We Can Make the Media More Accountable

A proposal for change follows the excerpts below.

Media Matters for America, Jamison Foser

Media Matters

At this point, you'd have to be blind to miss the pattern. Every prominent progressive leader who comes along is openly derided in the media as fake, dishonest, conniving, out-of-the-mainstream, and weak. We simply can't continue to chalk this up to shortcomings on the part of Democratic candidates or their staff and consultants. It's all too clear that this will happen regardless of who the candidate or leader is; regardless of who works for him or her…

Meanwhile, any conservative who comes along is going to be praised for being strong and authentic and likable.

The Horse’s Mouth, Greg Sargent, The American Prospect

PUBLIC EDITOR PUNTS ON TIMES'S BILL AND HILLARY ARTICLE

It's awfully tiresome that this needs to be pointed out yet again, but note the same old refusal of the media to acknowledge its own role in shaping voter perceptions of our political figures. Calame says the relationship will be "on many voters minds," but if anything, the roar of criticism of the article shows quite clearly that voters don't want it to be on their minds. It will be forced onto their minds by the big news orgs, who have been feasting on the Clintons' marriage for well over a decade with all the restraint of belching guests at a Roman banquet while rarely doing more than nibbling daintly at the edges of Republican unions.

BuzzFlash.com

How a Typical New York Times Article is Really Bushevik Propaganda Disguised as News (the quote below is from an NYT article, comments in parentheses are from BuzzFlash—Caro)

Mr. Bush gradually grew more comfortable with offering talks to a country that he considers the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism, and whose president has advocated wiping Israel off the map. Mr. Bush's own early misgivings about the path he was considering came in a flurry of phone calls to Ms. Rice and to Stephen J. Hadley, his national security adviser, that often began with questions like "What if the Iranians do this," gaming out loud a number of possible situations. (This is an unlikely scenario for the man who read “My Pet Goat” with an elementary school classroom for several minutes after being informed of 9/11, until his handlers were prepared to tell him what to do. But the NYT swallows it hook, line and sinker. Also notice how again a “spin” sentence is presented as fact, “Mr. Bush gradually grew more comfortable with offering talks to a country that he considers the No. 1 state sponsor of terrorism, and whose president has advocated wiping Israel off the map.” Is the second part of the sentence the NYT piling on the WH “spin” or do they know that was in Bush’s head? It appears to be an additional point that the NYT added, but may or may not be a factor in the alleged decision making by Bush.)

If it were John Kerry being discussed above, these reporters would be talking about a FLIP FLOP. Bush, however, is portrayed as a thoughtful leader who "grows comfortable" with the thought of taking a different tack on Iran.

The Grit, Peter Daou

Calame's Calumny

One thing is clear in this ongoing struggle between progressive bloggers and the establishment media: GOP-propping and Dem-trashing is an addiction that won't be relinquished without a fight. It's not a stretch to think that Deborah Howell, Chris Matthews, Tim Russert, The Note, David Broder, and other stalwarts of the DC media elite share Joe Klein's disdain for the online community. We are the hated enemy and, truth be damned, they won't let a bunch of creatures from the fever swamp dictate who and what they should write about.

Fine. If it's a fight they want, it's a fight they're surely getting. But as netroots power grows and reality continues to undermine the Bush-loving fantasies of these so-called 'journalists', it isn't hard to guess who will come out on top.

TPM Café, Stirling Newberry

Two Streams

(T)here is a growing body of evidence that the public has become more and more immune to the traditional media, and that, in fact, we have two streams of discourse. The media/public discourse, and the private discourse. Each, in its own way exists in a kind of bubble, ignorant of the realities of the other.

If you're ready for change, read this.

Carolyn Kay
MakeThemAccountable.com