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Is the American Press Corrupt?
Townhall.com ^ | April 10, 2010 | Bill O'Reilly

Posted on 04/10/2010 6:26:25 AM PDT by Kaslin

While many Americans believe the national press is biased toward the left, a more damning charge is now being debated: Are U.S. media outlets actually corrupt? Those who believe they are point to the cheerleading of Barack Obama's presidential campaign and to the recent reportage on the Tea Party movement.

As you may know, the Tea Party people have been branded in some media quarters as a bunch of racist, far-right loons. TV commentators on MSNBC and CNN have actually called the Tea Party folks dirty names on the air -- all in an attempt to diminish the growing influence of the movement.

But a funny thing happened on the way to the gutter. Regular Americans have apparently opted to decide for themselves about the Tea Party, and the polling is interesting. Despite all the rhetorical madness on TV, a new Gallup poll says 28 percent of Americans support the movement, 26 percent oppose it and 38 percent have not yet formed an opinion about support or opposition. Thus, there is a persuadable factor in play, and that is what the liberal media fear the most.

This time last year, there was no Tea Party. Now, it is perhaps the most vibrant political force in the country. If millions more Americans sign on, liberalism will take a huge hit. By the way, Gallup also reports that the Tea Party movement breaks down this way: 49 percent Republican, 43 percent Independent and 8 percent Democratic. The issue that binds the Tea Party folks together is fear of big government.

When the Founding Fathers granted the press privileges beyond those of everyday citizens, they did so with some trepidation. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams, opposites in political thinking, both loathed the early press in America because it often operated irresponsibly; that is, it was not unusual for money to change hands in the production of a news story.

But Jefferson, Adams and their peers understood that the people needed information in order to make informed decisions at the voting booth. Therefore, the greater good was served by allowing a free press in the hope that the honest journalists would outnumber the dishonest ones.

Today, we have a problem in America. Entire news operations are devoting themselves not to reporting events honestly, but to promoting a certain ideology or party. The Fox News Channel, where I work, has been accused of this. But a study by the Center for Media and Public Affairs found that FNC's coverage of the 2008 presidential campaign was tough on both candidates, while most other news networks blatantly favored Obama.

Now we have a systematic media campaign to demean the Tea Party movement. At first, organizations like The New York Times ignored the movement. Then they mocked it. Neither worked. As the rallies grew larger, the liberal press got meaner. There was little reporting being done -- it was all about bashing.

This isn't bias; it's corruption. News organizations are supposed to be watchdogs, not attack dogs. The Tea Party should be scrutinized like every other political movement. But that's not what's going on here. A large part of the national media is out to destroy these folks. And that's flat-out wrong.


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial
KEYWORDS: cultureofcorruption; drivebymedia; drivebys; enemedia; foxnews; liberalmedia; mediabias; msm; nytimes; obama; oreilly; popaganda; rhetoricalquestion
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1 posted on 04/10/2010 6:26:25 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin

Does the Pope sh^t int he woods?


2 posted on 04/10/2010 6:27:22 AM PDT by Minn (Here is a realistic picture of the prophet: ----> ([: {()
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To: Kaslin

Two words.

Hell Yes.

Its frightening.


3 posted on 04/10/2010 6:28:37 AM PDT by GoCards ("We eat therefore we hunt...")
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To: Kaslin

Duhhh. They are Socialist shills.


4 posted on 04/10/2010 6:28:46 AM PDT by screaminsunshine (i)
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To: Kaslin
Is the American Press Corrupt?

Is there tea in China?

5 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:13 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: Kaslin

funny 0’pinhead should bring this up....


6 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:14 AM PDT by gunnyg (THINK: NOVEMBER TOO LATE???/!!!)
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To: Kaslin

Does Charlie Daniels play a mean fiddle?


7 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:18 AM PDT by Tribune7 (Only stupid, racists people support Obama.)
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To: Kaslin

the MSM like common dung beetles....wander aimlessly, head in the sand....moving backward...while pushing their crap and hoping it sticks to something.....©

8 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:21 AM PDT by Vaquero (BHO....'The Pretenda from Kenya')
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To: Kaslin

Yes. Next question.


9 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:23 AM PDT by BigCinBigD (!)
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To: Minn

Are sharks jumped by Arthur Fonzerelli in the ocean?


10 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:38 AM PDT by MrEdd (Heck? Geewhiz Cripes, thats the place where people who don't believe in Gosh think they aint going.)
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To: Minn; neverdem; narses

No. The American press is corrupt ....

/sarchasm = that gaping whole between a liberal and the truth...


11 posted on 04/10/2010 6:29:39 AM PDT by Robert A Cook PE (I can only donate monthly, but socialists' ABBCNNBCBS continue to lie every day!)
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To: Kaslin

“If it bleeds, it leads”

That alone should explain a lot.

They are mastodons stuck in a tar pit.


12 posted on 04/10/2010 6:30:06 AM PDT by Eye of Unk ("In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth becomes a revolutionary act" G.Orwell)
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To: Kaslin

At those rare times when O’Reilly is not self-promoting, he makes the occasional good point.


13 posted on 04/10/2010 6:31:53 AM PDT by paterfamilias
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To: Kaslin

Major ROFLAMO! Duh!

More like Propoganda machines.


14 posted on 04/10/2010 6:32:07 AM PDT by jedi150
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To: Kaslin

Trick question right?


15 posted on 04/10/2010 6:32:58 AM PDT by tiredoflaundry (I will not be silenced. I WILL REMEMBER IN NOVEMBER)
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To: Kaslin
Despite all the rhetorical madness on TV, a new Gallup poll says 28 percent of Americans support the movement, 26 percent oppose it and 38 percent have not yet formed an opinion about support or opposition

He left out this even more important poll:
Tea Party 48% Obama 44%
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/2488174/posts

16 posted on 04/10/2010 6:32:59 AM PDT by SmokingJoe
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To: Kaslin
75 percent of the problems this country faces would not exist except for the corrupt media.

Most people are just waking up to the fact that we have lived in a mediacracy for the last 50 years.

17 posted on 04/10/2010 6:33:00 AM PDT by marktwain
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To: Kaslin
"watchdogs, not attack dogs"

Good sign material there for when we finally protest them.

18 posted on 04/10/2010 6:33:41 AM PDT by AGreatPer (Impeach Obama)
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To: Kaslin
Yes, they are corrupt. They were corrupted when they cease to be the watchdogs of all government agencies and elected officials, and decided to side with one ideology over another.

The fact that there are many scandals on the order of Watergate or more that aren't even being covered by the MSM shows that ideology trumps the news.

19 posted on 04/10/2010 6:34:27 AM PDT by kosciusko51
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To: Kaslin

Thanks Bill for the “enlightening” information. Now what are you and your number one rated show going to do about it?


20 posted on 04/10/2010 6:35:54 AM PDT by sydbas
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