Network News: If We Can't Lose The War, We'll Act Like It Doesn't Exist

confederateyankee.mu.nu & nytimes.com ^ | June 23, 2008

[Free ThinkerNY]

Someone please tell CBS News chief foreign correspondent Lara Logan that her reaction is precisely the reaction her peers are shooting for:

"If I were to watch the news that you hear here in the United States, I would just blow my brains out because it would drive me nuts," Ms. Logan said.

Logan admits here a common complaint about the kind of news reported out of Iraq for the duration of the war, which is a macabre focus on blood-soaked sensationalism to the near exclusion of any other sort of story.

The newsworks (to perhaps coin a phrase) have never been interesting in reporting all the news, a fact that far predates television. News outlets—both state-controlled and private—have had a propaganda role throughout history. What may be unique among western news organizations is an often obvious desire to present only one side of the story, even when they have the option of objectivity. They are guilty of providing propaganda just as state-run media often are, but are often blind to this, confusing the biased views they advocate with "truth."

This bias is often wrongly blamed upon the political leanings of a news outlets ownership. In days past (and perhaps in the New York Times present), family control over an outlet may have strongly influenced the focus and bias of news organizations, but the modern reality of corporate news ownership, with organizations and divisions of news organizations being bought, sold, fragmented, consolidated, and always for sale, has rendered that argument laughably simplistic and out of date.

No, in the modern era where news is viewed by "suits" as another potential revenue stream and not a public service, "news" is pushed to be shallow infotainment providing immediate gratification. It is under this pressure-cooker environment that producers, editors and journalists...

[Free ThinkerNY]

[Skooz]

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[Skooz]

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[subterfuge]

This bias is often wrongly blamed upon the political leanings of a news outlets ownership. In days past (and perhaps in the New York Times present), family control over an outlet may have strongly influenced the focus and bias of news organizations, but the modern reality of corporate news ownership...that argument laughably [is] simplistic and out of date.

I'm going to have to call BS on that one. The "ownership" hire lefties only, by and large. Sh!t roles downhill.

[yoe]

Ignoring Iraq while conversely viewing Barack Hussein Obama with something akin to a presidential seal on his podium is brilliant marketing. Let the buyer beware, Obamaism is apt to bring relief...Snake Oil rarely does or you can look at its real value, a Placebo. “You may fool all the people some of the time, you can even fool some of the people all of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all the time.”....Obama can't fool enough of us to become POTUS, he is unfit to serve.

PROPAGANDA IS THE NAME OF THE GAME!

[ETL]

This picture says it all on the leftist media front! Thanks for posting it.

[Dilbert San Diego]

You can see bias in the way they cover certain news stories. The war is a good example. When things were difficult, it was the big story on the evening news and front page news in the papers. Now that things have turned around, you might not even know that there is a war going on .

On alleged “torture”, Abu Grahib (sp?) was front page news for weeks. We were at fault, America was not living up to its highest ideals, yadda, yadda, yadda, so that was played up. But the beheadings of Americans in Iraq was a 1 day story each time it happened, presented without commentary about what kind of high ideals the enemy was living up to with their beheadings of their enemies.

On homosexual marriage, the media have been cheerleaders for that, rather than simply reporting the facts. They go out and find homosexual couples with children, and have them talk about all the discrimination they face, and the problems of parenting, etc. And then it’s supposed to bring us to the conclusion that homosexual marriage is the only solution to their problems. We unenlightened people are portrayed as mean-spirited to lesbians because we’re stuck in the simplistic mode of thinking that children normally have a mom and a dad, not two mothers, or mother and special aunt, or however they define their family.

With stem cell research, the Bush administration is said to be having a war on science for opposing fetal stem cell research, and the issue is falsely presented as being a ban on such research. There is no ban on that research, the ban is on federal funding of the research. But that nuance is lost by the media.

I’m sure others can think of other examples. It’s not only the way stories are covered, it’s also sometimes deciding not to report a story at all, or leaving out inconvenient truths.

[Dilbert56]

There is a very simple explanation: The media are rooting against the U.S. In support of that goal, their policy is to report only what our enemies accomplish. Our enemies have been able to accomplish precious little these last few months. Therefore, reporting about Iraq is way down. There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

[Notasoccermom]

Worthy of repeating... There is a very simple explanation: The media are rooting against the U.S. In support of that goal, their policy is to report only what our enemies accomplish. Our enemies have been able to accomplish precious little these last few months. Therefore, reporting about Iraq is way down. There, that wasn't so hard, was it?

[Red Dog #1]

Your right, the root of the problem is the type of college student attracted to journalism (vs. for instance a person that pursues an MBA or engineering degree).

[TruthShallSetYouFree]

If bin Laden, Ahmadinejad, and Kim got up in front of the UN General Assembly, admitted their lies and tyranny, and broke into a chorus of God Bless America in three-part harmony, CNN would cut to an interview of Cindy Sheehan or Michael Moore.

[rmlew]

I like to call them the Tokyo Rose media.

[RobinOfKingston]

... Tyndall, a television consultant who monitors the three network evening newscasts, ...

I quit television nearly 8 years ago. One BIG reason was the "network news." This guy, Tyndall, deserves the equivalent of a Purple Heart for subjecting himself to monitoring these know nothing blow hards. The best emetic I know is repeating davidgregory to myself a half dozen times.