Saturday, May 05, 2007
You don't have to be a mainstream journalist to be a good journalism. In fact, I would argue that it hinders one from exposing things as well as one might otherwise. Now you can go off the other end like Fox News and spew propaganda, but the Fox model of lying to and insulting their voters is not the only way a "non-biased" media model can work.
For example, let's take congressional corruption. If you are a partisan democrat Reporter, you work really hard to nail Delay, Lewis, Renzi, Delay, Rove with all the sleazy things they did. You assemble facts, evidence, and write an article that is full of accurate facts that shows what sleazebags they are.
If you are a conservative operation, you mention that William Jefferson had cash in his freezer, and the FBI is taking a hell of a long time to do anything about it. All these stories are true. With a partisan press, these stories would get dug into deeper, the angles pushed harder.
Mainstream media often tries to prop up the institution of government. Sure, we will point out one crook, but not that the whole system is corrupt. We are part of that system. Conservatives in this country have so taken advantage of the system in place.
They know mainstream reporters will repeat their spin even if it isn't true. How is that helpful to informing our populace about anything? It's why Exxon-Mobil pays the big bucks to scientists to state that global warming is a joke. They don't really care one way or the other, they just need somebody with credentials for the reporter who has seen overwhelming evidence, and 99% agreement that global warming is real. They need a quote from the other side "for balance".
Balance? 35% of Americans in one poll last year still believed Saddam was behind 9/11. Should 35% of all people quoted on Iraq toe that line? Balance has become a swear word for me. The truth is not balanced. The sky is blue. It isn't pink with purple polka dots. We don't need both sides for that. The media doesn't give the polka dot equal time, or the Elvis is alive crowd, or the flat earth society. Yet, global warming skeptics paid for by corporations must get "equal time".
It's a value judgement, except I thought thr media didn't make those.
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