Letters to the Editor
rollotomasi
Published Letters: 187
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I’m with DCLaw1
[Read the article: Chris Wallace: Probing, hard-nosed journalist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Asher Steinberg:
If you're a conservative, or what passes for a conservative these days, you can get your views on the world confirmed by watching Fox News; if you're a Democrat, especially an Obama fan, you can do the same by watching MSNBC. If you want to watch something a little less biased, you can watch CNN.
Oh, really? Do the names Joe Scarborough and Tucker Carlson ring a bell? What about Chris Matthews going on forever about Rudy Giuliani and John McCain’ manly leadership qualities, and a history of doing the same regarding Bush, particularly in his tailhook-landing-on-aircraft carrier days? Or how about Phil Donahue having been required to abide by panelist quotas that favored the pro-Iraq war side of the issue?
While we’ve had quite a few discussions around here lamenting the demise of the traditional media - and I’m putting MSNBC and CNN in this basket - on many different levels, Fox News is a completely different kettle of fish whose very reason for existence is to act as the propaganda wing of neo-conservatives, far right-wingers and the Republican Party that owes much of its (fortunately currently declining) influence to smearing anything Clinton for the last dozen or so years.
MSNBC and CNN want the outcome to fall roughly 50%-50% politically regardless of where the facts of a particular issue lay while Fox News wants the outcome to fall squarely on the neo-con, right-wing side and are willing to manipulate the facts to accomplish this result. Both approaches are damaging, but one is clearly more manipulative and dangerous, and it should be noted that Fox News’s influence has moved the media's 50%-50% equation markedly to the right. We see the intellectual if not emotional casualties of Fox News here on a daily basis.
So then why is Hillary Clinton sidling up to Fox News while threatening boycotts of MSNBC based on a single, albeit tasteless, remark that was roundly condemned by its management, who then promptly suspended the reporter who made it? There's a fairly big difference of scale here, between a commentator putting his foot in his mouth one night and a full-time propaganda outfit. While I agree (and have commented more than once) that Hillary Clinton often doesn't get a fair shake in the traditional media, I'm not buying into all this outrage against David Shuster while ignoring a network that is likely the root of Clinton's existing problems with the media, including anything Shuster has dished out. And Shuster was subbing for Tucker Carlson, of all people!
Fox News often has been the ignition switch for right-wing smear campaigns to gain national attention. As an example of this, when Fox News started spreading that stuff about Obama attending a madrassa, most of us here thought it ridiculous, saw it quickly refuted on CNN, and saw Obama repeatedly affirm his Christian beliefs. So that was that, case closed, nice try Fox, right? Well, in the past week I’ve spoken to two people at different times who told me they like Obama, but they are hesitant about his Muslim connections. (Btw, I don’t believe they are the type that hate other religions or their practitioners, but have fallen for the scare tactics tying terrorist tactics to a religion. Islamofacism, anyone?)
I don’t know if these people watch Fox News or not, but after the network “catapulted the propaganda,” all traditional media outlets had to deal with this total hogwash. This stuff works, and it works only because Fox News is perceived by enough to be a legitimate news organization that the more legit organizations have to deal with the issues they fabricate out of whole cloth. I guess the other point here too is that Hillary Clinton is not the only candidate getting screwed by the media.
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Special Bonus, Huh?
[Read the article: Chris Wallace: Probing, hard-nosed journalist]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]End of Gannon's email:
Glenn, I'd be happy to send you a copy of my book, "The Great Media War: A Battlefield Report" www.thegreatmediawar.com for review and comment.
Cheers,
Jeff Gannon
Member, National Press Club, Society of Professional Journalists and Online News Association.
He's certainly not lacking for credentials. -- GlennGreenwald
For the low, low price of $793, anyone here could be the proud owner of these very same impressive credentials:
- National Press Club - $653 (first year) - http://npc.press.org/join/categories.cfm#associate
- Society of Professional Journalists - $90 per year - http://www.spj.org/whyjoin5.asp
- Online News Association - $50 per year - https://www.123signup.com/servlet/SignUpMember?PG=17208182200&P=1720800
Funny, Glenn.
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"... I opened the window, and in flew Enza"
[Read the article: Jihadis throw a wild bash over the Protect America Act]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Well said, Glenn. We've been pleading all along for the Democrats to make a blankity-blank argument to inform and change public opinion rather than hiding behind what they perceive - or more correctly, misperceive - it to be. And they should invite Bush/Cheney and the lockstep Republicans to make an argument back rather than hiding behind absurd fear-mongering, generalities, and platitudes.
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@ DCLaw1
[Read the article: The Leader isn't protecting us and keeping us safe]
[Read more letters about this article: Here]Heckuva serial. Thanks for that.