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Monday, January 23, 2006
A Lot Of Alliteration From Anxious Anchors Placed In Powerful Posts
Yet another example of the biggest problem in our country today:
It's a good and necessary read, and I recommend you follow the link, but in a lot of ways it's just Example #8,473,916 of the biggest problem in our country today: Our media are part of the power structure.
I get as cranked off as anyone when ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc., etc., etc., etc., leave out or distort inconvenient facts or even straight-up lie, let alone when they start rattling off Republican talking points as if they aren't made up of candy floss and dustbunnies. But I think I now have a solution. It's a radical one, I admit, but give it a chance.
Make it a Democratic talking point that the Corporate Media cannot be trusted because they're In On It.
Tell people, "News agencies around the world report facts, figures, cause and effect. They tell you the truth. But, regarding [insert appropriate story here], CNN [for example] flat-out lied. Why did they lie? Because they are part of the power structure. It is in the interests of the owners of CNN to further the radical agenda put forth by the Bush administration and the Republican party. The majority of Americans believes differently. But they are trying to frame the argument so that it appears that their positions have support when they doesn't, quash debate by presenting speculation, innuendo, and flat untruths as accepted truth, and gloss over inconvenient arguments against their positions, based on -- what a concept! -- actual facts, that have, time and again, proven to be correct.
"The Corporate Media lie to you, to protect themselves and the President's radical agenda.
"We call on members of the media to present the truth whenever and wherever possible. Facts, figures, sources, data easily checked over the internet. This is your country at stake here. They are trying to lull all of us into accepting un-American ideas; they are presenting these ideas as necessary to preserve our way of life. They care nothing for our way of life; they care only for their own profit.
"Cronkite and Murrow would be ashamed."
Now, I realize that this is a little nutso. But, really, what are the media outlets going to do? Not have the Dems on? They already barely have them on as it is, and half the time it's Joe "DINO" Lieberman or Joe "Grrr Snarl Roll Over Beg" Biden.
No matter what Democrats say or do, Republicans will have free rein to demonize them -- and, if they don't bother, the media (especially Fox and CNN, but basically anyone besides Keith Olbermann) will be happy to do it themselves. They're protecting their corporate gravy train, or their laughable sources.
They cannot be trusted.
Any Democratic strategy which does not count the major media outlets as part of the enemy camp is doomed to failure. So we might as well start attacking now. Who knows -- some of them might rediscover shame, and start telling the truth once in a while.
Summary: Numerous media outlets repeated without challenge White House senior adviser Karl Rove's defense of President Bush's warrantless domestic surveillance program, in which Rove falsely claimed that "some important Democrats clearly disagree" with the proposition that "if Al Qaeda is calling somebody in America, it is in our national security interest to know who they're calling and why." In fact, no leading Democrat has said that it is not in our interest to monitor Al Qaeda's communications.
It's a good and necessary read, and I recommend you follow the link, but in a lot of ways it's just Example #8,473,916 of the biggest problem in our country today: Our media are part of the power structure.I get as cranked off as anyone when ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox, the New York Times, the Washington Post, etc., etc., etc., etc., leave out or distort inconvenient facts or even straight-up lie, let alone when they start rattling off Republican talking points as if they aren't made up of candy floss and dustbunnies. But I think I now have a solution. It's a radical one, I admit, but give it a chance.
Make it a Democratic talking point that the Corporate Media cannot be trusted because they're In On It.
Tell people, "News agencies around the world report facts, figures, cause and effect. They tell you the truth. But, regarding [insert appropriate story here], CNN [for example] flat-out lied. Why did they lie? Because they are part of the power structure. It is in the interests of the owners of CNN to further the radical agenda put forth by the Bush administration and the Republican party. The majority of Americans believes differently. But they are trying to frame the argument so that it appears that their positions have support when they doesn't, quash debate by presenting speculation, innuendo, and flat untruths as accepted truth, and gloss over inconvenient arguments against their positions, based on -- what a concept! -- actual facts, that have, time and again, proven to be correct.
"The Corporate Media lie to you, to protect themselves and the President's radical agenda.
"We call on members of the media to present the truth whenever and wherever possible. Facts, figures, sources, data easily checked over the internet. This is your country at stake here. They are trying to lull all of us into accepting un-American ideas; they are presenting these ideas as necessary to preserve our way of life. They care nothing for our way of life; they care only for their own profit.
"Cronkite and Murrow would be ashamed."
Now, I realize that this is a little nutso. But, really, what are the media outlets going to do? Not have the Dems on? They already barely have them on as it is, and half the time it's Joe "DINO" Lieberman or Joe "Grrr Snarl Roll Over Beg" Biden.
No matter what Democrats say or do, Republicans will have free rein to demonize them -- and, if they don't bother, the media (especially Fox and CNN, but basically anyone besides Keith Olbermann) will be happy to do it themselves. They're protecting their corporate gravy train, or their laughable sources.
They cannot be trusted.
Any Democratic strategy which does not count the major media outlets as part of the enemy camp is doomed to failure. So we might as well start attacking now. Who knows -- some of them might rediscover shame, and start telling the truth once in a while.
Comments:
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I've been pushing the exact same phrase (albeit less articulately): It's not "liberal media", it's "corporate media", and the Dems need to use that phrase over and over and over again just like the Republicans do.
I think it has the added benefit of being more logical than liberal media, because the media has a much larger financial stake in being corporate than it does in being liberal.
I think it has the added benefit of being more logical than liberal media, because the media has a much larger financial stake in being corporate than it does in being liberal.
Joe "Grrr Snarl Roll Over Beg" Biden.
Sweet! Good one. I'll use that more often to describe him (if I cared to even talk about him).
Surburban Gorgilla and I were talking about this at Eschacon and how democrats and liberals who go on those shows are pushovers and when they do have someone who ISN'T they never invite them back.
Whereas they have agressive Repubs on all the time, even crazy discredited ones.
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Sweet! Good one. I'll use that more often to describe him (if I cared to even talk about him).
Surburban Gorgilla and I were talking about this at Eschacon and how democrats and liberals who go on those shows are pushovers and when they do have someone who ISN'T they never invite them back.
Whereas they have agressive Repubs on all the time, even crazy discredited ones.
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