The MSM needs to portray 0bama as a second Jimmuh Cahtuh or Herbert Hoover in the interests of fair and balanced journalism.
I would say the public has moved even beyond a position of distrust toward the mainstream media. I for one see it as a force more dangerous to democracy than terrorism. We have been successful in fighting terrorism and keeping the homeland secure. But the mainstream media is not under control and in fact is getting worse by the day and consequently more damaging to democracy by the day. So there is not only distrust of the mainstream media but also positive and intense hatred for what it is and what it is doing.
BINGO!! (I am still only half way through reading but had to pull this out and comment.)
“I would say the public has moved even beyond a position of distrust toward the mainstream media. I for one see it as a force more dangerous to democracy than terrorism. We have been successful in fighting terrorism and keeping the homeland secure. But the mainstream media is not under control and in fact is getting worse by the day and consequently more damaging to democracy by the day. So there is not only distrust of the mainstream media but also positive and intense hatred for what it is and what it is doing.”
Amen brother! 100% correct.
Fifth, support the Republican Party and other voices of opposition that provide the kind of information that the mainstream media ignores. You have to put your money where your mouth is to assure that the public gets both sides of the ongoing political controversies.
This contradicts ever so slightly a comment above that says the Republican National Committee didn't send out any literature that clearly articulated much of anything (my words and summary of this point made). Thus I must say that the Republican party put up someone like John McCain as a presidential candidate. Most of us conservatives are still shaking our heads at how this guy won our primary. I have never seen a Republican treat Republicans with such distain and be so very nice and pandering to the Left as McCain is. He is enemy number two. Think McCain Feingold and all the phone numbers these lefties in California have to go harrass supporters of Prop 8. Thank McCain Feingold for that. Those numbers should not be available. But I digress.
Until the Republican Party actually has conservative ideals and puts up candidates that support and commit to following through with those ideals AND can clearly fight for those ideals (against the left when confronted) as well as clearly sell those ideals to the American people as any smart large organization that wants to exist has to do these days.
They are considered the enemy from within. Look at what happened with the spending and all the old guys that are near death that are put up as candidates. It is time to modernize the GOP and go back to its conservative roots--define them--and sell them through the best PR around and also candidates that act as such. Until then. Until I see movement in this direction I will NOT consider the a solution. They are gutless right now and shameful.
Fifth, support the Republican Party and other voices of opposition that provide the kind of information that the mainstream media ignores. You have to put your money where your mouth is to assure that the public gets both sides of the ongoing political controversies.
Do not support the Republican Party because it provides the kind of information that the MSM ignores. Support the party only if its values and beliefs are in line with yours. The party does need to gets its message out, but it first needs to determine what its message is. I do not fault entirely the MSM for the current state of the Republicans.
Once upon a time Newpapers were very partisan & almost captive of either major political party. Then competition forced the newspapers to invent the concept of “objectivity” in News reporting in an effort to grow readership & thrive. But then Radio, TV, Cable TV & the Internet came along delivering a flurry of punches to readership. Now the newspaper industry has lost confidence in “impartiality & objectivity” even though they still make those claims. In reality, they are emulating the partisanship & contentiousness of Talk Radio & Internet Blogs in an effort to compete with them... and their still losing readership.
The physical print Media is a money-losing dinosaur because they can be cost-competitive in News delivery, and they can’t figure out a way to get compensated for their basic News reporting function (what little of it that they still do.)
It's not clear to me that this is so. If it were true, how do you explain Blogging, the Daily Kos, and even (here it comes) FreeRepublic.
We may not be emblematic of the public as a whole, but I find people who don't actively seek their News to be generally ignorant of current events & basic civics. Witness Jay Leno's "Jaywalking" segment.
One thing not mentioned is the late night comics like Leno and Letterman. They have a hand in creating negative images of Bush, McCain, Palin,,,etc., by the biased jokes they tell.
I am for free speech. I prefer a positive approach (providing alternatives that solve problems) rather than a negative approach (giving up). I believe that Government should not be involved in controlling free speech. I also believe that there should be transparency between what a news organization says they are (non-biased)and what they really report.
I propose a news media rating system based on the model in use by the Motion Picture Association of America in rating movies. Every TV news organization, Newspaper, radio station, blogger, etc. could register to become a member. There would be two ways to register:
1. Partisan. For a small fee (to cover expenses) and the submission of a position statement anyone could register as a partisan. The position statement would be available for anyone to view on the organization's website. Talk radio like Rush, Hannity, Air America would fall into this category. Web-based partisan sites like Free Republic, Democratic Underground etc. would also fall into this category.
2. Journalistic News. To be certified in this category a news organization would open themselves up to scrutiny from the Association. This could be in the form of an “A-F” rating scale in terms of bias. The rank would appear as an icon on TV or web or print, or an announcement on the radio. Even the reporters could all be ranked by bias (most biased to least). The organization could contract with organizations like MRC and FAIR to provide evidence for the rating. Perhaps the political parties could appoint members to the review board.
With this scale, when people are reading, watching, or listening to a news program, they would know whether it is partisan or journalism. They could find out either the political position or the relative amount of bias of the source.
Once this idea is further developed and ready, then the steps outlined in the articles would help put it in place. News organizations could be boycotted and protested until they join. Political figures could refuse to be interviewed or appear on a broadcast until the news organization join.
I believe that both conservatives and liberals could support this idea. I believe this supports free speech. This keeps the government out of it.
First, before we do anything else, we need to force congress to rescind Al Gores’s telecommunications act of 1996. There will be no free press again in this country until that’s done.
If we boycott and bankrupt the so called American news agencies, they’ll only be sold outright to foreign owners (thanks to “free trade” and the telecomm act), who will not allow news to take proAmerican pro independent American pro indivdiual rights views at all. If its Saudis who buy it you’ll get pro Saudi pro islam pro shariah law news. If it Europeans you will get anti first world pro socialism views (because they have been bought out by the islamists), if its china, you’ll get chinese propoganda news.
In no way will you ever get anything that will reflect the heart of America and American values and ideals ever again.
The idea that our news will come from foreign companies or government is not repellent to our congress or the white house, and with so much foreign influence they are about to wipe America and American culture off the global map.
Somehow the NFL seems exempt from this rule.
http://www.dailymotion.com/video/k6KUDv1wzraWhwlBt1
Our current media bears little difference from the old Soviet Union.
20 years ago Russians I knew laughed at the media as it differed little from the country they escaped, they were conservative to the core and successful in America.
They told me how they lived in Russia and how when they were driving through neighborhoods in America that they couldn’t believe all of the houses. We have at least half the country now that doesn’t understand how lucky they are to live here and can do nothing but point out America’s faults.
I expect The Columbian to fold any day now. I understand that Clark County has become slightly more Conservative with the influx of unhappy Californians. Just wait until the Arizonians arrive! :)
Thanks!
MSM is just the DNC press corps.
I LOVE hearing of jobs cuts in their ranks.
Especially right before Christmas.
I think we should take a tip from that blogger who fed the hoax story to NBC and Fox re Palin being a diva, etc. When the truth came out, that it was all a lie, NBC (not sure about Fox) was humiliated and had to apologize.
We should organize some of the “good guy” bloggers and feed juicy erroneous stories to MSM and let them run go nuts spreading the lies. After everyone is saturated with the story, say, “Oh. Sorry. I lied. I made that up. It isn’t true.” Let them screw up a few times until they lose all credibility.
“How Mainstream Media Destroys Democracy, What To Do About It”
I figured out what “to do about it” some years’ back:
I turned off the tv. I don’t watch “network news” anymore. I don’t watch ANY tv anymore. I don’t even own a television.
I stopped reading papers like the New York Times. I wouldn’t read it if it was free (and it freely obtainable where I work).
I stopped reading the “mainstream newsmagazines”.
I don’t even listen to the radio news.
I get my news and “opinion” here, and from sites like The Washington Times. Works for me.
I undertook these steps on my own, and was surprised to find that they were in line with what Pat Buchanan recommended in “The Death Of The West” - something he called “secession from the modern culture”. I sense that many Freepers have done as much, and those who have done the most are those who have taken to homeschooling their own children.
In some ways, this “withdrawal” from the increasingly leftist “mainstream” culture might be compared to the separation that the Amish and [some of the] Mennonites maintain for themselves.
One wonders how _much_ cultural secession will occur, before the Left decides that the latter-day “separationists” must be brought back into line, by force if need be...
- John
What would Bill Ayers do? hmmmmmm....since his ilk is now in power i would say it is ok to ....oh i don’t know maybe plant a bomb or 4 in ABC, or at NBC or maybe the NY Times?
Just kidding of course but would you be considered a terrorist or a freedom fighter since you are fighting against the forces that are trying to destroy this country from within?