Today a friend and I were discussing the controversy that is stirring up between the Obama administration and the Fox Network Channel. I am not going to get into any discussions on if Fox is biased or not, if their reporting is "fair and accurate" or not. I think these arguments are childish and unrealistic. Any media outlet is going to reflect the political and ideological attitude of that media outlet's editorial staff and the political and ideological attitude of whoever owns or controls that media outlet. Media outlets are part of a free market economy, and privately owned or publicly traded, they're still in the private sector. If I put up an Internet Forum, and I invest in hardware and servers, my time, my effort, and my expense in bandwidth, I should have pretty much exclusive rights to publish more or less what I see fit on that site - filtered through whatever ideological or philosophical filter as I see fit. Expand that to a newspaper or TV network, and the same basic principle should still exist. The minute you say this ISN'T the case, for whatever reason, you might as well throw out the entire concept of "Freedom of the Press", so think this point through before you start arguing moral obligations to society or any other nonsense. As soon as some external force is telling a media outlet, ANY media outlet, what it should or shouldn't publish, think, broadcast or print, we're moving away from Freedom of the Press. There is NO gray here - it is non-negotiable, and if you would like to argue this with me on this particular point, really, just renounce your citizenship now and move to North Korea or Iran. So, this alone, in and of itself is an *excellent* point, a DAMNING point to the current position of the Obama administration, all by itself. But it goes beyond this.
For years, for DECADES, literally, conservatives complained about a hostile, liberal media. Ted Danson, Whoppi Goldberg, Alec Baldwin, Robin Williams, Rob Reiner, Bono and a host of other major motion picture and music industry artists have taken every opportunity to exploit their position of fame to influence national politics. Likewise, almost every media outlet and network, including the entire Turner Network empire, (who still has a huge part in CNN, for example) have had a clear preference for liberal politics. Newspaper and Television news is no different. Conservative Republicans have been largely relegated to AM talk radio and the Rush Limbaugh show for the last 30 + years. And, they have complained mightily about it.
The entire time, liberal DEMOCRATS have accused Republicans, with bemused, condescending tones, of being "alarmists, conspiracy theorists, and wingnuts". How ridiculous that any media outlet should be accused of having a bias to the left. It is completely irrational to propose such a thing.
Ironic then, that a SINGLE outspoken network, with a clear bias toward the opinions, ideologies and philosophies of the right, should prove so completely intolerable to the minds of liberals. Because face it, for the duration of the previous two Presidential terms, the left has been positively rabid in their hatred for Fox News Network. There is an extra spiteful place in the heart of most liberals where they save their most bitter venom, and that is where they keep their hatred for, as far as I can tell, 3 things. George W. Bush Jr., Dick Cheney, and Fox News Network. This is the holy trinity of unspeakable evil to Liberals - the GOP Father, Son and Holy Ghost (not necessarily in that order). There are a lot of things that liberals hate about conservatives. But few things raise their ire like these three.
And, they've pretty much got rid of at least two of 'em. That leaves only one, naggingly difficult issue to deal with. Fox News.
Now here is the thing, to me - the real kicker. The Obama administration has not been shy these past few days about their opinion on Fox News Network. They've gone so far as to say they are going to isolate Fox News from the administration. They're effectively declaring *war* on a media outlet, solely because they do not agree with the tone, philosophy or editorial content of that network. Let me put it another way. It would be the same thing as if Bush had said, "I am *only* going to deal with Fox News Network", which of course, would have had liberals *completely* up in arms.
"It isn't the same thing", I can hear the voices crying now.
It sure the !@*$ IS the same thing. The *exact* same thing. Name a presidential administration in the last 40 years that has publicly proclaimed that it would completely ostracize a single news media outlet because the administration disagreed with the editorial content and political philosophy of that media outlet. Oh. It is unprecedented. Of course it is. Because it is INCREDIBLY bad forum. Not, perhaps, as bad as accepting a Nobel Peace Prize for which you have no valid claim or right to - but still, pretty poor behavior for a Commander in Chief, none-the-less.
To me, there is only one way to interpret this. Conservatives, for the most part, are open to dialog, discussion, argument and debate. We probably welcome it, maybe even live for it. We believe in the Intel policy of "constructive confrontation". Passionate dialog leads to progress, leads to creative ideas, leads to innovation. We welcome opposing perspectives, and we're generally VERY confident (some might perceive it as arrogantly so) that our perspectives are rock solid and hard to rationally debate. When we're walking the walk we preach, I think this is the case, especially when we stick to economic conservatism and avoid the quagmire (this is a place where this overused word really applies) that is social conservatism. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to throw the liberals a bone here. For the last two Republican administrations, it has seemed that we were in bed with big corporations and preaching the same frightening social conservatism based on fundamentalist Christianity that are the two achilles heel's of the GOP. Don't get too smug, though, Democrats, your party is only better on this account because at least they *generally* avoid getting caught up in morality planks - although I'd remind you that Tipper Gore founded the PMRC, who brought Parental Warning Labels to the RIAA. At any rate, Republicans seem to welcome conflict.
Democrats would say they welcome open debate, dialog, and non-partisan discussion. But the fact is that if you *disagree* with Democratic political philosophies, it isn't long before you're being called one of "the lying liars" who tell lies. (Al Franken's version of using Soft Diplomacy with the Fox News Network. Thank God HE managed to steal his election... those dimpled chads had to be recounted for 6 months until he finally won). The truth of the matter is that Democrats make up as many lies about Republicans, about Republican policies, about Republican agendas, as Democrats make about Republicans. Liberal media buries stories, damning stories, about Democrats while endlessly seeking and pushing dirt on Republicans. They're all playing by the same handbook. Fox Network is *one* network - and the only one that leans right. This puts Fox Network at a terrible disadvantage - their difference of opinion, their spin on stories, is always going to stand in stark contrast to what almost the entire rest of the news media has to say on a particular subject.
I'm not exactly a Republican at this point, but the behavior of the Democrats ensures that I am certainly not anywhere near in alignment with the principles and attitudes of that party. I'm probably best described as a conservative or moderate libertarian. And from that perspective, I would be absolutely up in arms if a Republican presidential administration called out a single news network and absolutely REFUSED to engage with them. It is completely unacceptable behavior. Unequivocally. This is absolutely a horrible precedent for any administration regardless of political party to set. Reasonable citizens of the United States who believe in Freedom of the Press and the foundations of liberty that our forefathers set for our nation should make this opinion known to their administration. Democrat or Republican, it is your *duty* as a citizen to make certain that the Obama administration hears loud and clear that this is unacceptable behavior that will not be tolerated. If you are a Democrat, more is the responsibility *yours*. Not because you voted for him, but because you represent the ideals of your party - and those ideals should have no room for any behavior that threatens to censor and muzzle a free press.
Neverleft's Things to Think About
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Real Name: Bryan Kelly Gender: male Date of Birth: January 03, 1955 Member Since: June 14, 2007 Last Signed In: November 21, 2009 Profile Views: 690 Blog Views: 6083 The Pocket Taser. Soros, The bitter truth! The "islam" problem Not PC but funny. Immigration Bill From CNN National Debt Clock Pelosi's "Worst legislation ever" Swine Flu. Everybody Should Read This! Too Old For Trick or Treat? I'll Take My Ball and Go Home! June 07 July 07 August 07 September 07 October 07 November 07 December 07 January 08 February 08 March 08 April 08 May 08 June 08 July 08 August 08 September 08 October 08 November 08 December 08 January 09 February 09 March 09 April 09 May 09 June 09 July 09 August 09 September 09 October 09 November 09 
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Media Bias?
I didn't write this and do not know who did but it make a good point and I agree with it.Liberal versus Conservative Media Bias
1 comments from 1 users
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posted by
antiextremism
on Oct 22, 2009 at 02:51 PM
Face it Neverleft. EVERYBODY has an agenda. The problem with the Press is that they TOO have an agenda. Theoretically, the only agenda the press should have is to report the facts, instead of it being one big editorial in which sides line up and spew what they believe their targets want to hear, even if they don't believe it themselves. The Press has always had hidden agendas, it's just that now they don't really care if you know it.
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