Posted on 09/13/2004 12:43:29 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
There is a war under way for truth in reporting and a defiant Dan Rather is about to become one of the first foot soldiers fighting for Big Media to go down. It is quickly becoming common knowledge that Dan Rather and CBS’s 60 Minutes rushed to judgment regarding the authenticity of Texas National Guard documents potentially damaging to President Bush’s reelection campaign. Rather has unapologetically defended the report, seemingly oblivious to the magnanimity of his error and the damage it is going to cause CBS. The fact that Americans are more and more concerned about the authenticity and implications of the 60 Minutes report than the content of the documents is evidence that accuracy in reporting is the big story of this election session.
Ten years ago, the 60 Minutes story most likely would have caused its political damage without challenge. Those with legitimate questions over the authenticity of the documents did not have the ability to reach a wide enough mass of people to matter. Information travels so quickly today that, thanks to Matt Drudge, millions of Americans were hours ahead of the major news networks on this story, all wondering loudly through their own outlets (blogs, websites, et al) why no one was reporting this breakthrough.
The battle lines of this very public battle are drawn and the number of casualties is striking and rapidly on the rise. On the offensive are citizens who desire truth in reporting, many of whom are only recently realizing that the media they grew up respecting may not be worthy of their trust. Entrenched and on the defensive are the Dan Rathers of the world – the media elite.
Books exploring bias in the media have repeatedly reached the tops of the charts over the past few years. Websites devoted to debunking misinformation and exposing bias are spouting up every day. The clear majority of Americans no longer trust Big Media to report the truth. Now that there are thousands upon thousands of alternative sources to read and interpret the news, Big Media’s days are numbered.
The fall from grace has been in the works for years, but is accelerating as more people come to understand the power of the Internet for news gathering and fact checking. The NY Times started crumbling under the weight of the Jayson Blair scandal and internal squabbles over the future direction of the grey lady have been embarrassingly public. USA Today has suffered material damage through the exploits of Steven Glass, while hints of deeper troubles within the nation’s most popular newspaper were exposed. The once revered Boston Globe has taken a beating for its similar penchant for publishing falsities. 60 Minutes will never again garner the audience it once enjoyed. Dan Rather is offending millions who will never believe him again. Certainly, lies and distortions have existed since people started reporting the news; but now there is a way to expose cheaters and counter-balance the damage.
In the information age, where news and data flows to tens, thousands, or potentially millions of discerning citizens at the click of a mouse, getting away with a lie is infinitely more challenging than it ever was. Cheats, liars, and media monopolies beware!
Absolutely, I wrote up a memo on it for my personal files using my IBM Selectric Composer.
Perfect!
What is Sen. Kerry HIDING in his 3.5 years of military records of which he's RELEASED SIX PAGES of? In 3.5 years of Naval Reserve service the paper trail is MORE than SIX MEASLY PAGES!
Bump!
I didn't find it magnanimous in the least.
As in the case of John Kerry, most of Rather's wounds were self-inflicted. No purple heart for Mr. Rather.
Wow! Your detention to entrails is comestible and always in ordure. I praise my glass in a roast to you!
Susan McDougal can tell Dan what it's like to take in the shorts for the DNC establishment.
Don't you hate it when people do that? Another one is "enormity" to refer to the size of something. Or "apropos" to mean "appropriate."
We must eschew obfuscation, as the old saying goes.
The noting of my typo is much appreciated - I am not sure what I was thinking (I guess I wasn't thinking much at all). I do appreciate the editing assistance, and I have fixed my error.
Regarding the props to Drudge - I am an occasional Freeper myself - I simply referred to Drudge because, being who he is, he makes largest waves. Obviously, Freepers are near the top of the heap of bullies for freedom. Carry on...
-M. Hussey
http://disaffiliates.blogspot.com
http://ratemyteachers.com
Of course he knew that the word was "inconvenience," but heaven only knows what he was thinking at the time!
AP is next...
"We got Rush Limbaugh, Hannity is next."
Spoken by Ed Asner. A member of the Arrogant Elite Media (AEM - Just thought that one up).
At any rate, it shows that the AEM showed up at a tank battle with spitballs. In their arsenal are the mostly discredited and seldom viewed or read Main Stream Media.
However, the AEM has failed to notice that a straight and true new channel has been dug that bypasses the biased boulders of their babbling brook. The combined viewing numbers for nightly news of the three major networks is now lower than any one of the three 15 years ago. Readers for daily newspapers has also shrunk to levels that hardly justify the trouble to advertise in them. And advertisers are now suing major newspapers over false circulation figures.
It has been said that the television news at the evening dinnertime spelled doom for the evening newspaper. Now it can be stated unequivocally that Al Gore's great invention, the internet, has spelled doom for the AEM. And like some landed gentry of the Industrial Revolution, they find themselves looking at barren fields wondering where their serfs have gone and why they weren't happy with the slanted slop at supper.
A key aspect of an offensive military operation is to "get inside your opponent's decision cycle," IOW to move faster than he can make decisions to react to your changes. That is what the internet has done to TV and print news. Why should I wait until tonight's broadcast or tomorrow's paper when I can have the news at the speed of posting? The New Media has effectively gotten inside the MSM's decision cycle, and the MSM has no clue how to handle it.
Great, isn't it?
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