BigBadBrian
02-17-2006, 01:03 PM
Liberal Media Denial
Mike Rosen
February 17, 2006
Yes, labels matter. When used honestly they matter very much. Accurately identifying someone's underlying philosophy lets you know where he sits so you can better judge where he stands. It's a filter through which you can screen biases, agendas and baloney.
Conservatives tend to speak their minds candidly. They proudly acknowledge their pedigree. When you hear someone declare that "labels don't matter anymore," it's generally a liberal who'd rather disguise his stripes. Maybe that's why Whittaker Chambers, a one-time member of the Communist Party USA who recovered from that perverted ideology, noted that in America "the left can only take power through deception."
Liberals and conservatives have different assumptions about human nature, the way the world works and the role of government in society. It's been said that liberals don't care what you do as long as it's mandatory. They're coercive utopians at heart. Capitalists believe in equality of opportunity; socialists believe in equality of outcome, redistributed by government.
A recent letter to the editor - by a liberal - took issue with the charge that the media are overwhelmingly liberal. He repeated several familiar canards. While conceding that "journalists lean toward being liberal," he argued that this is offset by the oversight and influence of editors and publishers who are "overwhelmingly conservative."
"To think that corporations that own the mainstream media are liberal is ludicrous," he indignantly asserted. Really?
The term "mainstream media" is a misnomer. "Dominant liberal establishment media" is more like it and drops the pretense that the liberal media reflect mainstream American opinion. They don't; they're well to the left of it. And editors come up through the same channels as reporters. They're of the same breed. They have the same populist, anti-establishment agenda and a poor understanding of business and economics. They're even more sensitive than reporters to the politics of the current newsroom obsession with liberal political correctness and "diversity."
The notion of a crusading publisher rolling up his sleeves and writing editorial copy is an anachronism. The corporate suits that run the show now are MBAs and marketing types concerned about budgets, return on investment, market share, advertising revenues and Nielsen ratings. Some individual business executives may be registered Republicans and ideologically conservative in their private lives, but they don't necessarily behave that way when acting corporately. When wearing their pinstriped uniforms, most executives care more about principal than principles. They're pacifists in the war of ideas. They'd just as soon leave the content end of the business to the "talent." The New York Times is part of a large, profitable corporation but is indisputably liberal in its editorial opinion and news spin. So are Time, Newsweek, CBS, NBC and ABC. Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton says he's no liberal but the paper he publishes is unquestionably so. So much for the myth of "conservative corporations" dictating content.
In his parting shot, our letter writer says, "If you want liberal, listen to Air America or read The Nation, but don't offend my keen liberal senses with the notion that the media are liberal." This is another cute tactic: laying false claim to the center by recasting the political spectrum in the liberal image. The Nation magazine isn't simply "liberal," it's far left. And so is Air America. The Denver Post is liberal, that is, left center. The New York Times and Los Angeles Times are further left of center, but still within spitting distance of it. The Rocky Mountain News is liberal on its news pages but conservative, that is, right center, on its editorial page. National Review and The Weekly Standard are right center. The John Birch Society is far right. George Will is right center; David Broder is left center. David Duke is right wing; Molly Ivins is left wing. Fox News is right center. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS and NPR are left center. Ken Salazar is liberal; Diana DeGette is ultra-liberal. Bob Beauprez is conservative; Douglas Bruce is ultra-conservative. These are all relevant and meaningful distinctions. On balance, the major media are liberal.
The midpoint of American public opinion in 2006 is probably slightly right of center. That's why George W. Bush rode all those red states to re-election, and why Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress and hold most governorships. This, of course, can change. Along with most of the major media, liberals still hold sway in K-12 and higher education and the entertainment industry - which they believe is the natural order of things and the way they want to keep it. If those institutions were dominated by conservative views and values, liberals would be screaming bloody murder about the unfair bias.
Link (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_4473480,00.html)
Mike Rosen
February 17, 2006
Yes, labels matter. When used honestly they matter very much. Accurately identifying someone's underlying philosophy lets you know where he sits so you can better judge where he stands. It's a filter through which you can screen biases, agendas and baloney.
Conservatives tend to speak their minds candidly. They proudly acknowledge their pedigree. When you hear someone declare that "labels don't matter anymore," it's generally a liberal who'd rather disguise his stripes. Maybe that's why Whittaker Chambers, a one-time member of the Communist Party USA who recovered from that perverted ideology, noted that in America "the left can only take power through deception."
Liberals and conservatives have different assumptions about human nature, the way the world works and the role of government in society. It's been said that liberals don't care what you do as long as it's mandatory. They're coercive utopians at heart. Capitalists believe in equality of opportunity; socialists believe in equality of outcome, redistributed by government.
A recent letter to the editor - by a liberal - took issue with the charge that the media are overwhelmingly liberal. He repeated several familiar canards. While conceding that "journalists lean toward being liberal," he argued that this is offset by the oversight and influence of editors and publishers who are "overwhelmingly conservative."
"To think that corporations that own the mainstream media are liberal is ludicrous," he indignantly asserted. Really?
The term "mainstream media" is a misnomer. "Dominant liberal establishment media" is more like it and drops the pretense that the liberal media reflect mainstream American opinion. They don't; they're well to the left of it. And editors come up through the same channels as reporters. They're of the same breed. They have the same populist, anti-establishment agenda and a poor understanding of business and economics. They're even more sensitive than reporters to the politics of the current newsroom obsession with liberal political correctness and "diversity."
The notion of a crusading publisher rolling up his sleeves and writing editorial copy is an anachronism. The corporate suits that run the show now are MBAs and marketing types concerned about budgets, return on investment, market share, advertising revenues and Nielsen ratings. Some individual business executives may be registered Republicans and ideologically conservative in their private lives, but they don't necessarily behave that way when acting corporately. When wearing their pinstriped uniforms, most executives care more about principal than principles. They're pacifists in the war of ideas. They'd just as soon leave the content end of the business to the "talent." The New York Times is part of a large, profitable corporation but is indisputably liberal in its editorial opinion and news spin. So are Time, Newsweek, CBS, NBC and ABC. Denver Post publisher Dean Singleton says he's no liberal but the paper he publishes is unquestionably so. So much for the myth of "conservative corporations" dictating content.
In his parting shot, our letter writer says, "If you want liberal, listen to Air America or read The Nation, but don't offend my keen liberal senses with the notion that the media are liberal." This is another cute tactic: laying false claim to the center by recasting the political spectrum in the liberal image. The Nation magazine isn't simply "liberal," it's far left. And so is Air America. The Denver Post is liberal, that is, left center. The New York Times and Los Angeles Times are further left of center, but still within spitting distance of it. The Rocky Mountain News is liberal on its news pages but conservative, that is, right center, on its editorial page. National Review and The Weekly Standard are right center. The John Birch Society is far right. George Will is right center; David Broder is left center. David Duke is right wing; Molly Ivins is left wing. Fox News is right center. CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, PBS and NPR are left center. Ken Salazar is liberal; Diana DeGette is ultra-liberal. Bob Beauprez is conservative; Douglas Bruce is ultra-conservative. These are all relevant and meaningful distinctions. On balance, the major media are liberal.
The midpoint of American public opinion in 2006 is probably slightly right of center. That's why George W. Bush rode all those red states to re-election, and why Republicans have a majority in both houses of Congress and hold most governorships. This, of course, can change. Along with most of the major media, liberals still hold sway in K-12 and higher education and the entertainment industry - which they believe is the natural order of things and the way they want to keep it. If those institutions were dominated by conservative views and values, liberals would be screaming bloody murder about the unfair bias.
Link (http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/opinion_columnists/article/0,2777,DRMN_23972_4473480,00.html)