If the 2012 election were held in the newsrooms of America and pitted Sarah Palin against Barack Obama, I doubt Palin would get 10 percent of the vote. However tempting the newsworthy havoc of a Palin presidency, I’m pretty sure most journalists would recoil in horror from the idea.
Mr. Keller, what you fail to address in this remark is the fact that "Sarah Palin" could be replaced by the name "Rick Perry", or "Michelle Bachmann" or "Herman Cain" or "Paul Ryan", or ANY social/fiscal conservative, and the media's vote would reflect the same percentage (and I think 10% is a stretch). Also, excuse me if I'm wrong, but is it the media's duty to "recoil in horror"? Aren't you supposed to be the epitome of impartiality? Isn't it your job to investigate and report facts, not personal feelings?
Your first two sentences sum up the reason why so many Americans, regardless of political affiliation, have lost faith in the mainstream/cable media, and why Palin's disdain resonates so loudly and broadly. You cannot be trusted to simply report the news. You have BECOME the news. You actively work to shape the direction of our country. Hard-news reporters overtly campaign for favored candidates and personally/corporately held political beliefs from every nightly "news" broadcast. This is journalism?
You go on to have a field day reconstituting the same old blather, building every Palin gaff into a mountain of outrage, including the umbrage of the reporters wasting their time chasing her around. As a media consumer, I don't care if your reporters are inconvenienced. Their job is to report the news, not be afforded the comforts and perks of opera divas. Just shut up. The news is NOT about YOU.
You trot out Palin's lack of experience completely oblivious to the fact that Obama has even less experience, and yet you championed him all the way to the White House. Your bias is breathtaking in its scope, and your insistence that this blanket bias is "journalism" boggles the mind of many Americans.
You don't get it, Mr. Keller. The mainstream media has forsaken the trust given to it by the people. We're angry. We need a vibrant, impartial press that is above the clamoring and caterwauling of the political process. You, and the rest of the mainstream/cable media, are not providing that. I think we all mourn the loss of a once respected institution.
Truth be told, I doubt that journalism has ever been that noble of a calling. Perhaps they used to be more in step with the public so it was not noticed. Also, when they were the only game in town nobody could notice. But now the blinders are off and the MSM look like fools.
ReplyDeleteMatt I agree. Also 2012 might be also about checking the box, pulling the leaver, etc.. against the media as well as against a Marxist like Obama.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was young, I worked for the local newspaper. The ancient woman who owned the paper drilled into me certain ethics and tenets: NEVER inject yourself into a story, NEVER allow your own biases to creep into a story, report ALL the basic facts (who, what, when, where, and why) in the opening paragraph, and provide details in the body of the article.
ReplyDeleteShe took journalism VERY seriously, and held her reporters to a standard seldom seen in today's newspapers.
I really do think that journalism was once a noble calling. Perhaps I'm naive, or basing that belief too heavily on my own experiences...however, I do know crappy, unethical journalism when I see it. When the press is in the tank for a presidential candidate, or out to utterly destroy another possible candidate because they "don't like her", the trust is broken.
Matt, you're right. The MSM do look like fools. Elites like Keller keep flapping their jaws, and the public becomes increasingly flabbergasted, disillusioned, and angry.
Lady red, it's such a pleasure to read your writing. You write with more flair and style than your subject. Hands down.
ReplyDeleteYour first two sentences sum up the reason why so many Americans, regardless of political affiliation, have lost faith in the mainstream/cable media, and why Palin's disdain resonates so loudly and broadly. You cannot be trusted to simply report the news. You have BECOME the news. You actively work to shape the direction of our country. Hard-news reporters overtly campaign for favored candidates and personally/corporately held political beliefs from every nightly "news" broadcast. This is journalism?
I think many, many people have little to zero expectation of getting unbiased writing from the MSM after the 2000 & 2004 elections; like they say "we won't get fooled again".
I find it hilarious how the media and their lefty mouthpieces are lauding Michelle Bachmann (who I like, BTW). I guess they don't realize how transparent their sentiments are to us dopey, flyover voters.
Errr, I lost my italics tags when I edited my comment. x(
ReplyDeleteWhat Mr Keller fails to note (or perhaps to realize) is that is not only Sarah Palin who rightfully despises the media.
ReplyDeleteIn fact, the newspapers, and later the radio networks, were always slanted in their views, but never, before the onset of television, did they cover themselves in a cloak of impartiality. That cloak has now become tattered and threadbare, and the ugly garments beneath is showing through ever more clearly.
Because of that, more and more of the general public is realizing that they are lied to on a near-daily basis, and that the news organizations they once believed they could trust are now revealed as nothing better than American versions of Pravda and Isvestia.
Like Pravda & Isvestia, the main purpose for the modern national media is propaganda. It seems that Free Press has come to mean free of honesty, responsibility or decency.
It is extremely disheartening to have to go to British and other news sources to get the truth about happenings in our own nation.
MSM distort? Why'd you think that? Just because they edit out "...under God..." from the Pledge of Allegiance spoken by school children? No noxious intent there, eh?
ReplyDeleteFucking NBC. Comcast better get a handle on their new toy soon.
Aridog, your link exemplifies my point. Damn. I shouldn't be appalled, but I am. And angry too. These jerks are actively engaged in "fundamentally changing" our entire culture!
ReplyDeleteI freakin' loathe NBC.
That just makes my blood boil. Hope you don't mind I copy the link for others, this is the first I've heard of it!
ReplyDeleteNo problem with linking, it came from Drudge in the first place.
ReplyDelete