Biased Media

Some provocative post excerpts from The Daou Report:

What's the common thread running through the past half-decade of Bush's presidency? What's the nexus between the Swift-boating of Kerry and Murtha, or the guilt-by-association between Democrats and terrorists? Why has a seemingly endless string of administration scandals faded into oblivion? Why do Democrats keep losing elections?

The traditional media, the trusted media, the "neutral" media, have become the chief delivery mechanism of potent anti-Democratic and pro-Bush storylines. The Democratic establishment appears to be either ignorant of this political quandary or are unwilling to fight it.

You’ve heard the lines: Bush is likable - is a regular guy, Bush is firm - is a religious man, Democrats are muddled, Democrats have no message, national security is Bush’s strength, terror attacks help Bush, Democrats are weak on security, Democrats need to talk about values, Republicans favor a “strict interpretation” of the Constitution, blah, blah, blah - on and on.

These narratives are woven deeply into the fabric of news coverage and have become second nature, truly permeating the public mind. They are delivered as positive statements; discussed as fact and accepted as conventional wisdom; they are twisted, shaped, reshaped, and fed to the American public in millions of soundbites, articles, editorials, news stories, and opinion pieces. And they are false.

Bafflingly, Democratic politicians and strategists have accepted these storylines - playing into them. Democrats reinforce anti-Dem myths because they can’t imagine any other explanation for the apparent lack of acceptance of their message. Out of desperation, they resort to focus-group slogans, vainly attempting to break through the filter.

The Dem's need to face this reality: if your core values and beliefs and positions are filtered to the public through the lens of a media that has inoculated the public against your message, and that media is the public’s primary source of information, then NOTHING you say is going to break through and change the dynamic.

To illustrate the power of the media to shape public opinion, simply imagine what would happen if the cable nets and the print media and the punditocracy treated the warrantless spying scandal with the same round-the-clock intensity as the Swift-boating of Kerry or the Natalee Holloway disappearance. Suppose Lewinsky-style headlines blared about impeachment and presidential law-breaking. Suppose the question of the day on every cable net was, “Should Bush be impeached for violating the Constitution?” Would things be different? Of course they would.

The media can create a crisis -- and can squelch one. The media can frame events, they can shape the way Americans see the political landscape. A disproportionate amount of power is wielded by a handful of opinion-shapers, and when these individuals tell America a story that favors the right and marginalizes the left, the remedies are few.
Posted on The human Stain