The White House will announce that FoxNews reporter Tony Snow will be the next White House Press Secretary. Snow’s a good pick for the job – he’s an excellent reporter, he knows how to work a room, and he can build some badly-needed bridges between the Administration and the media.
Of course, being the Press Secretary for a White House popularity is in the toilet is a thankless job, but at least Bush will have someone in that position who will be able to speak well under fire and present a better public face for the Administration. McClellan was never the sort who could really engage the press, and going into a White House press briefing is about like swimming with sharks – the second they sense blood in the water, they’re in a feeding frenzy.
Bush needs to do much to reverse the free-fall in his approval ratings, which are now in the territory usually reserved for child molesters, bubonic plague, and people who talk during movies. Hell, I’m not remotely impressed with his performance as of late, and apparently to some I’m part of his “cheerleading squad”. (Which reminds me, where did I put those pom-poms?) The skyrocketing prices in gas are severely hurting Bush’s approval numbers, and there’s little he can do. The only thing keeping the GOP from cratering is the fact that the Democrats are all that much worse.
Snow has a tough job, probably one of the most thankless there is. However, if there’s one person who would be up to the task, it’s him.
“Snow has a tough job”
But he has alot of practice for it. He’s essentially had this job for years….ever since he first signed on the dotted line to work at Fox News.
He’s been a Fox News analyist, so really he’ll be doing the same thing but with a different job title.
As opposed to Stephinopolis, Begala, Carville, Mathews, etal with the rest of the alphabet media and the entire staff at CNN/MSNBC all the major papers except for WSJ and WT’s, which shills for the Dems.
But never seen as many conservatives or conservative viewpoints as I have seen liberals and liberal viewpoints as on Fox News.. Tony Snow will definately be better than Arie and Scott..
The difference is that Begala, Carville and Mathews all went from working on the Hill to the media. Carville and Begala don’t deny their political views like O’Reilly, Hannity and Scarborough–and Matthews is a far cry from a liberal and doesn’t do commentary like most of the hacks at FOX. Snow, like most conservatives on TV, are Republican hacks who sit there with a straight face and tell people they are “fair and balanced.”
Since when has O’Reilly, Hannity, or Scarborough ever denied their political orientation? Neither of the three are particularly subtle.
Except the media remains overwhelmingly Democratic, and the tone, story choice, and orientation of the media remains overwhelmingly left-leaning. Conservatives are labeled as such and liberals are not. Reporters are significantly more liberal than the rest of the country. CBS, Newsweek, and The New York Times have all been caught making false allegations in an effort to attack the President. Dan Rather was forced out in disgrace for using blatantly forged documents. Newsweek’s Qur’an-flushing story was a red herring. The New York Times somehow forgot about al-QaaQaa when it no longer had any political benefit to the Kerry campaign.
The media only leans left if you ignore the 90% of it that’s filled with a quite clear and demonstrable bias towards the left.
“The media only leans left if you ignore the 90% of it that’s filled with a quite clear and demonstrable bias towards the left.”
The “liberal media” is just one chain link on the “liberal elite” leg shackles that conservatives pretend to always be bound by. Modern conservatism is the ultimate ideology of victimhood. The more they consolidate political power and control government, they less likely they are to believe they have any control over what the shadowy and elusive kingmakers of the “liberal elite” decide the world should be.
Yes, the fact that the media is the propaganda instrument for one political party – hardly the sort of thing condusive to a healthy democracy – makes one part of the “ideology of victimhood”…
Is it really that obtuse to ask that the media not just make shit up, or is that insufficiently “nuanced”?
I notice that conservatives always say the media is liberal, but have nothing to back it up. I notice that conservatives say there are Democrats all over, but there is never any evidence provided. Wait–you did cite one piece of evidence:
The media only leans left if you ignore the 90% of it that’s filled with a quite clear and demonstrable bias towards the left.
But I’m not sure where that figure came from, so maybe you could show me that study.
The shows that O’Reilly, Scarborough and Hannity run are much different from the ones that Carville and Begala are part of and the one that Hatthews runs. The conservatives pass themselves off as reporters. They pass themselves off as objective sources of news. Carville and Begala debate things and do not call themselves reporters, and Matthews takes a postion on an issue rarely to never.
http://www.jayreding.com/index.php?s=media+bias
Editor and Publisher, May 23, 2005.
Granted, I can’t stand Bill O’Reilly, but I’ve never heard him argue that his show is anything other than an opinion show. Same for Hannity and Scarborough.
In speaking of passing oneself off as a neutral party while clearly toeing a liberal line, what of Dan Rather? Katie Couric? Hell, I can’t think of a single major anchor at any of the Big Three networks who’s remotely conservative with the exception of John Stossel, who’s more libertarian than anything else.
The idea that liberal media bias doesn’t exist is ridiculous. As I mentioned, conservative groups are labeled as such while liberal groups are presented with neutral terms. Surveys have shown that the media is overwhelmingly Democratic, and that shows in the way they select and frame stories.
Again, it’s nice to see conservatives making things up, with nothing to prove it. The fact is that most independent studies show the media has been much more tough on Bush than Clinton, was much more tough on Gore than Bush, and in general tries to question everyone. And on social issues such as guns and abortion, the press is slightly more liberal than the average population, but on fiscal issues, the press is much more conservative than average.
O’Reilly calls his show the “No Spin Zone.” I’d say that is an argument that it’s not an opinion show, but I’ll assume you’ve never heard it because you don’t watch it.
Ever heard of a guy named Lou Dobbs? He isn’t exactly a liberal on immigration.
Again, when you’re going to claim that “The idea that liberal media bias doesn’t exist is ridiculous” or that “The media only leans left if you ignore the 90% of it that’s filled with a quite clear and demonstrable bias towards the left,” you need some evidence to back yourself up–and something a little more than anecdotal evidence is usually good. And preferably something that doesn’t come from a right-wing think tank.
I anxiously await your next unfounded rant.
Sorry–I meant the media was more tough on Clinton than Bush