It looks like the media is really dominated by a bunch of raving conservatives who would never think of criticizing the President…
And yes, Clift’s article is as full of vapid partisan bile as it sounds. although Alter does make a somewhat cogent case that Bush’s speech isn’t going to change opinions on Iraq.
Seriously, this line about the media skewing to the right is almost ridiculous. The only way one could view that proposition as being true is if the media consists entirely of Rush Limbaugh and FoxNews. I get the feeling that the real argument against the media made by many on the left is that they acknowledge conservative voices at all.
Then again, the ideological left has never been a big fan of the concept of the marketplace of ideas…
Liberal media? How come you never hear on the ‘liberal media’:
Anything about corporate welfare? The issue doesn’t exist to them.
That asbestos is the number two cancer killer behind tobacco?
Anything good about unions. Ever. One example. Just one.
Anything good about affirmative action.
Anything good about the Endangered Species Act.
Anything good about Kyoto.
That you couldn’t find 50 canadians in their whole country who would trade their health care system for America’s.
That jury awards should be large enough to punish corporations that deserve it. Ever. One example. Just one.
That corporations are capitalists when it comes to profits, but they turn in to socialists when it comes to losses.
An opinion on genetically modified food that differs from Monsanto’s.
Liberal media my ass. The only opinion allowed on corporate news is corporate opinion.
It strikes me that there’s a reason why journalists are far more likely to be associated with liberalism than conservatism is that they are out in the world and see first-hand who’s on the side of the angels, who’s getting left in the dust, and who’s profitting from the way the world is wired. Also, I can personally attest to the fact that journalism is a very poor-paying profession, which also contributes to its practitioners voting with a party that helps the guy on Main Street at least slightly more than the party of Easy Street.
However, the very fact that the media has been taken over by some of the largest corporations on the planet suggests the association is bound to come to a screeching halt, and has already to a large extent.
As for conservatives, anything the least bit challenging to their perceived entitlement to perpetual Gilded Age plutocracy with no organized dissent view any opposing viewpoints as hostile. This is why when a “nothing but hard-right news” media outlet becomes available, such as Fox News or virtually anything on talk radio, it becomes their only news source from that point on. Thus, even as the “liberal media” of yesteryear sways closer to the conservative viewpoint vis’a’vis their corporate ownership, conservatives will still cling to the fallacy of a “left-wing media” so long as a sizeable branch of the media leans even further to the right and mutually validate one-dimensional worldviews based primarily on a perspective of privilege.
good point, many people would rather re-enforce their comfortable world view than challenge it. Easy to do when you are comfortable and insulated–a little harder when you’re poor and down on the street.