"Doomed... doomed, I tell ya... we'll never make it..."
Posted on 08/24/2009 4:39:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
If there is one constant among conservatives – from generation to generation – it is continued disgust with the liberal mainstream media. This is for good reason, which has rarely been more evident than today, as institutions like the Associated Press, the New York Times and major television networks cheerlead shamelessly for President Obama and his left-wing agenda.
But conservatives should stop fretting. The liberal media is doomed.
The media’s liberal bias exists because the individual practitioners who join journalistic institutions are overwhelmingly liberal. They decide to study journalism in college because they are idealistic and are intrigued by the notion of comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. They dream of filing Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative reports that do just that.
You’ll find your odd conservative in a given newsroom, but the newsroom’s dominant culture will almost always lean left because the lifers who have worked their way through the ranks are the true believers, and they are liberal to the core.
The culture of these institutions will never change, and that frustrates conservatives to no end, but it doesn’t matter. These institutions are dying – to be replaced by a more independent, entrepreneurial, small-d democratic model of journalism that is already emerging.
It’s ironic when you think about it, but liberal mainstream journalists depend on the largesse of their corporate masters to continue plying their trade. They score a staff position, join the newspaper guild, work their way through the beat structure and keep amassing annual pay raises and increases in vacation time. Your typical liberal journalist wouldn’t know the first thing about the revenue-generating side of the business. If anything, he or she went into journalism in part because of a deep distrust of people who sell things. They think it’s their job to protect consumers from all the salesman out there, because surely they are nothing but a bunch of scam artists.
When these journalists get laid off, most don’t know the first thing about approaching their career in an entrepreneurial fashion. They simply bemoan the disappearance of the sort of job they’ve always had.
That’s why the new media model is tailor-made for the entrepreneurial conservative – the hard-working individual who is willing to bear down, report and sell advertising or sponsorships to capitalize a low-overhead operation. The dinosaur institutions that sheltered liberal journalists, and fostered a culture hostile to conservatives, will be all but gone within five to 10 years. The new rules will not block entry by conservatives on the basis of ideology. Your opportunity to get in the game will be determined by your work ethic and your entrepreneurial prowess.
This is not to say there will be no liberal journalists. There are liberal entrepreneurs. What people like Arianna Huffington and Markos Moulitsas have accomplished with online media is impressive indeed. But no one mistakes Huffington Post or Daily Kos for anything other than what they are – left-wing web sites. By the same token, when people read Michelle Malkin’s Hot Air, everyone knows they’re getting news from a conservative perspective.
It’s all fair game, and everyone is welcome to play. But no longer will liberal journalists be able to pretend they are objective and hide behind old-line institutions.
Newspapers are the first element of the mainstream media to begin dying, but they won’t be the last. Newspapers are dying because their business model is preposterous, and they’re so steeped in self-important arrogance that they’ve been completely unwilling to change that model. They lay off reporters by the dozen while continuing to operate the printing presses and distribution systems that are relics of yesteryear. Most newspapers now have online editions, but few have figured out how to capitalize them – certainly not enough to fund the massive overhead that remains within their newspaper operations.
Radio and television don’t have the same cost-overhead issues facing newspapers, but their relevance will nonetheless be challenged by individuals who can harness the power of the web – who can report more quickly, more fairly, more accurately and more cost-effectively. This will reduce the value of television and radio advertising time, because people will increasingly understand there are more trustworthy alternatives.
I expect there will still be some large media institutions, but they will no longer dominate the game or set the rules. And the few dinosaur liberal journalists who remain will be held increasingly accountable by their new, emerging competitors. We already see this with sites like NewsBusters, which regularly lays to waste the interminable bias of old-liners like the AP.
Within 10 years, most liberal journalists will be forced into other lines of work. They will surely bemoan the loss of the institutions that once bankrolled their journalistic malpractice, but the rest of the nation will be better off for the change.
This is not to say we’ll be ushering in an era of conservative propaganda accepted as straight news reporting. The Sean Hannitys of the world are not going to be taken seriously as journalists. But conservatives who know how to report news, source information and present it in a timely fashion are already getting their chance, and will soon get it all the more so.
Conservatives would be wise, therefore, to stop whining about the liberal media and start getting in line to replace it – because its days are decidedly numbered.
Amen.
I’ve seen some H.R. out there on bailing them out!
I kid you not.
"Doomed... doomed, I tell ya... we'll never make it..."
too much wishful thinking. I’ve been hearing about dinosaur media for years and they’re still kicking
This assumes there won’t be attempts at silencing the conservatives. As we know, there are several movements to do just that. I’m not sure it will work but they will try.
But conservatives should stop fretting. The liberal media is doomed.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
I’ve been reading this for years. They never seem to die though.
what will happen to US media, is that its goign to follow the Europe-style media. Government funded and still as dominate as ever in spreading left wing lies
The Mainstream Media just ain’t who they used to be
ain’t who they used to be, ain’t who they used to be..
The fact that gets to me the most, is how tyhe LibMedia allways talking and acting like they are the voice of the young turks of future power....but most of that key grapic has been deserting them and theis Libcrap lie programs at an increasing rate..and guess whose audience numbers are growing for, in that demographic?...It ain’t Crap Matthews & OlberButtmunchs!
I agree with the wishful thinking sentiment.
Barack is their greatest achievement to date.
His is a total creation of the MSM.
The MSM control the talking points, the agenda, and the content.
But I really like the thought they are DOOMED.
No, it is not.
As long as the MSM is a major element in the “Progressive’s” push for power, they will find ways to prop it up. If it really starts to collapse, watch for a bailout. Or watch a power hungry billionaire buy it up and operate it a loss, for its influence.
Aspiring journalists also study journalism for another, more practical, reason.
The J-school curriculum is known to be the easiest at most college campuses. As a consequence, it attracts those students with the lowest SAT and ACT scores.
Fact.
i wonder...how did they get to be where they are?
why do the MSM, “higher” education, and so many other institutions tend left?
THAT’s what needs to be understood and fixed.
why do institutions tend left................?
Because the SRM has taken its place?
—”But I really like the thought they are DOOMED.”
**(From the article): “That’s why the new media model is tailor-made for the entrepreneurial conservative – the hard-working individual who is willing to bear down, report and sell advertising or sponsorships to capitalize a low-overhead operation. The dinosaur institutions that sheltered liberal journalists, and fostered a culture hostile to conservatives, will be all but gone within five to 10 years.”
++++++++++++
This sounds good to me. For the people that are wondering what’s taking so long - think about the dominance of NBC and CBS in the 1950s. Or how about the NYT? Those old venerable institutions are all but dead. People KNOW how incredibly biased they are. They cannot pretend to be objective news sources any longer.
On another note - I like the idea of enterpreneurs running a lean and mean new outfit - bit it’s a little disconcerting when news groups are biased (even biased to the Conservative side) - but don’t admit it openly. That’s just as bad as the left doing so. Only there are way more lefty journalists.
Which news groups are out there that are the most unbiased (in everyone’s view?)
What do people think of Politico? Or Newsmax (pretty Conservative, but not bad)?
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