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Media Needs to Catch Up
At his latest press conference, President Obama showed once again he is way out front of the mainstream media. Six of the ten questions were about Iran, but only one was about informing either Iranians or Americans about what he thinks. And that question came from an Iranian!
The White House Press Corp is all stirred up that the President broke protocol in asking Huffington Post’s Nico Pitney for a question from Iran. Pitney has been on top of the tweets and Net reports out of Iran, much more so than the MSM has been. That the press corp missed the President’s implication and his answer is not surprising. The MSM has not caught on yet where the middle is. Way farther to the left than they think.
To many, John McCain’s blather–along with his butt-boy Lindsey Graham, and the neo-con chorus–is not only wrong, but dangerously wrong. The slightest indication that the US is backing the protests in Iran will allow the Iranian government to crush the burgeoning reform movement. The very thing the neo-cons want is the worst possible thing to do. And taking advice from the people who screwed up foreign policy for the past eight years is insane.
But the MSM blindly follows the trail over the cliff.
Accusing the press of a right-wing bias (with one obv exception) is ridiculous. There is only one side to the MSM: how do I make my numbers go up? It is neither a liberal or conservative viewpoint, but at this point, as survival viewpoint. The MSM is undergoing a drastic modification of the industry and the only thing that matters to them at this point is getting eyeballs focused on them. It is no different here on this blog, or any other place where someone is trying to communicate to people. The more people who read this blog and especially those who tell other people, the better for the author, or reporter, or owner.
Controversy has been the traditional way to get attention. One of the reasons the MSM is in trouble these days is because two sides flaming one another has become passe. We have seen it before, as in, every day for the past twenty years. Two people arguing without saying anything new is as boring as watching an empty screen. People have simply tuned out to it.
Even the MSM has tuned itself out. Reporters are not listening, and certainly aren’t doing any critical thinking. All of the questions to the President yesterday came from his right. Many on his left are unhappy with the president dragging his feet on their pet issues, yet none of their concerns were addressed.
When reporting on the health care reform debate, the press is between the conservatives and the president, and between the Republicans and moderate Democratic Senators. None are asking the president or Dem leaders why they are not talking about single-payer as the most logical way to go. Senator Baucus has said he regrets taking a broadening of Medicare (single-payer) off the table because that leaves only the White House version as the most liberal. Yet no reporter has yet asked why he hasn’t put it BACK on the table.
The MSM has not caught on to the direction the country is going. They listen to the noise coming out of the right and think that this is the biggest threat to the Democrats, so that’s what they report on. But the people are not interested in going back to Republican ideology. They want to hear about how we can move farther away from it.
The dialog in the U.S. is far different than it was in 1993 when health care reform failed under Clinton. In ten years, a blogger will be asking how much more can government do? The president in 2020 is going to face criticism from the left for not doing enough. The party formerly known as the GOP will have marginalized itself to the point where no one even asks their opinion on anything. Much like the Dems in the first term of President Bush.
The Republicans had their shot and blew it. Now it is the Democrats turn. God help us all if they blow it, because who knows where we go next to fix the system. The MSM is supposed to help by asking the right questions. The problem is they have no clue. Questions clarify a position and inform the people. Good questions, that is. Unfortunately, the MSM has lost its ability to know a good question from a gotcha question, which is sadly a reflection of the right. We are still stuck in the past.
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Discuss: Media Needs to Catch Up
- READER COMMENTS
MSM will not ask the right question, they do not want to put their RIGHT thinking President on the spot. Plain, simple and the truth.
They do not talk about “single tax payer” because, well the President does not want it. Simple, plain and the truth.