Fair and Balanced? Two long-time press critics discuss mainstream media

http://www.splcenter.org/intelligenceproject/ip-index.html

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RENDALL: Like Norman said, there is a market for bigotry. In the New York City area, Bob Grant had the biggest local talk radio show in the history of the country during the 1990s, a million listeners a week, and the politicians lined up to get on. Here's a guy who refers to black people as “savages” and “beasts,” who once called on the New York Police Department to take machine guns to a gay pride parade and, quote, “mow them down.” Yet Gov. Pataki, New Jersey Gov. Christie Todd Whitman, Alfonse D'Amato , and Rudolph Guiliani lined up to get on his show. This shows how we have a culture that tolerates these politicians tolerating racism. And it shows how Grant was striking a note with a lot of his listeners.

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RENDALL: Coverage of the war with Iraq shows another kind of bias. Look at all the opinion-shapers on national television in the run-up to the war, and there were only two people with even tenuous connections to the anti-war movement. Now there is one: Bill Moyers, on public television. Phil Donahue recently lost his show at MSNBC, and it wasn't because he wasn't getting the ratings, as NBC said. A secret NBC memo that was leaked regarding Donahue's show said that they were really afraid that Donahue was an awkward, difficult face in times of war. They were afraid that the Donahue show would be seen as a gathering place for the antiwar movement while their rivals were waving the flag. So NBC knows the game is rigged. It isn't really about fair and balanced journalism. It's about getting behind the government effort in Iraq.

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Instead, you've had CNN sponsoring Buchanan, Disney sponsoring Bob Grant , and now, MSNBC sponsoring Michael Savage. Remember, MSNBC is not an avowedly right-wing news channel, but they have just given a show to Savage, who is on record calling child victims of gunfire in the inner city “ghetto slime,” referring to non-white countries as “Turd World” nations, calling homosexuality perversion, asserting that Latinos breed like rabbits, and referring to Jerry Springer as “hook-nosed.” He got his national show within days of when they fired Donahue. This indicates that hatred of “Turd World” immigrants is a viewpoint that MSNBC is more comfortable with than criticism of the war. This is a microcosm of the larger problems in the American media.

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RENDALL: Think about it. Barbara Ehrenreich , Cornel West , Norman Solomon - these are the voices that represent progressive movements in the way that Buchanan and Limbaugh and Hannity represent the conservative movement. But they're totally missing from television. Why doesn't Michael Moore have a national show? Instead, what we get on these television talk shows is a debate between bona fide movement conservatives and the center.

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RENDALL: You find the same thing across the board. With African Americans, you get Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, Armstrong Williams, Larry Elder and Ken Hamblin. The most prominent media pundits who are gay include Camille Paglia, Norah Vincent and Andrew Sullivan. It is hard to find progressive blacks or gays or lesbians in any position of punditry in our national mainstream media. I would say that this even extends to Jews, another generally very progressive voting constituency. We see a plethora of Jewish neo-conservatives and conservatives, but it's getting harder and harder to find a progressive or even liberal Jewish voice in our national media.

"Like Norman said, there is a market for bigotry. "

If you pay careful attention, the right wing media likes to play on fear. It's almost laughable that a year or two ago, Rush, while hawking for "Sleep Number" beds, mad the commercial a parody of his program by starting out the spot with : "My friends your sleep is under attack!" All right wing shows imply to the average viewer that they, their liberties are under attack from the feared liberals.

They insinuate that there is an organized liberal conspiracy to take away from their listeners (mostly white, mostly male) money, rights, liberty, you name it and give it to undeserving welfare slackers who want nothing more than a government handout (code word: entitlements)

They tell you first to fear and then imply who you should fear: anybody who isn't white!

They essentially sell their Culture of Fear and Loathing with the philosophy that you should fear, hate and seek to disenfranchise and destroy anyone who isn't YOU. "If thine eye offends thee, pluck it out" is the distilled version, and they educate their listeners to be offended at everything and anything.

Fear and Loathing is their currency. But, you can also watch local and national news and see the same commerce in Fear and Loathing.

What is the question not generally asked?

WHY?

Why do al these media organs sell Fear and Loathing? Well, the answer came to me from a friend who works at NBC New York, in production:

Fear and Loathing keeps you in front of the TV or Radio. Consider: At the time of holidays, watch the news with a discerning eye. What do they report heavily? Increased police presense on the roads, accidents, death, altercations, robberies, crime, death, death, death, capped with a warm 'n fuzzy that relates, in some way to the family gathered around home and hearth. The message is "Stay home and keep the TV on!" They don't want you away from that TV for one femtosecond. That TV is your family's best friend and a critical and vital part of your holiday life and celebration. Baseline is that they want you there to watch commercials and buy the crap. That is their raison d'etre.

Everything else is lagniappe.

The Squawking Heads on radio and TV have merely taken this gameplan, knowing well the desires of corporate, and expanded upon them. Demagoguery sells and keeps people listening. The Cycle of Fear and Loathing demands constant maintenance and upgrade. One must refresh regularly to keep one's Fear and Loathing at optimum levels and The Squawking Heads and their corporate masters know that well.

Fear and Loathing sells, bigtime. Fear and Loathing rivets you to the radio or the screen and keeps you there. They know this and know well the numbers associated with this and won't soon change their tack.

Nice summation of the problem.

Now, a question.

Should Liberals/Progressives use the same tactics?

That link just goes to "Intelligence Report" and many other links, not just one.

I just realized the article doesn't have a direct link. Click on the link above, then click on Intelligence Report (first on the list). Then scroll down to Defending Dixie and click on that.

I have no idea why there is no visible direct link to specific articles.