Bias and the Main Stream Media
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Why is it that when Ken Starr was investigating Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon, there was never the outcry that Starr was a pervert who was only interested in obtaining salacious details to get front page headlines? Yet when Bill Clinton was being investigated by Starr, the echo of the media elite was loud and clear. Liberal media consultant James Carville actually got a book deal and published And The Horse He Rode In On. The book is still listed on Amazon.com. You can purchase it for a penny. Seriously, one American cent buy's the book. Personally I think the title alone would be off limits had a conservative wrote it. The book basically states that Carville hates Ken Starr. I thought Tea Baggers were the haters?
There's a couple of other books out there that have some serious title issues. Al Franken penned the attack tome "Rush Limbaugh Is A Big Fat Idiot". Can you imagine the hue and cry if someone on the right penned a book and titled it "Al Franken Is Probably Gay". I can say one thing. I wouldn't bother reading Senator Franken's book. The guy never once even got me to chuckle when he was on "Saturday Night Live". I think Franken's most famous skit ironically is that of the one man news crew. He wore a helmet with a satellite dish mounted on it. Had Franken gotten to interview Ronald Reagan in character.... now that would have been funny.
Liberal media bias? Look no further than the Boston Globe. Recently the Globe published front page photos of men in what appeared to be Americans in military uniform who were in the process of raping an Iraqi woman.
By Sherrie Gossett
© 2010 WorldNetDaily.com
Boston residents got more than they bargained for this morning when their copy of the Globe came complete with graphic photographic images depicting U.S. troops gang-raping Iraqi women. Turns out the story was completely bogus and the photos were taken from a pornographic website. The photos were handed to the Globe by a Boston City Councilor with an agenda.
Did the Globe even have the story vetted before it went to publication?
Newt Gingrich's $400,000 book deal while he was in Congress caused Media outrage! Senator Hillary Rodham's $8 million book deal elicited media praise!
When the Republicans took over control of congress in 1994, Peter Jennings said that this was not really a "mandate for change" ..."It's clear that anger controls the child and not the other way around," stated Mr. Jennings. "The voters had a temper-tantrum...The nation can't be run by an angry 2-year-old." So Americans voted and Jennings didn't like the outcome. Let the name calling begin.
Then there's Tom Brokaw being interviewed by Charlie Rose. Rose asks Brokaw "What do we know about Barack Obama?" Brokaw's answer short and sweet. "There's a lot we don't know about Barack Obama." Well Mr. Brokaw shouldn't you have been doing your job and finding out?
ROSE: I don't know what Barack Obama's worldview is.
BROKAW: No, I don't, either.
ROSE: I don't know how he really sees where China is.
BROKAW: We don't know a lot about Barack Obama and the universe of his thinking about foreign policy.
ROSE: I don't really know. And do we know anything about the people who are advising him?
BROKAW: Yeah, it's an interesting question.
ROSE: He is principally known through his autobiography and through very aspirational (sic) speeches.
BROKAW: Two of them! I don't know what books he's read. ROSE: What do we know about the heroes of Barack Obama?
BROKAW: There's a lot about him we don't know.
Katie Couric was busy asking Sarah Palin what her world view was.
COURIC: And when it comes to establishing your world view, I was curious, what newspapers and magazines did you regularly read before you were tapped for this — to stay informed and to understand the world?
PALIN: I’ve read most of them again with a great appreciation for the press, for the media —
COURIC: But what ones specifically? I’m curious.
PALIN: Um, all of them, any of them that have been in front of me over all these years.
COURIC: Can you name any of them?
PALIN: I have a vast variety of sources where we get our news.
I am thinking that maybe Sarah didn't want to answer the question. If she said she read The Alaskan Gazette would that have passed muster. Must she also have stated that she read the New York Times in order to establish her credibility with the liberal elite?
I look forward to November 2nd. I look forward to seeing the face of Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. Both these PMSNBCers rant each night and scream that the right is full of hate. Here's Olberamann's reaction to the election of Scott Brown as Senator from Massachusetts:
"In short, in Scott Brown we have an irresponsible, homophobic, racist, reactionary, ex-nude model, teabagging supporter of violence against woman and against politicians with whom he disagrees. In any other time in our history, this man would have been laughed off the stage as an unqualified and a disaster in the making by the most conservative of conservatives. Instead, the commonwealth of Massachusetts is close to sending this bad joke to the Senate of the United States."
How do journalists vote?
More than three out of four “elite journalists,” 76 percent, reported voting for Michael Dukakis in 1988, compared to just 46 percent of the voting public.
An even larger percentage of top journalists, 91 percent, cast ballots for Bill Clinton in 1992. That same year, only 43 percent of voters picked Clinton, who nevertheless won a three-way race.
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The news medias, on both sides, have become about entertainment. Not news.
Unfortunately, many in the public don't see beyond the scare tactics to the reality within the story.
Great points made here! Hopefully people will go to vote with their facts in line and a clear head. God help us if they don't!
It's true that there is bias on both sides of each issue. That is human nature. I guess I could do a Hub on the right wing domination of talk radio. I appreciate the comments and keep on hubbing people.
A great article Ravaged Nation! Indeed this worry is not just confined to USA. I follow mostly happenings in India (I live in Mumbai), USA (it is almost second home country for me) and UK etc. -countries where most of news one can get in English. You do mean bias of both types, I think? Every where one sees this phenomena of calling each other liberal, secular, conservative, republican or democratic etc. as if these terms are abusive. All it does is these basic values get degraded.
Are you not liberal and accommodating, democratic or republican etc. in actual sense of these words? Does any reasonable person not value these attitudes? Not all liberals, conservatives, republicans or democrats in politics or media and press are involved in this abusive game.
In India we now use a little better terms for such attitudes - pseudo-secular, vote bank politics or trp rating conscious- media and press. We should also start using terms pseudo-liberal, pseudo democratic, pseudo republican etc. to identify this bad elements. But finally will that help much accept getting further lost in abusive games.
Some thing is needed in whole democratic set up. Just now it seems the whole country -in fact whole such fabric in democratic world is lost in such abusive and divisive politics and activities, at least the main stream politics, media and press. Focus seems to be in not allowing other side space rather than building up a better society or trying to solve basic problems. I also plan to write some articles focusing on these issues. We need to do some thing more. Question is how?
I havnt watched the news in years and i only just read the LETTER TO THE EDITOR in the papers Its pretty much untrust worthy reporters
You are right on target with this Hub! The main steam liberal media is just an indoctrination channel for the left. That they report a balanced view of the news is a joke. Those on the left viciously attack Christians and conservatives with impunity and hypocritically claim to be compassionate and open minded. Liberals in this country remind me of those who blindly tow the party line as those in a dictatorship. Rather than civilly discussing opposing issues they often resort to smearing and demeaning their opponent. Of course when some one on the right does what they normally do they are mean spirited, ignorant and intolerant
Well, there are always those insane propagandists who think the left is the middle and the main stream media is fair and balanced - now there is PROOF (as if we need more proof) of the overwelming main stream media bias to the left.
singlmomat52 Level 2 Commenter 19 months ago
Many thought provoking points and questions! I hope that many will stop, think, question and research before they vote in the November elections. Well written.
Thank You!!