son.
May 25th, 2005 at 3:17 amWell, buck, if jay pays taxes then ISN’T it his money, AS WELL as others? I mean, if that’s the case, then, in truth, he is using his own money. Just a thought. :)
May 26th, 2005 at 8:16 amRight, it’s all about how the tax revenue pie gets sliced up. You vote for the politicians that you think will represent your interests and I do the same. Unfortunately, the Dems are either spineleless or collude with Republicans and we all get screwed!
May 26th, 2005 at 9:11 amI think it’s mostly a case of spinelessness. If you ask me, I feel we need a whole new opposition party, made up of mostly progressives. People who are willing to dream up new ideas, as well as bat around old ones, making them more efficient. ESPECIALLY PEOPLE WHO CARE ABOUT MORE THAN JUST THE BOTTOM LINE! :)
May 26th, 2005 at 10:10 am