Posted on 09/13/2004 8:36:02 AM PDT by hispanarepublicana
Last Friday Richard Starr made a prediction about the National Guard memos: CBS would almost certainly admit that they were forgeries. That sure seemed right to me at the time. But instead, CBS said it was standing by its story and, despite reports, would not conduct an internal investigation. On hearing this news, Jim Geraghty of NRO's Kerry Spot spoke for me when he sputtered, "I am stunned." The stunning truth, as Mark Steyn put it was that "Big Media are trashing their reputations in service to a man who can never win." I thought I agreed with that too. But now I'm not so sure.
Why were we so wrong? Why did Dan Rather and CBS News, against all expectations, impeach their own credibility to defend the authenticity of memos that are almost certainly forgeries? The obvious answer is that they did it to save the faltering Kerry campaign from a final and decisive blow. If CBS were to admit that the documents were forgeries, it would have no grounds for protecting its sources. In fact, CBS would have a positive obligation to do everything in its power to expose the malefactors behind the forgeries. If the trail led back to the Kerry campaign, president Bush's reelection would be assured. Dan Rather has been at pains to derogate those who are interested in where the documents came from. This sounds suspiciously like Rather is concerned about what a revelation of his sources might mean. Certainly, if Rather personally received the forgeries from a Kerry operative, it would be a disaster for Rather. That alone might seem to be sufficient to explain CBS's refusal to admit its error. (It now appears that CBS News may well have received the documents from a partisan and highly questionable source.)
SUPPLY AND DEMAND And even if the trail leading back to the forgers does not pass through the Kerry camp, an admission by CBS that the documents are bogus would be a huge embarrassment for the senator's campaign, which has so aggressively seized upon the story to attack the president. It would also be a fiasco for Dan Rather and CBS, whose credulity on a story harmful to the president would be exposed, and pointedly contrasted to their treatment of the Swift-boat veterans.
But surely it would have been better for Rather and CBS to cut their losses and admit their error. Yes, they would have taken a hit, but they would also have won kudos for honesty and professionalism. Americans are forgiving of those who admit error. By standing behind a story that is so obviously flawed, Rather and CBS News are setting themselves up to become laughing stocks. That is why the reasonable assumption I — and many other folks — made was that CBS would attempt to salvage its reputation by repudiating the memos. And that is why many now assume Dan Rather and CBS News have sacrificed their reputations in order to protect the Kerry campaign.
But can devotion to John Kerry really explain so flagrant a violation of CBS's apparent best interests? There must be another reason the network surprised us all. It is doubtful it would consciously take a course that would place its audience share and financial position at significant risk. If Dan Rather himself had taken forged documents from a Kerry campaign operative, that might explain why he personally was willing to stand by a shaky story. But it would not account for the willingness of CBS to back him up. No doubt, Rather and the members of the news division at CBS strongly favor John Kerry's bid for the presidency. But I do not believe they would have allowed themselves to be put in this position solely to save Kerry. Yes, the determination to rescue John Kerry is behind the decision to defend the documents. But it is not so much Dan Rather's politics at work here as it is the politics of the CBS audience.
THE MAINSTREAM MOVES LEFT Something important seems to be happening to the media — something those of us who complain about liberal media bias may have missed up to now. Although there is a major and ever growing alternative media composed of talk radio, opinion journals, Internet news sites, blogs, and Fox News, the "mainstream media" still dominates. In terms of sheer numbers, the network newscasts still out-pull cable news channels by considerable margins. And Internet sites and blogs still attract a relatively small (if growing and disproportionately influential) audience. Because of its prestige — and because it's just plain bigger — the mainstream media is, well, "mainstream," while the rest are just "alternative."
Although all of this is still true, we may well be seeing the initial signs of a profound realignment of the media along more strictly and openly partisan lines. The mainstream media as a whole may be larger than the alternative outlets, but the mainstream audience itself is segmented. Looking at the CBS News audience alone, we are probably talking about the most self-consciously liberal part of the network audience pie. True, nowadays all the network newscasts are liberal. But CBS has had that reputation longer than the rest. Gradually, with the exit of moderates and conservatives to other networks and the alternative media, CBS's audience is probably now composed largely of liberal Democrats. In the middle of the most divisive presidential election in years, we have to assume that the CBS audience itself is far more interested in helping John Kerry than in getting to the bottom of the forgery issue. So as the country increasingly divides into two media camps, the "mainstream media" is becoming more openly partisan. And it's the audience that's driving this — not only, or even primarily, the journalists, liberal though journalists may be.
No matter how much the media scene has changed, many of us carry an image in our minds of the old CBS News. In the days when the country had only three network newscasts to watch, CBS was the most prestigious of all. Back then, CBS News would certainly have repudiated the forgeries (in the unlikely event that they would have fallen for them in the first place). Had they not repudiated the documents, CBS News would have risked the loss, along with its reputation for fairness, of half or more of its audience. But nowadays, toughing it out on behalf of John Kerry is only likely to reinforce audience loyalty among CBS's partisan viewers. The CBS audience might find its enthusiasm for Dan Rather dampened considerably if an admission from Rather ended up bringing down their candidate.
We conservatives can talk all we want about CBS putting its credibility at risk. But the truth is, we ceased to take the word of Dan Rather or CBS a long time ago. What's more, CBS knows this. And that is why they're sticking with their story. In other words, the exit of increasing numbers of conservatives and moderates from the mainstream-media audience is pushing mainstream outlets to the left.
I, for one, am a disappointed old-time loyalist of CBS News and the New York Times. Somewhere deep in my trusting heart, I want to believe that some journalistically responsible "grown up" at the old media bastions is going to read all these revelations of bias and set things right. In my dreams, chastened by their betrayal of journalistic standards, mainstream outlets would start hiring young reporters who cut their teeth at conservative, and not just liberal, publications, and will thus gradually recreate the balanced, fair-minded, and trustworthy news institutions of old.
UNOFFICIAL SPOKESMAN But now I see why this can't happen. The divisions in the country are too strong. What's more, the cycle of division is self-reinforcing. First came the of the movements of the 60s. Then the media was captured by the Left. Then the conservatives started to exit, building up alternative outlets as they went. As the fundamental cultural and political issues dividing the country sharpened, more and more people started flooding to the alternative media. This self-selection process began to turn the mainstream audience into a self-consciously liberal audience. So even as complaints about liberal media bias escalated, the mainstream media was bound to become more liberal, not less liberal — because that's what was happening to its audience. What all this means is that, given its audience, CBS News is no longer concerned about preserving it reputation for fairnessliberalism.
We are still in transition. Mainstream (i.e., liberal) outlets are still bigger. That means they still get more attention from voters in the middle. The mainstream media cannot entirely ignore accusations of bias, and still needs to maintain a veneer of neutrality and professionalism. Up to now, the media's liberalism was most unambiguously evident on social issues. Political coverage was the one place where real efforts at balance were made. But in this election, we have seen a major shift toward bias even in political coverage. The mainstream media are now working for the Democratic party with all the enthusiasm of Wendy's "unofficial spokesman." In reality, of course, Wendy's unofficial spokesman is their most official and important representative. The mainstream media's relationship to the Democratic party is now about the same.
Does all of this mean that stories about media bias are futile, or even counterproductive? Not really. It simply means that it's too late for the mainstream media to reform itself. The exit of doubters is now so large that the mainstream outlets are trapped by the remaining and largely liberal audience into ever more obvious leftist partisanship. Put that together with the actual left-leaning political views of reporters, and there will obviously be no change.
The purpose of media-bias stories is now different than it once was. The goal is no longer to reform the mainstream media, but to expose it for the partisan political player it is, so as to pull as many doubters as possible into alternative outlets. Is this good for the country? I doubt it. It would be far better to have a fair and trusted mainstream media to present the news, flanked by thoughtful journals of opinion on both sides of the political spectrum. But sadly, that is not where we are.
Leave it on if you like, but you said that early Americans easily knew the truth, and I just questioned you on it.
They are forgeries. No qualifier is needed. I have yet to read in any MSM article that these are forgeries. Even NRO feels the need to lend some credence that these documents are authentic.
This is Stan Kurtz, not Howie.
Fumfering about what to do about the Trojan Horse ? is only done by cowards..
Ann Coulters book "Treason" layed out some of the history about this assault on the Republic.... The book "BIAS"... and many others outlined the "horse" in minor detail...
And David Horowitz has detailed how academia is feeding the Trojan Horse and is in league with the troops inside..
The only thing NOT outlined as far I know is how the FCC is a party to it all. 1st amendment be damned, you cannot yell legally FIRE in a theater BUT you can subvert the Republic by propaganda and dissimulation... Converting a republic to a democracy is sedition.. and who cannot see America is in fact a democracy now... even PBS is a vector for this in your face sedition.. The CBS fake memos are merely teasers to a much larger story.. BUT we cannot even impeach an obvious traitor from the White House and charge him with treason..
The FCC grants licenseing to these people.. I say make Gordon Liddy the head of the FCC... right after makeing socialism a crime in the U.S. Communism IS socialism and socialism is Americas biggest threat.. not the terrorists..
The odds of any of this happening... ZERO....
Socialism is the disease that America is carrying and probably the only cure is a revolution... just as the founders of this country predicted would be needed. The only thing they did not forsee was the de-balling of America. America is too feminized to be a threat to the real invaders. As they laugh at us and manipulate the female vote and other groups addicted to their feelings and opinions, many try to look busy with minutia... Was pretty smart of Americas enemies to enact the Federal Reserve and give Women the vote at about the same time.. quite crafty of them...
Good post!
Excellent observation. In point of fact, this is the situation that obtains globally. In Europe, Japan, etc. the newspapers and other media have a definite political slant, which is well known to everyone. They have their own audiences and are used to counterbalance one another. If we move away from this idea of so-called objectivity by the MSM, we would be better off. At least, there would be a major MSM voice castigating CBS and Rather about these forgeries. Even Fox feels compelled to restrain its criticism and just express some doubt.
With the liberals exercising a virtual monopoly over the MSM, a proconservative MSM outlet would carve out a significant part of the market. Fox has edged in that direction, but it seems intimidated by the attacks from the Left. Enough of fair and balanced and more of advocacy and adversarial journalism.
Heheheh, Stan Kurtz, Howie Kurtz, what's the difference (sigh) ... jumping to conclusions again, I am. Thanks for watching my backside!
I agree, except you need some token libs on if only to discredit their arguments~!
bmp
And your contention is...???
Mainstream media has not moved left. They've been left since Viet Nam. It's just that up until fairly recently there weren't enough people pointing it out to make it well known.
While CNN reported that the war plan had changed in Operation Iraqi Freedom (even though they didn't have access to the war plan) and that U.S. forces were bogged down in the sandstorm and had outrun their supply lines (also false), the Republican Guard hunkered down south of Bagdad, waiting for the assault.
Meanwhile back in the real world, Tommy Franks was informed that the Republican Guard had been immobile for the last 16 hours outside of Bagdad, so he smashed the Republican Guard for three days with PGM's (which don't care about the weather or CNN broadcasts).
CNN had unwittingly served as an effective propaganda machine for the U.S. led forces as it turned out. How funny is that?
The moral of the story...When CBS or the New York Times, etc., broadcasts or prints liberal biased complete bullshit, they create opportunities for the other side to destroy them.
These are some of the Communist goals written into the congressional record in 1963, by a democrat congressman. Check out nrs. 20 and 21:
Congressional Record--Appendix, pp. A34-A35
January 10, 1963
Current Communist Goals
EXTENSION OF REMARKS OF HON. A. S. HERLONG, JR. OF FLORIDA
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Thursday, January 10, 1963
15. Capture one or both of the political parties in the United States.
16. Use technical decisions of the courts to weaken basic American institutions by claiming their activities violate civil rights.
17. Get control of the schools. Use them as transmission belts for socialism and current Communist propaganda. Soften the curriculum. Get control of teachers' associations. Put the party line in textbooks.
20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policymaking positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures.
22. Continue discrediting American culture by degrading all forms of artistic expression. An American Communist cell was told to "eliminate all good sculpture from parks and buildings, substitute shapeless, awkward and meaningless forms."
28. Eliminate prayer or any phase of religious expression in the schools on the ground that it violates the principle of "separation of church and state."
32. Support any socialist movement to give centralized control over any part of the culture--education, social agencies, welfare programs, mental health clinics, etc.
40. Discredit the family as an institution. Encourage promiscuity and easy divorce.
42. Create the impression that violence and insurrection are legitimate aspects of the American tradition; that students and special-interest groups should rise up and use ["]united force["] to solve economic, political or social problems.
Call liberals what you want to. If the goals are the same, what would you call them?
I was comparing the MSM, which you said contends that its reporting is "objective" and "neutral", not informed by an "opinion", one way or the other. As such, they are being dishonest.... to Fox's "fair" and "balanced" reporting.
It seems that if it were that good proof, everyone would agree.
But Fox is what they advertise.
They are "fair" in the sense that, what they present as straight news, is indeed straight and uncolored by any discernible political bias.
They are "balanced" in the sense that, what they present as opinion, is a.) labelled as such and b.) adequately represents both the liberal and conservative viewpoint (i.e., the "conservative" isn't a "token", like Tucker Carlson, who's a wuss, or Bob Novak, who's a registered Democrat).
You disagree with this? If so, why?
We exposed what CBS did, and people signed on to FR in record numbers.
OK, you're 100 pct correct.
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