Evan Thomas of Newsweek has admitted outright that the media is biased towards John Kerry:
The media “wants Kerry to win†and so “they’re going to portray Kerry and Edwards as being young and dynamic and optimistic†and “there’s going to be this glow about†them, Evan Thomas, the Assistant Managing Editor of Newsweek, admitted on Inside Washington over the weekend. He should know. His magazine this week sports a smiling Kerry and Edwards on its cover with the yearning headline, “The Sunshine Boys?†Inside, an article carrying Thomas’ byline contrasted how “Dick Cheney projects the bleakness of a Wyoming winter, while John Edwards always appears to be strolling in the Carolina sunshine.†The cover story touted how Kerry and Edwards “became a buddy-buddy act, hugging and whispering like Starsky and Hutch after consuming the evidence.â€
It’s enough to make one sick. This summer is going to see the media giving one sloppy wet kiss to their Democratic paramours after another. Forget about things like “objectivity” or “the truth” the media has their golden boys, and they do whatever it takes to make them look good.
What you failed to mention, intentionally or not, is that Evan Thomas leans conservative and has admitted so. He was a strong supporter of the war in Iraq since the beginning. I’m not sure where he stands now because he’s kept his cards close to his chest lately. Given that he’s “admitting” the media’s liberal bias suggests to me that he’s trying to distance himself from his colleagues.
No matter what Evans own personal political philosophy, he still speaks the truth.
Plus, how can one accuse Evans of being particularly conservative when he writes “Dick Cheney projects the bleakness of a Wyoming winter, while John Edwards always appears to be strolling in the Carolina sunshine.”
I agree with Jay that the overt media bias is literally sickening, and a blight on our society.
The media are becoming a genuine threat to our democracy in their attempt to influence an election…what they put out often can best be termed propaganda and not journalism.
No matter what Evans own personal political philosophy, he still speaks the truth.
And that can’t be true for the rest of the media, too?
Of course not. AT’s only recourse for detecting truth is matching it to his own ideology.
That has to be the most singularly stupid thing I’ve heard in a long time, which is no mean feat.
Even Thomas a conservative?! We’re talking about the man who wrote Newsweek’s shameful hit piece on Rush Limbaugh. The same Evan Thomas who is the granson of Socialist Party candidate Norman Thomas?
Care to offer proof to back up that statement or would you care to admit pulling it entirely out of your ass?
Another Thought, just because Evan Thomas made that observation about Cheney and Edwards doesn’t necessarily mean he supports the latter. I was the first to admit that Bush had a better rapport with Joe Sixpack than Al Gore in all his awkward smarminess. Nonetheless, I was enthusiastic in my vote for Gore besides I did (and still do) detest Bush’s policies. Apparently, that’s the difference between conservatives like Evan Thomas and conservatives yourself. You could never bring yourself to admit that John Edwards has a sunnier personality than Dick Cheney that is likely to resonate better with voters.
As for your latest tantrum about the “liberal media”, just keep watching Fox News and listening to Rush, suggest that everybody you know do the same, and won’t you have solved the whole “problem”? Furthermore, it’s curious how you guys HATE the “liberal media” so much, yet Republicans fought tooth and nail to revise FCC regulations that will entrench media ownership in the hands of current industry barons. Why on Earth are all you “competition-loving capitalists” lobbying so hard to create an oligopoly of “radical liberal ideas” among the media elite?
Jay, Evan Thomas is a regular guest on the public TV political debate show “Inside Washington.” Thomas has referred to himself as a conservative on a number of occasions. He’s clearly not as conservative as Charles Krauthammer who’s also on the show, but agrees with Charles well over half the time, particularly in regards to the war in Iraq.
I don’t see the bias in telling people that Edwards is generally friendly while Cheney tells Senators to go fuck themselves. Those things, after all, are true.
Oh, right. To the conservative, if the media isn’t telling you exactly what you want to hear, it’s “bias.”
I agree that there’s a bias to the media – a bias to make money. Draw your own conclusions.
So now the debate is over whether Evan Thomas is conservative…give me a break. The quote about Cheney vis-a-vis Edwards is only one anecdote, but it clearly is more than just a passing comparison of personalities…it is a slam on Cheney and a build-up on Edwards…just read the words…there would have been other ways to make the point if Thomas were so conservative…
But that aside, Thomas is simply offering one more confirmation of what we all know…the media leans heavily left. Academic studies confirm that. Academic studies also confirm that the members of the media are far to the left as a whole than the general public. How could such a collection of left leaning people produce a product that is anything but biased…if the personal opinions of the media were reversed, liberals would be screaming bloody murder…
The media has no diversity of thought among its members…it is largely a monolithically liberal group…
Thomas is an industry insider giving us a glimpse of reality.
There has to come a tipping point where the liberal media is overthrown in this country…
ANother Thought, again, I implore you to explain to me why if the media “has no diversity” and is a “largely monolithically liberal group”, why in the world are you conservatives fighting so hard to secure new FCC regulations that would further entrench media control into the hands of its current players?
Another Thought, that’s about what I expected your answer would be. 😉
Mark: As to why “you conservatives fighting so hard to secure new FCC regulations that would further entrench media control into the hands of its current players?”
First, it is a complicated issue…there new regulations do not necessarily entrench media control into the hands of current players, as there are studies that indicate this…consider, over the last few decades, as the regulations have been eased, we have seen an explosion of new media outlets, not less…
Second, not all conservatives for these new FCC regulations…for instance Kay Bailey Hutchinson from Texas…so again you want to stereotype all conservatives into the same boat…amazing how simplistic you liberals are in your thought…
However, Mark, irregardless of the FCC regs, it does not change the central point of the post: that the mainstream media is hopelessly tilted left in their political philosophy, and that their product many times resembles more propaganda than journalism.
The very fact that you and other liberals are rushing to defend the media is one more bit of confirmation of this…
Another Thought, if it were up to the Democrats, the FCC regulations would not be revised to entrench media ownership in the hands of existing power players. If it were up to the Republicans, they would be. Kay Bailey Hutchison’s position on this issue isn’t really relevant since she’s in the distinct minority in her party that doesn’t support legislating media oligopoly.
Your entire argument was a messy patchwork tantamount to throwing everything you got at the wall and seeing what sticks. “It’s a complicated issue and it’s not all about entrenching media power….and doggone it anyway, not every conservative supports it….look at Kay Bailey Hutchison….and since I don’t have a good answer to your question and have embarrassed myself trying, I’m gonna go back to banging my spoon against my high chair and resuming my daily tantrum about the “liberal media” that I want the FCC to protect from competition.”
I think I speak of many us here when I say “Huh????”