The State media is more responsible than groups such as ACORN for the election of our liberal government. With our financial ruin on the horizon, they continue to run as lead blockers for the Obama administration’s disastrous policies.
by Michael Naragon
III
TO THE STATE-RUN PRESS:
What can one say to the indoctrinated? How does it feel to be the mouthpiece for a Leftist government? You have one of the greatest responsibilities bestowed upon free men, to inform the public, and you treat this almost sacred trust like Americans are now treating newspapers. Like rubbish.
In the days of the American Revolution, newspapers were used extensively to promote the ideals of freedom and liberty. The Constitutional protections for these publications did not yet exist, and those who worked in the newspaper business during the Revolution did so, oftentimes, at their own peril.
John Adams credited communication with much of the success of the Revolution as a movement. “The complete accomplishment of it in so short a time and by such simple means was perhaps a singular example in the history of mankind,” wrote Adams. “Thirteen clocks were made to strike together: a perfection of mechanism which no artist had ever before effected.”
Now, the patriot journalists in those days were anything but objective. We all understand that the idea of an unbiased journalist is a myth. All writers, anchors, and reporters have personal leanings that will, from time to time, emerge in their reporting. In the days of the Revolution, however, the bias was on the side of the nation, the side of Liberty. The newspapers were so vital to the cause of freedom that Jefferson would later write, “I would rather live in a country with newspapers and without a government, than in a country with government but without newspapers.”
The difficulty with your biases is two-fold. First, and most importantly, you are biased toward the wrong side. No longer are journalists interested in reporting for the people. You concern yourself with making the federal government, when it’s of your liking, palatable, almost attractive to the people. When the Obama administration advances a spending bill, nearly every agency of the State-run media will tout the positives of the bill, what it will accomplish. Hidden deep within the story, or missing altogether, is the cost.
You, like the government you now represent, appear content to push the party line on each issue, and this means keeping certain bits of information clouded. This bias pervades nearly every news organization. Even Mr. Obama himself recognizes the systemic lean to the Left. At the Washington Press Dinner, he joked with those in attendance that “Many of you covered me, all of you voted for me.” The quip brought laughs because the truth, at times, is humorous. Not in this case. Not to the American People.
The second problem with your bias is related to the first. It is overt. Before the advent of FOX News, the major networks and newspapers could push a Leftist agenda without a foil, making their preferential treatment of liberals more difficult to spot. When Rupert Murdoch’s network launched, however, things changed. In the interest of being “fair and balanced,” FOX leaned to the right. Many of you hate them for doing so. I do not argue that those on FOX show bias as well. What made them problematic for you was that they showed how glaringly Leftist the “mainstream” media had become. It was as though a light had been turned on in a kitchen at midnight, and the cockroaches, rather than scurry into the dark corners to hide themselves, attacked the one who had turned on the light.
One might have hoped that your reaction would have been one of introspection. Instead, your reaction was insult, indignation, and inflammation. You saw the FOX News Channel as an excuse to make your biases obvious. As a result, The New York Times began running falsified stories, CBS’ venerable 60 Minutes ran a story with forged evidence, and ABC ran an informercial for Mr. Obama with no opportunity for informed opposition or debate. ABC continues to deny the purpose of the program. This is ridiculous. The media has declared their love. Embrace it so that all can know. The pleasant quality of Tass and Pravda was the open nature of their support for the Soviet government. No one had reason to question the perspective of those agencies. One of the best things you could do is drop the facade of balance. MSNBC has all but done this, and look at the success it has brought them.
In the latest public debates, the cap-and-trade bill and the president’s plan for nationalized medicine, you have fallen far short of the ideal when it comes to true reporting. The cap-and-trade legislation was lightly covered, if at all. Americans who, sadly, get their news only from the networks or major newspapers probably did not hear of the House vote. If they did, they were led to believe that it is a wonderful piece of legislation that will punish big corporations for their eco-crimes, instantly develop wind and solar power, create cars that get seventy miles per gallon, and provide millions of new jobs. Nancy Pelosi loved that lie so much she said it three times, “Jobs, jobs, jobs.” If we had any Washington reporters willing to actually write a story the people needed to hear, we would be seeing several reports of the potential cost of the legislation.
Perhaps an intelligent journalist–a rarity, mind you–will figure out the validity of Mr. Obama’s claim that the bill will only cost the average family $175 each year. Or, better still, ask the president why a family should have to feel any change at all, since he promised that only polluters would be punished by the law. An enterprising reporter could dig in to the stories of bullying among Democrats in an attempt to blackmail freshman Representatives into voting the party line, despite their own apprehensions. A newspaper looking to pull itself from the doldrums of financial difficulty could have run a front page story on the countries, such as Australia, that are pulling back from their former environmental regulations, citing numerous credible scientists that the global warming movement is nothing more than a pseudo-religion led by High Priest Al Gore. None of this has been truly done in a national fashion. If the news media had an interest in facts, they could have played a large role in stopping the bill from passing by a handful of votes. Instead, every network and newspaper was far more interested in the death of a plastic pop singer than the future bankruptcy of what was the greatest nation on the planet.
The health care debate has gotten similar treatment from the State press. The president and his minions in Congress continue to claim that the health care crisis is the real cause for economic difficulty in America. They use the same tired rhetoric that “something” must be done, and done immediately or we face catastrophe. A wily reporter would challenge that sort of claim and would compare Mr. Obama’s speeches on health care with his speeches on the stimulus and his speeches on the environment. That reporter would find them eerily similar and would, perhaps, make the case that the president is simply using fear to pass a radical Marxist agenda. An enterprising producer could run with the story and garner national attention. Instead, the American people are short-changed with a block of shills for the liberal movement. Any story concerning the government takeover of health care simply takes the president at his word without challenging his facts. This same pattern will surely be followed in the reporting of all issues brought forth by the administration, and, in 2010, you in the State media will do your part to help the Democrats attempt to maintain their majorities.
In the interest of fairness, I will offer you some advice. You will have a choice to make in the coming months, I believe. Several of you are already facing an unsure future as ratings and subscriptions decline. The New York Times and Boston Globe are both having very public financial difficulties. The major networks’ evening news programs recently had their lowest ratings ever. Surely you know why this is happening. Many Americans are simply so apathetic that they don’t watch any news. Congratulations on that, by the way, since you’re partially responsible. The intelligent, engaged citizens, however, are increasingly finding their news online, through sites like the Drudge Report and Twitter, agencies that change and adapt much more quickly than even television news. A majority of those people who are watching television news are, interestingly, watching FOX. I am sure that those steeped in liberal ideology like yourselves would blame that fact on the growing stupidity or sheepish nature of the people. I believe the opposite is true. I think more people are finally reaching a point where they can see through to your Leftist core. As a result, they are running in droves to news sources that they feel they can trust more fully.
As to my advice, I believe you should push the idea that has already been tossed around by more than a few media and government officials: allow the federal government to purchase you. You work for them already; if it became official, you could drop the charade of balance. You could also labor with the comfort that you are now a government employee–your mediocre work would then have no effect on your job security.
