[CLUE-Talk] Media outlets

[Randy Arabie]

On Thursday, 19 December 2002 at 12:10:57 -0700, Joe 'Zonker' Brockmeier <clue at dissociatedpress.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 19 Dec 2002, Sean LeBlanc wrote:
> 
> *snip*
> 
> > None of these are really "news" but NPR....
> >
> > Back when I had cable, I used to enjoy the O'Reilly Factor and Hannity and
> > Colmes. Fox always gets called right-wing, and I'm sure that it *is* when
> > you put it alongside the broadcast networks and the New York Times, but is
> > there anyone who *really* thinks those do not have a serious skew to the
> > left?
> 
> Yes. None of the major news networks skew to the left, in my opinion.
> If they did, we'd be hearing a lot more criticism of Bush & company than
> we are.
> 
> Fox is just much farther to the right than many other outlets.

Invariably, people usually place themselves in the "center" and base
their observations from that perspective.  Thus, everyones scale is 
different.

Most people would say I'm of center, and have a strong libertarian bent on
certain issues.  Thus, from my perspective NPR, CNN, NBC, CBS, and ABC are 
left of center and Fox is pretty close to center.  I would not say that any 
of them are skewed far left.

Thus, I would expect Joe to place me far right, since from his perspective 
NBC, et al are right of center and Fox is skewed even further to the right.

> I get tired of hearing the claim that the media is left-leaning, when
> the fact is that the people who play the gatekeeper roles are almost
> invariably right-wing. Reporters may be liberal, but they're typically
> managed by right-wing people who are answering to even more right-wing
> bosses.

I would disagree with that.  CNN is certainly an example of one major 
news outlet not run by a right-winger.  I would place Ted Turner
far-left on the spectrum (from my right of center perspective).  Of 
course someone who thinks Ted Turner is a right-winger would disagree 
with me.

> With the increasing ties of news media to other corporations, we're
> not hearing half of what we should be about the behavior of those
> corporations.
> 
> There are certainly left-wing media outlets, but they are not the
> mainstream media that most people go home and watch after they
> get off work. Any study of stories that are studiously left unreported
> shows that the stories would go against the conservative grain.
> 
> You might check out Project Censored: http://www.projectcensored.org/
> to see some of the stories that SHOULD have been reported by mass
> media, but weren't. Some examples:
> 
> #1 FCC Moves to Privatize Airwaves
> #4 Bush Administration Hampered FBI Investigation 46 into Bin
> Laden Family Before 9-11
> #8 NAFTA Destroys Farming Communities in U.S. and Abroad
> #24 Wal-Mart Takes Union Busting to the State Level

Sounds interesting, I'll have a look at those.

> Those are just my favorites... found here:
> http://www.projectcensored.org/stories/2003/cyearbook.htm
> 
> Any Fox News fans might find this article interesting:
> http://www.accessatlanta.com/ajc/business/cnn/1002/07zahn.html

Interesting, but I fail to make the connection between it and the 
general topic "Is the media left- or right-leaning?" 

> You might want to reconsider your viewing habits.

Or one might consider boycotting CNN just because Ted Turner is
married to Hanoi Jane.

> > As for news shows, I listened to NPR back when it wasn't AM (my car's AM
> > doesn't work, and I'm not working right now, anyway, so I don't listen on my
> > commute). I used to think NPR (some guy at Corning used to call it National
> > Pinko Radio) had a real lefty slant, too, but if you pay attention, they
> > have some pundits from the right come on, too. They also go much more in
> > depth into stories, and don't just get the sound bite and move on. At work,
> > I'd listen to www.cpr.org on occasion.
> 
> NPR is often accused of being left-wing, but I've found that they're
> middle-of-the-road... I agree, they do much better at indepth reporting
> than the average media outlet.

NPR is hands down the best indepth.  Along the same lines, PBS'
Frontline does great hour+ shows on current affairs.

> Ignoring the left vs. right debate for a second... televised news is
> almost universally horrid. For anyone who is interested in this topic,
> I recommend "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman. You cannot
> get your "news" from television and consider yourself informed. Most
> radio is little better, and newspapers are in sorry shape compared
> to two decades ago, but they're a lot better than televised news...

I agree 100%.  It all boils down to ratings.  What gets ratings?  
Scandalous news peared down to 1 - 2 minute stories written to 
illicite an emotional response rather than inform a viewer.
-- 
Allons Rouler!
        
Randy
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