(Ed. note: There is nothing about marijuana in
the article below, which ironically reinforces its major point without realizing it. It
also unintentionally demonstrates how confused the definitions of
"liberal" and "conservative" have become. Both terms are more
like political parties than philosophies. This further erodes our ability to analyze
public policy issues.
Socialism is dead outside of academia. Libertarianism has the best thinkers, but is too
far removed from power to come to grips with practical issues, except by smuggling ideas
to conservatives. So it remains the playpen of ideologues, the way the American left used
to be, influential, but ineffectual. (Is there anyone I haven’t offended yet?)
Meanwhile, the media seem to recognize that they are in a trap of their own making,
which gives them one more thing in common with Bill Clinton, in addition to a sexual
compulsion.
The all-Monica-all-the-time media, the spawn of all-OJ etc., are creating the perfect
environment for the birth of the Internet as the news medium of the future. Want to avoid
Monica? It is easy on the Internet. Want to find out about other subjects that don’t
make it to the "public agenda" as determined by the editocracy? It is almost
impossible anywhere other than the Internet.
At present the Net remains essentially an elite medium for a small portion of the
world, but that was once true of all the media. 500 years ago books were rare. 50 years
ago television was an upper middle class toy. Things move much faster today. But they need
to.
It would appear that "Washington" thinks that the Clinton Presidency is
"in crisis." It may be, but the fact is that "Washington" is in
crisis. The people have contempt for the Congress, and the media, even more than Clinton.
This is even more ironic because they would have a lower, not higher opinion of Clinton,
if they were informed about something other than his sex life.
Now the focus is on whether the President lied or merely misled.
Well, he lied to Jacki Rickert when he told her that he would support her need
for medical marijuana, and he is misleading us everyday on an issue that effects millions
of people. And, as I began by saying, that issue is not mentioned in this article, which
again proves how serious our systemic problems really are. )
The Capital Times
August 15, 1998
By tctvoice@madison.com
http://www.madison.com/
Editorial
WHEN TRUTH GETS LOST AMID TRIVIA
"What is sex?" the ABC radio announcer demanded to know on a Friday morning
"news" broadcast.
It was a teaser for a story on President Clinton’s impending testimony before the
Ken Starr-chamber grand jury. But it was also a reminder of the great extent to which the
whole Monica Lewinsky "scandal" has been driven by a media that is far more
obsessed with bedroom affairs than foreign affairs.
The news in this country has become so trivialized that some
sociologists now speculate that a person may actually be more confused after listening to
an evening news program.
What’s wrong with American media?
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting, the national media watchdog group, offers one
answer.
The new issue of FAIR’s magazine, "Extra!," examines media bias and
discovers a Washington press corps far out of touch with the American people.
So, are Rush Limbaugh and Newt Gingrich right? Are limousine-liberal reporters cruising
the beltway in search of the latest opportunity to undermine conservative ideals? Hardly.
According to a survey of Washington reporters, editors and broadcast producers
conducted for FAIR by researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University, the D.C. journalists were significantly more conservative than the
American people.
Compare attitudes about corporations. While 43 percent of the Washington press corps
reject the notion that too much power is concentrated in the hands of large corporations,
only 18 percent of the public share that view.
Indeed, journalists registered as more conservative than the people on each of the
following issues: protecting Medicare and Social Security, expansion of NAFTA, the need to
control and regulate corporations, taxing the wealthy and development of a government
guarantee of health care for all.
It’s not that journalists are right wingers, per se, the
study found. The real point is that they are defenders of the status quo, while the
American people are inclined toward reform.
"(Journalists’) adherence to the middle of the road and conventional wisdom
is consistent with media outlets owned and funded by corporations that benefit from the
status quo and are threatened by alternative analyses," says sociologist David
Croteau. "Unfortunately, this too often leaves citizens with policy
‘debates’ grounded in the shared assumption of those in positions of
power."
Thus, we get endless stories about Monica’s blue dress, rather than the issues
Americans worry about.
When journalist do "think outside the box," they are often shot down. That
was what happened to San Jose Mercury News reporter Gary Webb when he exposed links
between the Central Intelligence Agency and Nicaraguan Contras who dealt drugs.
See
How the
Establishment Media Suppresses Coverage of CIA's Hard Drug Trafficking
--Fairness & Accuracy In Reporting
Webb was attacked by fellow journalists when the story appeared
two years ago. But this year, the CIA acknowledged that it had indeed kept drug dealers on
the payroll.
Former Associated Press reporter Robert Parry argues that Washington reporters launched
"excessive attacks" on Webb because "Webb’s series jabbed a painful
nerve for many thriving journalists who had shirked their responsibilities to the American
people."
As the national media obsess all over themselves regarding the Lewinsky affair this
coming week, that same irresponsibility will be in play. Real stories—stories about
campaign finance reform and defending family farming and reforming HMOs and fixing
American foreign policy—will be pushed aside in order to examine the stain on a blue
dress.
Supported