Posted on 03/17/2012 3:41:17 AM PDT by Kaslin
Writing in this space two months ago, I laid out the media advantage that President Obama has in his quest for reelection. According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, 32 percent of journalists say they are liberal, 53 percent moderate and just 8 percent conservative. Ask John McCain how the press treated him in 2008 if you want specifics on the tilt toward Obama.
A great illustration of media bias is the recent dustup over Sandra Fluke. She is the liberal activist trotted out by the Democratic Party to deflect the contraception issue away from the "church-state" controversy the White House was losing and into the more emotional "women's health" arena. Nancy Pelosi herself organized a press dog-and-pony show for Fluke, who portrays herself as a law student having a rough time paying for birth control pills. She wants the feds to pick up the tab through mandated insurance benefits even though the pills cost about $9 a month at places like Wal-Mart, and are distributed free at health clinics under Title Ten legislation.
But you won't find those facts being discussed much in the national media. No, for them, Fluke is a victim of a cruel system that wants to unduly burden American women.
Sure.
Of course, Fluke was handed an enormous gift by Rush Limbaugh when he made demeaning comments about her. Immediately, the committed left-wing media machine, led by the amazingly dishonest Media Matters website, cranked up two themes: that Limbaugh should be deported to Tonga, and that he is the real power behind the Republican Party.
MSNBC, which is now partnered with Media Matters in the quest to disseminate left-wing propaganda, went wild, and so, to a lesser extent, did other national media outlets. The story line is that because the Republican candidates did not call for Limbaugh to be sent to Guantanamo Bay, they endorsed his attitude toward Fluke. The analysis was so hysterical that it could have been a Jon Stewart bit, and in fact it was.
The bigger picture is this: Voters who do not pay close attention to public policy and political controversies are at the mercy of so-called "prevailing wisdom" -- that is, what they hear around town, from their friends, etc. As long as most of the media, including the entertainment industry, promote one particular candidate for president, that person will have a major advantage in November.
But informed voters know the fix is in, although there's little they can do about it. A Pew survey taken in January found that 67 percent of Americans believe there is bias in news coverage. They are right, and it is toward the left.
Few in the press are reporting the truth about Sandra Fluke. That is an indicator of what the American media have become, as well as what is likely to come as the election campaign unfolds.
A poor 30 year old ‘student’ that cannot afford enough contraception, yet can afford to be photographed frolicking about drunk in Barcelona with one of her boyfriends.
Gee golly, Bill......ya think???
LLS
A statistic which made me smile. Americans are not stupid. Only democRATs and the lame-stream (drive-by) media think Americans are stupid. The democRATs and the lame-stream are only correct about 33 percent being stupid.
The Bloviator STILL can't bring himself to say on the air that Obama and his policies are Marxist.....even after more than three years of this Usurper's threat to our country being right under his very nose.
So, his attempts at being the columnist with the mostest are just feeble. He's perpetually too late to the dance.....and therefore, his wordy blatherings are of no interest or value to me whatsoever.
Leni
not a BO’R fan....(blind squirrel/acorn type journalist)
and it doesnt take a rocket scientist to print this headline.
but at least he is not part of the Media who IS in the tank for the blessed messiah.
“According to a study done by the Pew Research Center, 32 percent of journalists say they are liberal, 53 percent moderate and just 8 percent conservative.”
Translation: moderate = liberal. So, 53 percent plus 32 percent equals 85 percent liberal. Let’s face it, those who took this poll and identify themselves as “moderate”, really arent. They’re liberals either being deceitful or ashamed of admitting who they really are.
The partisan and "nonpartisan" media establishment is dominated by aged, unrepentant 1960s Marxist-Alinsky campus spoiled brats and their bratty ideological issue. Their "candidate for president . . .will have a major advantage in November."
Partisan or "nonpartisan" their tactics consist solely of screaming "Nazi!", "Bigot!", "Racist!"; threats; and actual violence. Mau-Mauing, threats and actual violence.
It was a winner for the Left all during the silenced generation where those under attack had to yield the "issue" to make the threats stop. And the Left advanced another step. A kind of appalling dialectic where the conservative side had to yield virtually 100 percent.
The "Fairness Doctrine" is no more and conservative opinion can be broadcast and posted without the medium owners threatened with economic ruin.
IOW we have free speech now -- gee, more than 20 years!
I have been a steady listener to talk radio for decades and it is a fact that when modern talk radio exploded across the country the most common caller comment was "Wow! I didn't know others had the same opinions that I have!" (Late 1980s and early 1990s.)
I’m waiting for the next Dem activist to get in front of a bunch of congresscritters and declare that their lives are ruined because someone doesn’t provide them with free beer. That is about as appropriate as asking for free birth control pills. Yes, one will start sobbing and shrieking about the sad and hopeless students who have no beer for this weekend’s kegger.
the remainder are just outright stupid and should never vote.
“Partisan or “nonpartisan” their tactics consist solely of screaming “Nazi!”, “Bigot!”, “Racist!”
The hypocrisy of liberals is always proven by the projection of their flaws onto conservatives.
Going to the mainstream media for news is like going to Joseph Goebbels for truth about Jews.
NONE claim to be Socialist or Communist? Interesting.
Why don’t we all get free toilet paper?
Bill actually made sense for once - he must be stealing thoughts from FR...
Ted Baxter is part of this biased MSM that is misinforming the American people on a daily basis. Fox News is not news, it’s infotainment.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.