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for the Mainstream Media? 11/11/2002 As a media bias activist, I began to ponder if there was a message hidden within the vote for the mainstream media. It is well known that a majority of reporters and TV anchors are of the Democratic persuasion. The fact that they use their positions to push forward and, in effect, campaign for Democratic candidates and policies is the entire basis of complaints of liberal media bias. Surely the mainstream media could learn a thing or two from the voice of the people. Here, then, are some points I suggest media folk attend to: We're getting smarter about media bias, and are not as easily manipulated. Media behavior during the 2000 election recount was so abominable that it turned normally quiet, untroublesome folk into activists. Since then, much has been published about the problem of media bias and we've been paying attention. We've become active in the discussion. We have learned to recognize the different forms of media bias and now we'd like to suggest that the media learn to recognize them too. Clean up your act and start presenting all sides of an issue fairly. It really is okay to do that. People are smart enough to decide for themselves. (Oops! Do I sound like a populist?) Many on the left don't believe the right wing should be allowed to get their message out at all. Witness this decidedly elitist quote from New York Times columnist Paul Krugman: "Talk radio and Fox News let the hard right get its message out to its supporters, while those who oppose the juggernaut stay home because they don't get the sense that the Democrats offer a real alternative." - Into the Wilderness, 11/08/2002 Let? LET??!! Hear this load and clear: If the mainstream media doesn't want to LET us know something, we have other ways of finding out and then spreading that knowledge around. The great unwashed are well able to change channels and now we are using computers with considerable skill. Your best, and really, your only choice is this: start presenting both (or all) sides of an issue equally - fair and square. We appreciate honesty. We are sick of people who are tricky and treacherous. Bin Laden and Al-Qaeda are tricky and treacherous. We don't like them. But even before we took much notice of terrorism, we had your dear President and Mrs. Clinton trying to get over on us: questioning the meaning of "is", pardons for votes, pardons for cash, carrying off furniture, making sure they got their "gifts" before Senate rules kicked in, ad nauseum. And there was Vice-president Gore and his ever-changing reality. For Al Gore, the truth was never something that could be pinned down. His quest to "find" votes during the 2000 Florida recount is another example of perceived trickiness. Senators "Treacherous Tom" Daschle and "Tricky Ricky" Reid set a poisonous precedence when they flattered and bribed Judas Jeffords into turning "Independent", thus handing them control of the Senate. Do all Democrats follow the motto "Win at any cost"? The last minute switcheroo of Senatorial candidates on the New Jersey ballot and the Minnesota memorial service turned romp 'em, stomp 'em political rally carried that same whiff of trickiness. I'm convinced that the reason for President Bush's continuously high approval rating is that he tells the truth. He's not a con man. He's not a manipulator. We trust him. As Dennis Miller said on the Tonight Show: "I think the thing I like most about him is that he's not Clinton." - 11/06/2002 For the mainstream media this renewed appreciation of honesty means that you have a long way to go to re-earn our trust. Our faith in what you tell us has been spiraling steadily downward for some time now. It is important to note that a half-truth is as good as a lie, so, once again, telling both sides of an issue is very important. We want President Bush to lead and we want Congress to help him. President Bush asked voters for a Senate and House that would work with him. Most of us agreed that that was necessary. It is time for a new tone in Washington and Americans are not paying their legislators to sit up there at the nation's capitol and obstruct. If the news media doesn't like that, too bad: You're not a branch of government. Of course, you are welcome to ignore all of this, but you do so at your own peril. Our patience has worn thin! Read more here: NY Times, Into the Wilderness, 11/08/2002 MRC CyberAlert, Dennis Miller: Bush "Makes Me Proud to be an American Again", 11/08/2002 When you feel your personal media bias tolerance gauge rising into the red zone, don't throw stuff at the TV screen! Send your suggestion to outrage@fairpress.org! Each week, one hideous example of media bias will be selected for closer examination. Hmmmmmm . . .
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