FGS
Posted on 12/01/2004 9:51:38 AM PST by neverdem
So now CBS News anchor Dan Rather, too, is set to leave the evening news show. Rather was at CBS for more than two decades and was known as "Rather Biased" to his conservative foes.
I'm not going to speculate on whether Rather's decision, or CBS' decision, was prompted by the controversy when Rather reported a story that was based on forged documents and was damaging to President Bush.
Of more importance is the demise of the mainstream news media.
For decades, the only way to get television news was to listen to the evening news broadcasts of the three major networks.
That was it. The "message" was controlled, and it was a pretty establishment message.
There was simply no way for any other point of view to be expressed, no way to get any news story deemed unimportant by the evening news folks out to the public. No way to correct wrong information or straighten out a consistently liberal bias.
That's all changed now. So, it's no wonder that since cable television grew in the '80s and Internet use grew in the '90s, the ratings of the evening news shows have consistently dropped, and their viewership, while still large, is now largely made up of older folks.
I'm not nearly as sure that the bias of the established networks wreaked the havoc that some of my conservative friends might think. After all, Ronald Reagan won in 1980 and by a landslide in 1984, when the networks ruled the day and clearly could not stand Reagan or his presidency.
But there's no doubt that, with the demise of the mainstream media and the rise of alternative opinion outlets on everything from the Fox News Network to talk radio to countless news Web sites, the left is feeling more than a little peeved that its fiefdom is gone.
The reason some folks are growing increasingly shrill is that no one controls the news these days. It's not that the right has a monopoly on the news; it's that the liberal establishment no longer does. Why are some in the liberal establishment so afraid to let a thousand flowers bloom? Maybe because it's the liberal establishment that is, dare I say, intolerant? The departures of Rather and Brokaw are symbolic of something much bigger than a couple of older men resigning from their top media jobs. It's a metaphor for what's been, and is becoming, a healthy sea change in the American news media. Finally, there is healthy competition there, just as there is in every other aspect of the American economy.
Such competition, particularly when it comes in the marketplace of ideas, is something that apparently bothers liberals.
I've got an idea. Maybe the networks could stick a reality-TV show in the place of the evening news. Here's the premise: A dozen establishment and liberal political types are trapped in a house, no mainstream media allowed. Who can take it the longest? Mainstream news monopoly, RIP.
Betsy Hart is a columnist for Scripps Howard News Service. Her e-mail address is betsyhart@comcast.net.
All I want for Christmas is a Peter Jennings resignation.
Liberals can't stand competition. National Public Radio survives only on account of being shielded from market forces. There's no market for liberal drivel in America today.
And I say to myself,
What a wonderful world!
"The peasents are revolting, sir!"
"Yeah, and this supper isn't so tasty either..."
Thanks for posting this...
FGS
It was more dam(n)aging to Rather........
Their propaganda wing is losing it's grip on our minds. Historically the majority of the American people accepted what the MSM offered without question. Dissenters had no place to voice their opposition.
The fall started with Talk Radio (Rush in 1988), and was hit harder by the internet with the likes of The DrudgeReport and FreeRepublic (God bless them!). And the corruption that has permeated the MSM who have violated their public trust continues to be exposed to this day.
God, I love America!
"The reason some folks are growing increasingly shrill is that no one controls the news these days. It's not that the right has a monopoly on the news; it's that the liberal establishment no longer does. Why are some in the liberal establishment so afraid to let a thousand flowers bloom? Maybe because it's the liberal establishment that is, dare I say, intolerant? The departures of Rather and Brokaw are symbolic of something much bigger than a couple of older men resigning from their top media jobs. It's a metaphor for what's been, and is becoming, a healthy sea change in the American news media. Finally, there is healthy competition there, just as there is in every other aspect of the American economy.
"Such competition, particularly when it comes in the marketplace of ideas, is something that apparently bothers liberals."
"Requiescat in fracta!"
And you'll have Terry Moran by New Years.
They need a federal bailout.
My father told me to watch out for those **** bomb throwers!
That said, I still like the idea ;^)
FGS
Looks like I'll be needing a larger tombstone....werksferme.
FGS
They marginalized themselves. Like other aloof oligarchies out of touch with reality, they were the last ones to figure it out...only when it was too late.
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