Dangerous Distortions

If I hear another talking head complain about “Liberal Left Wing Media” I swear to God somebody is going to get punched in the face. Let’s call a spade a spade here, conservatives, SOMETIMES YOU ARE WRONG ABOUT THINGS, AND SOMETIMES PEOPLE DISAGREE WITH YOU.

Let’s talk about bias for a minute here. Everyone has a bias. Everyone’s position on everything is biased to some degree. We can try to be as objective as possible, but our biases show through. That’s a fact.

The conservatives complain about the media’s left wing bias, and while I’m not arguing that it does not exist, it’s not like it’s a huge leftward slant. True, the editorial board of the New York Times and Detroit Free Press may have liberal tendencies. Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews (and, well most of MSNBC for that matter) might chastise a Republican now and then. And it is fair for Conservatives to call those organizations out on a bias. But then, why is there no outcry about Fox News? Its entire political team is made up of Republicans (like Newt Gingrich, Karl Rove, Pat Buchanon), and Conservative mouth-pieces (like Ben Stein). Bill O’Reilly might claim to be a “No Spin Zone,” but that may be because his wheels are firmly entrenched on the right side of the road. Fox News is overtly right-wing, as is talk radio.

Ever listen to AM radio? My guess is, unless you like sports or Conservative radio shows, you haven’t. That’s because the overwhelming majority of AM talk shows are right wing. The highest rated shows: Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity, O’Reilly, Laura Schlesinger, all tools of the Right Wing Machine. I hear no complaints about them. Even local radio, in one of the most left-wing cities in the country is non-Liberal. WJR’s Frank Beckman? WRIF’s (Drew-less) Mike in the Morning and Arthur Penhollow? WCSX’s Morning Crew? Dick Purton’s gang? Remember talk-radio everyman Gregg Henson? Even brainless Blaine from the 96.3 morning show? All non-Liberal. But there are no complaints about their bias.

Nor do I hear complaints about conservative-leaning papers, like the Wall Street Journal or the Detroit News.

Nowhere is their talk about ABC’s John Stossel, a vocal Libertarian. Nowhere is mentioned NBC’s Tom Brokaw, who grew up in rural, conservative South Dakota. Nowhere is mentioned the commonly held belief among journalists that the media should only be observers, and probably shouldn’t even vote to maintain objectivity.

The 1st amendment gives us, the People, the right to freedom of speech, as well as the right to assemble and petition the government. The media is our mouthpiece for that. They were just as hard, if not harder, on Clinton as they were on Bush. Reporters for Time went to jail to protect their inside source, White House insider Karl Rove…I mean…Scooter Libby.

I’m not here saying that attention between both sides is split evenly down the middle. There’s no way I could study that, and I’m sure I wouldn’t want to if I could, but it’s not like the entire Media hates the Republican Party. The media will be just as cynical about President Obama as they would be President McCain. They are there to report the news, not distort it, no matter what the conservatives say

What conservatives are doing is calling in to question the validity of journalism as a profession. They are undermining the concept of “factual journalism” by suggesting that news stories are more “opinions” or “editorials,” chock full of the journalist’s “agenda.” The more people they can get to believe this, the less effective journalism and the media become.

Why is this dangerous? The media is one of the few non-government objective, central outlets for information that we have. Completely free of state control (except the FCC, which is a separate issue altogether), the media are free to investigate and report however they want. If the media continue to be scrutinized and shunned, what will be left will be a shell of its former self. Imagine, NBC, wanting to stay relevant twenty years from now, becoming yet another mouthpiece for the Republican Party. Imagine a media where there is no question of government activity, no investigations, no exposés, in short, no check on government power. That is not a free media that is what exists in Communist China.

The media isn’t perfect; reporters are human and obviously have their own pre-conceived dispositions. But to instantly shun the media as “left wing Liberal” without even hearing the message or gathering facts is something that leads us ever closer to a totalitarian fascist state.