Media Matters releases
By on Feb 14th, 2006 at 9:37 am
Media Matters releases
its comprehensive report documenting the right-wing tilt on Sunday political talk shows.
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it’s not a tilt, it’s a list that will eventually cause the media to sink…
February 14th, 2006 at 9:51 amIs anyone surprised?
February 14th, 2006 at 10:01 amSorry #1, the media ain’t gonna sink. There will be no boycott, there will be no competition, the media will carry on supporting the white, pro biz, pro religion crowd. The Repugnicans, with the media and the voting machine manufacturers in thier pockets, will continue to mow down the Dems. Sad, but true.
It is no surprise that the Sunday shows are right tilted. The networks are owned by big media conglomerates whose agenda is more aligned with the right than the progressives.
The term “Television Journalism” is an oxymoron anyway. Thank God for blogs.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:04 amWell, there’s yer librul media for ya.
Is it any wonder that the idiot box at our house only comes on to view videos? We unhooked the cable years ago after realizing we were paying $40/month to watch endless commercials interspersed with the occasional unpolished turd of a program.
Even our kids don’t miss the stupid thing.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:08 amSince Media Matters probably say it, I will. If you had read David Brock’s excellent book The Republican Noise Machine, none of this would have come as a shock. This has all been part of a grand strategy by the right to destroy journalism by claiming it should be “balanced” and not “objective”. And now, they have managed to convince the networks that they aren’t serving their viewers if they don’t present “both sides” of an argument. This is, of course, nonsense.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:12 am#5 Correction. First sentence should read:
“Since Media Matters probably won’t say it,…”
I regret the error.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:13 am#2 and #3
February 14th, 2006 at 10:15 amI think you both have it right. It’s a sorry state of affairs, but it is what it is. No surprise. How to turn it around toward more balance is not going to be easy if not impossible in the present climate.
What a true and depressing start to the day.
I don’t want balanced reporting I want Real Oblective reporting like it was with Walter Cronkite.
balanced is just another way of saying prorightwingers.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:25 am#7 – Don’t lose hope. The Republican’s do not have a lock on majority status. Look at the history of the House, Senate and the White House: no party remains in control forever.
The Republican’s will become the minority party, and eventually the pendulum will swing away from big-government, big-business, and anti-civil rights towards the center. Each time the pendulum gets pushed to the extreme (of either side) it eventually swings back. The interesting thing is watching it hit the obstructers “right between the eyes” when they try to stop the swing away from radical extremism.
It’s the historical pattern, and even the Republi-trolls know this. That’s why they get their knickers in a knot when they’re reminded that they are not the permanent majority party.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:25 amI think there is a natural tendency to lean towards the ruling party, however jaded they may be.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:28 amno time to look up the specs, but 2 things:
February 14th, 2006 at 10:39 am1.thank reagan for undoing the fairness act
2. there is someone in congress trying to get that back into law
support that effort, and things may change…
#9 DS – sitting around isn’t going to do it. The Dems in both houses are ineffectual, by choice or by ineptitude. Here’s today’s example. Spying without warrants necessary but OK if ‘congressional approval’ is given? And who is running congress?
Besides the electronic election machines are still in place, the litany of voter suppression tactics seen in Ohio 2004 and Florida 2000 are still available and HAVA locks it all in place. Without one-person-one-vote and all paper hand count verification, 2006 will be a repeat of 2000 in Florida, 2002 in Georgia and 2004 across the country. Trusting in the US election process is a ‘faith-based’ approach.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:50 amOMIGOD. I’m shocked. It’s not possible.
What font are they using?
February 14th, 2006 at 10:53 am#13, I wonder if the moderates in Germany in 1930, thought the ‘pendulum’ would ‘…eventually swing back’?
2006 is already on course to be a repeat of 2002 – here’s Rove’s plan and here is the result so far.
February 14th, 2006 at 10:57 amThe explanation is quite simple really. The Democrats are always on about taking care of the people while the Republicans are always taking care of big business.
The media’s lean in favor of the Republican agenda is not a leftwing/rightwing lean in any ideological sense, it’s just a natural phenomenon akin to phototropism – corporate entities exist to make money and lean naturally towards the source of that money.
February 14th, 2006 at 11:12 amI have always felt that the media is only as liberal as the conservatives who own it.
February 14th, 2006 at 11:31 am#12 – Terry, I didn’t suggest that we all just sit around and wait for the Republicans to fall on their faces. My suggestion was to “not lose hope”. Once hope is gone, what do you have? Other than people strapping bombs to themselves and blowing others away.
As for action: if your county has electronic voting without paper backup, ask the politicians why they don’t care about accuracy in voting. Stop-gap method: request absentee voting, usually done on paper.
More action: don’t just complain about the pathetic state of affairs since Pres. Bush and his cronies took power, start talking to your elected representatives. Send letters, hand written are great for getting attention. Call, and call often. Staffers are required to report all calls, and what the subject was about. When elected officials are available, go talk to them. Many elected officials visit their constituents throughout the year when they’re in the location. It’s not a place to harangue them for not agreeing with you on every subject, but to let them know they are supposed to represent the people, not proclaim their agenda and to heck with any nay-sayers.
Lastly, e-mail: It’s very easy to type off a few sentences and send it off to your elected officials. This is becoming a much more powerful tool as the officials are finding out. Just make sure you are civil, and DO NOT THREATEN PEOPLE! They might deserve to hear a bit of ranting, but they’re more than willing to report anyone who even suggests violence or harm. Make sure you let them know that your vote goes to the person who addresses issues you care about. Define your position clearly, and support your position with reputable information.
Basically, don’t give up hope, and don’t back down from people questioning your patriotism just because you don’t say “ditto†to Pres. Bush or the big-government Republicans.
February 14th, 2006 at 11:33 am#17, yes. Your earlier one suggested to me that the pendulum swings by itself, my apologies. But I still think that if there is less than 3% between the parties on election day, we’ll see at best a few seats gained by Dems, but nowhere near the number suggested by the exit polls. It will take blood in the streets, IMO, to stop it now.
February 14th, 2006 at 11:40 am#14 – Terry, eventually the pendulum did swing back. It just didn’t happen from the inside as it should have. The “moderates” in 1930 Germany were cowed by the extremism of the entrenched party, and denounced as “traitors†and “unpatriotic†when they questioned the “majority partyâ€.
With luck, the American people will wake up to the excesses of the administration, and realize the so-called “conservative†Republicans have divorced themselves from their true base, and have become what they hate: pro-government, pro-business, anti-“little guyâ€, anti-civil rights, pro-war, anti-Veteran, ultra-corrupt sycophants to powerful special interests.
That’s why I refer to Republicans as ‘Phants. It’s a play on words from elephants and sycophants. Sort of like “Right between the I’s†uses Donks, however the Donks are going to Bonk the ‘Phants on their Pants and return them to the minority party. It’s inevitable!
February 14th, 2006 at 11:47 am#19 – between 1933 and 1945, 62 million people died before the pendulum swung back. I’m just not sure the US system of government is not already fatally weakened. After all, it only took Rehnquist’s vote in 2000 for Bush, like Bismarck’s assent, to start the dismantling of the US Republic.
February 14th, 2006 at 12:35 pmsome info about my post @11…
on Ring of Fire last weekend, one of the guests was New York Congressman Maurice Hinchey on his bill to reform media ownership – Media Ownership Reform Act … still no exact info yet on his website … wouldn’t hurt to let the guy know how much we would support such legislation…
still looking for info on media FAIRNESS work going on…
February 14th, 2006 at 1:21 pmThe data from the Clinton years indicate that the disparity cannot be explained simply by the fact that Republicans currently control the government.
Too bad people dont know difference between NEWS and a SHOW
The Bush admin is a Show.
Sen Hagel Says About Neo-cons and Iraq;
In an interview last year with US News and World Report, Republican Senator Chuck Hagel said that on Iraq, “The White House is completely disconnected from reality…It’s like they’re just making it up as they go along.â€
Thank You Sen Hagel. Now can you challenge the neo-cons andf their ‘Scripts’ or are you gonna go into self protection mode? Kowtow the Line some more?
February 14th, 2006 at 2:24 pm#20 – I agree with you, the dismantling of the Democratic system begins with the excesses of the entrenched bureaucracy combined with the hubris of the elected politicians.
Not all is lost, though. While the Republicans are more than happy to have electronic voting with no paper trail whatsoever, the average American is waking up to the ramification of not being able to verify that the votes are counted accurately.
Eventually, the ‘Phants will be relegated to the minority and their streak of big-government will be whittled down to something that is responsive to the American citizens, and not just to big business and the special interests to whom Republicans have sold their soul.
February 14th, 2006 at 2:24 pm##19 – between 1933 and 1945, 62 million people died before the pendulum swung back. I’m just not sure the US system of government is not already fatally weakened. After all, it only took Rehnquist’s vote in 2000 for Bush, like Bismarck’s assent, to start the dismantling of the US Republic.
Comment by TerrytheTurtle — February 14, 2006 @ 12:35 pm
Marxism destroys…
February 14th, 2006 at 2:31 pmLEONARD PITTS JR.: Expect, again, a national campaign with fear at its heart
January 28, 2006
BY LEONARD PITTS JR.
KNIGHT RIDDER NEWSPAPERS
Karl Rove said in a speech last week that this year’s mid-term election will be about security. So you know it will be about fear.
It’d be nice to be able to take President George W. Bush’s chief political adviser at his word. Consider where we stand 52 months after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Hurricane Katrina has shown that the government could not effectively manage a catastrophe whose place and time it knew “in advance.”
~~~~
More of Bush Crying Wolf and the Administration Feigning Care.
More MSM Hype. Shows.
This may be just what does Rove in. The Abramoff corruption the warrantless spying, secrets, Lies, deceptive speeches, out right lies, 1.6 billion to propaganda such as Armstrong Williams and other ‘Infomercials’ portrayed as ‘News’.
Karl is a known political trickster and has no credibility, Bush has less than Abramoff and he confessed to conspiracy…
Security SHOULD start in the White House Mr Rove..
Now ABOUT that Gannon Guy and the 200 visits?
That BREACH of White House security Mr Bush?
How about Those 83 Secret Documents
Mr Franklin, the AIPAC spy took Home?
How Does that Bush Admin (Rove), does that fit into YOUR Security Plan?
Why would anyone take a political pundits word?
February 14th, 2006 at 3:08 pmDemocrat soldier
February 14th, 2006 at 6:05 pmYour words of hope and comfort are very welcome in this very dispiriting time.
I do Email congress regularly; I Email the party frequently; Letters to the editors, etc. I was going to resign as election judge (it’s a very long, long day), but my county is going electronic, so I am planning to stay and express my opinion to the commission, as well as observe.
I am frustrated with my party who can’t get their act straight. I am exasperated with the citizenry who still believe Bush&Co are OK. I am amazed at the effectiveness of the Bush Machine in the public arena against the seemingly ineffective Democratic operation, who really do have better, if unheard, ideas.
I feel I am doing my part, but I am getting tired, and fearful for the future – not for me so much – but for my children and grandchildren.
#21, Katy,
February 14th, 2006 at 6:08 pmThanks for the tip — you can also write the FCC directly; Thousands of Emails to them actually prevented consolidation in the past.