Posted on 12/10/2002 7:11:22 AM PST by Quilla
The media is kind of weird these days," said Al Gore. Let us interpret that for you: There are some conservative voices getting through, and that's not at all what Gore and other liberal Democrats are used to. From birth, they expected a thoroughly liberal media: It was an entitlement. And now there are all these . . . interlopers (or "fifth columnists," about which more in a minute). In the weeks following the Republicans' surprise victory in the November election, there's been a whole lot of whining going on. Pardon us if we don't get teary-eyed over these charges of conservative media bias.
The former vice president went on to list "Fox News Network, the Washington Times, Rush Limbaugh — there's a bunch of them, and some of them are financed by wealthy ultra-conservative billionaires who make political deals with Republican administrations and the rest of the media." As WFB has pointed out, "Non-wealthy billionaires are presumably too busy trying to become wealthy billionaires to give much time to politics." Continued Gore, "Most of the media has been slow to recognize the pervasive impact of this fifth column in their ranks." No one could have said it more revealingly: that non-liberal media constitute a "fifth column," that is, a secret group of collaborators with the enemy, subverting the nation from within.
Tom Daschle, too, revealed his frustration, now that he has been returned to minority status. He went for a familiar Democratic target: Big Bad Rush, scourge of the Republic (though not of the Republicans). Daschle accused Rush Limbaugh of inciting crazies against him and other Democrats, comparing him to fundamentalist zealots abroad (you-know-who). You will remember that Bill Clinton, as the Oklahoma City federal building lay in ruins, took the occasion of a collegiate address to blame conservative talk radio for creating a climate in which mass murder can take place. It may have been the lowest moment of the Clinton presidency — and that's not to exclude anything that happened in hallways near the Oval Office.
Rush, as usual, got it right. In response to Daschle, he noted the new prominence of some conservative or right-leaning news outlets, and said, "Suddenly these liberal politicians have to fight in the arena of ideas . . . I'm sure Sen. Daschle would love it if nobody were out there" contradicting him on points of policy, but "that's not how free speech works."
Then there's the case of Fox News. It was Christmas morning — early — for Democrats when Bob Woodward revealed that Roger Ailes, the Fox chief, had sent President Bush a letter nine days after September 11, urging him, basically — in the language of Margaret Thatcher — not to go wobbly. He advised the president that Americans would be patient in this new war as long as they were confident that Bush, ultimately, would do the necessary.
Good advice. But wasn't this proof that Ailes was not a real newsman but a Republican party toady? Ailes had a (typically) smart answer to this: "I don't give a damn [for a start]. American citizenship is a big concept. If I had to give that up to be in journalism, I wouldn't do it. What I wrote was completely nonpartisan. I would have written the same letter to FDR after Pearl Harbor. If Bill Clinton had been president, I probably would have sent him the same memo."
Liberal critics enjoy listing the conservative outlets (or outposts, you might even call them): Fox, the Washington Times, the New York Post, the Wall Street Journal editorial page, Drudge. (It doesn't take long to go through them, which is why critics list them all the time.) Fine. How about a trade? We'll take the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Los Angeles Times, CBS, NBC, ABC (news and entertainment divisions, thank you very much), Time, Newsweek, NPR, PBS . . . And then there's the movies, the teachers unions, the universities . . .
Again: Pardon us if we don't tear up.
I don't think the Democrats fear Rush all that much.. What they fear is FOX. Rush and all the conservative talk radio hosts mostly appeal to the base. They draw and cater to the interests of the Right. Rush organizes the Rigth. He let the right know they were not a minority. But Rush does not make many converts. That is not the reason for his show. He is a radio home for the right. People raised as liberals do not tune in to Rush and become conservatives in any sizable numbers.
On the other hand FOX is a huge threat to the left and the media. Fox is reaching people who vote for Democrats. FoX is reaching young liberals. Fox by simply airing a fair an unbiased news channel is makeing converts. It will have a huge audience in a new Gulf war. It will keep a lot of it at the expense of ABC,CBS, NBC, CNN and CNBC.
Do you know why Ailes made such a big deal about both Greta and Paula? Do you know why he hired Geraldo? The logic is pretty good. How can Fox be made up of all right wing people if CNN hires his people. Ailes is mad cause CNN stole his star. And how can FOX be biased right if it hires people from CNN and CNBC. This lets the center and mildly left whatch FOX with an open mind. It is also imporant for people scanning channels to see familiar meida faces on FOX.
The Slogan of "We Report You Decide" and the appeal of "Unbiased Reporting" helps Fox garner a right wing base audience, but it also gets them a center left audience too.
What the Demorats are scared to death of is that FOX will continue to grow. That it will dominate the news business. That it will expose the Bias in the so called main stream media. What scared both the Democrats and the main stream media is that today's "main stream media" may soon be the FORMER main stream media.
That is indeed frigtening for all the left.
I think that the entire effort has been to group Rush with FOX. We know Rush is biased. He shouts it every day. He gives voice to the right. If the Democrats can paint FOX with the same brush as Rush, they can greatly reduce the effectiveness of FOX.
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.