Media Coverage of Iraq War
Here’s a link to the summary of media coverage I referenced on the air a little while ago. It is from an anti-war source, and a lot of it is anecdotal, but some of it is based on studies of the media, and the source is impeccably honest. It’s a long document, but if you read it or skim it and don’t come out feeling like we were not only duped but fucked by the media, let me know.
Post a link to a “pro war” source as a counter balance.
Ant
ps, then I can read both at the same time - I thought this was INDIE talk - get with the program
… and if Steve becomes a co host as Pete offered, I’m outta here.
Ant
ps, his passion is not enough (no offense Steve) but I tune in for Pete
Big Bro, I know what you do to search for the truth and dispel what we read and hear in the mainstream media, but most Americans are very affected by the media’s and government’s propaganda and scare tactics because they don’t have sons who disprove their bull. Probably many don’t really want to know the truth because it’s easier to be in denial. I used to be that way, but I am slowly coming out of my coma. What about the rest of the people? How will we get the message out to those who don’t listen to Pete’s Big Mouth?
I got a program for you right here, Ant
I chose a source that I know has high standards for accuracy. I’m not aware of any pro-war source that has such standards, since all of the ones I’m aware of were reporting the erroneous bullshit this document exposes as just that. Not all sources are equal in terms of integrity and veracity. As I noted on the air just now, one side was almost completely correct and the other side was almost completely wrong.
It’s called “Indie Talk” not because we don’t take sides on anything. We’re not affiliated with any political parties or ideologies, but we don’t pretend there is no such thing as right and wrong, accurate and inaccurate. Being independent does not mean pushing stances that have proven wrong just to seem like you’re “balanced.”
Anyway, if you find a document that you think is this solid, and it’s from a pro-war group, feel free to link to it yourself. Or start your own blog.
Jesus Ant, slow down with the posts.
Here is something I said on the air yesterday:
The number one job of anyone in the media is to ensure that the people listen/watch and will continue to do so.
Television and radio stations (including Sirius) are there to generate revenue for its owners. The need their customers (us) to watch the advertisments or pay our subscription fees.
Therefore, if they broadcast the news without clever animations, intimidating music, a sense of urgency, and often their own slant, they will not make as much money off of a 30 second commercial as they would.
Comedy Centrals two late shows spoof the news and add over-the-top graphics in order to show how crazy the media has become.
Mom, it’s true that you need to seek out alternate sources because the corporate media is never going to provide the information we need to make decisions (or you have to read the corporate media very carefully to discern the bullshit). It sucks that our so-called “democratic” society doesn’t make alternative voices more prominent, but you can’t really blame the system for hiding that stuff, since its dissemination would undermine that same system. Okay, maybe you can blame it.
It’s our responsibility as citizens to seek out alternate sources, and thankfully the Internet makes that possible. This group, Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting, is one such source that I highly recommend.
Big Brother, I am sorry to once again say that I am saddened that this show has digressed into one that emulates Radio Free America.
The parts that I listened to were far too left for me. You are bashing McCain because of age (NICE ONE THERE) and that he was and is in support of a free Iraq. Can you please find something else to hang your hat on? If you say that age means McCain would be a bad president, I should be allowed to say that Hillary would suck because she is a woman and Obama would blow because he is black.
The callers that I heard also made it apparent to me that the people from the right have really stopped listening due to the left rhetoric and agenda that is being pushed on us.
John, I largely agree with you about the political stuff. I didn’t say word one about McCain.
But let me explain something about my little brother, who is actually responsible for the content of the show (in case the name of the show didn’t make that clear): If Pete is Left or Right or whatever, it’s not because he saw a side and chose to adopt its arguments. He’s making reasonable arguments, and people are welcome to refute those arguments. Sometimes they do. But you can’t fault the guy for saying what he thinks. Do you think he should adopt some conservative opinions just to please you?
Pete’s shticks are his sense of humor and his down-to-earth honesty. He’s always been that way. If you think the product of that is too far to the left, you’re welcome to that opinion, but it’s not because he thinks of himself as on one side or another, and thus he’s adopting opinions or views or arguments in order to uphold a party or ideological line. That’s the difference between him and the morons at Sirius Left or Sirius Patriot, and that’s why he’s perfect for a station called Indie Talk. Whatever his conclusions, his open-minded process is commendable, and I’ll defend that any day.
I love Pete.
Ant
ps, no, not that way
Brother, ask Pete… or shall I say Al Franken about me… I love his shows. I love his comedy. I talk him up to other people and even on the air (Sirius 104, noon to before-that-fucking-cat). Heck, he met my wife and I when he was here in Cleveland last year (even though he bashed my home town on the air for days afterwards). AWESOME SHOW, BTW!!!
One thing you do NOT have to do is defend his integrity. He’s a rock to me. If it were anyone else, I would have stopped listening and would have called Sirius Corporate to ask when we would be getting a second Republican station to balance the playing field.
I have and take no issue with anyone for saying what they believe. What I will say is that it is completely unfair to tout them as neutral and unbiased. For the last two days, it just seems as if there has been around six hours of Bush bashing, McCain hating, and Obama loving.
As of now, I have not heard why he chose Obama other than the fact that he is/was against the war and McCain wasn’t. I have not heard his stance on virtually any other voting issue. Try on illegal immigration, the deficit, education, drugs, abortion, etc.
PLEASE FOR MY SAKE, CAN WE PLEASE HAVE A DAY WHERE WE ALL DISCUSS OUR OWN PERSONAL VIEWS ON ISSUES RATHER THAN TALKING ABOUT THE CANDIDATES?!?!?!?!?
quote from Big Bro:
“That’s the difference between him and the morons at Sirius Left or Sirius Patriot, and that’s why he’s perfect for a station called Indie Talk. Whatever his conclusions, his open-minded process is commendable, and I’ll defend that any day.”
Been there, done that, agreed.
Left or right sucks big time. You allowed to bad mouth other Sirius talent?
Pete’s Big Mouth makes the middle ground pretty damn interesting. That’s not easy to do because moderation by definition does not always stand out or entertain. And now we know he has a Big Bro and an Engaged Momma.
Ant
ps, thanks for the smiley face Big Bro
I failed to add something…
Just like in 2004, this election is going to be a knock-down drag-out struggle. The downside (and South Park had this right in 2004) is that we have to choose between a Giant Douche and a Turd Sandwich.
J from C
You calling Barry a “big douche”?
Ant
ps, please don’t use “turd” and “sandwich” in the same phrase - I just had lunch
who is barry?
Barry aka Barack Obama.
Ant
ps, he decided to get back to his roots and then return again
Then, to answer your question, I am calling all of the candidates terrible. This country needs another Reagan. Someone that can completely get the whole country behind him. (Many of you were not around but Ronnie carried 49 states in the 1984 election).
John, I think it’s hillarious that you think a second “Republican” channel would “balance the playing field.” First of all, those dickwads on Sirius Left are not even leftists, they’re moderate liberals at best. Check out the spectrum, see how much more is there to the left of those pre-programmed robots. Second, maybe your radio is busted. Mine has Sirius Patriot, Fox News, Fox Talk on it, plus 3 Christian channels. I’d say the far Right is well represented, and that’s supposedly balanced out by the pathetic Sirius Left, which is so bad it makes me want to puke more than all those other conservative channels.
Who called Pete “neutral” or “unbiased”? What a joke that would be. And what a shitty, shitty talk show it would make.
As for spending too much time pumping Obama, I would just say he doesn’t do enough Obama bashing, and I don’t see the value in pumping anyone on the radio.
The last two days have been the exception in that Pete has talked a lot about politics. Normally, he focuses almost exclusively on the issues. I don’t think that’s changing, but we’ll have to wait and see. As for the Douche vs. Turd analogy, you and I are in complete agreement.
Ant: “You allowed to bad mouth other Sirius talent?” Shit yeah, this blog is on MY server that I run myself. Ain’t nobody can tell me what I can and can’t do. Besides, Pete bashes those fucktards on the air all the time, anyway. Calling them “talent” is kind of a stretch.
As much as I am a Obama supporter, I would agree with John on this one. John McCain is not a bad candidate and perhaps Pete is being a little reflexively harsh on him. He’s obviously enamored with Obama…so am I! But I’d love to see Pete talk about McCain’s merits. As open minded people, I think it’s important that we do that.
This is the first election where I didn’t feel I was voting against a candidate as much as for the opponent. I feel all three of the contenders would serve this country well and out of the field of Republicans, McCain was the best choice.
I love the word “fucktards”.
Ant
ps, use it regularly - maybe even applies to some of the listeners
Barack was in the news alot lately with the reverand issue and his speech.
Reasonable to talk about it. He (Barack) really does pump up the masses. And that’s a big part of politics.
Ant
ps, I still remember the day my mayor (then candidate) rang the bell, introduced himself and talked about how he was going to change things. Has he? Hell no. But he sure is likeable and has charisma. Does this lame perspective doom us to Hell? Nope, not unless you really expect change. Get involved at the local level, be loud and persistent, not just here on a blog or on a call in radio show. Go to council meetings, attend zoning board and commission meetings; volunteer for a person/candidate that you like. I have great respect for all politicians running for office - they are really putting themselves out there and facing real financial costs and real rejection. On some level, they’re in it for more than personal enrichment and greed (and no not only power rush either); there are some who truly begin wanting to help, wanting to serve. God bless em.
Oh! Couple other things…
We really shouldn’t fault any of the candidates for playing the game. If we as Americans don’t like the way the election game is played, we need to find a way to change the game.
Also, that Bill Burr bit was fantastic! And it gave me an idea. You guys are to be applauded for keeping the commercials restricted to just cross promotion, but doing a 3 hour show with little breathing time has got to be rough.
What if, in addition to the Blogcast and Cross Promotion, you guys find 2-3 minute stand up bits which have politically relevant points to make? It would give Pete a bit more of a breather and would tie into the tone of the show perfectly.
Before your show the only political opinion I would ever listen to was comedians. As far as I’m concerned humor is the only honest and pure form of political opinion.
Just an idea…
Big Bro,
Since we want to go across our fav’s…
I too have Patriot (I only like Andy Wilkow but he is noon to 3 which would take me away from Pete’s shows).
But don’t take Christian radio to be automatically right. Hell, look for Irish people who vote Republican, they almost don’t exist and they are almost all Catholic!
I want to live in the America where I don’t have to pay taxes to people who simply want more of me.
I want to live in the America where I get rewarded for getting an education and working hard.
I want to live in the America where my wife is glad to drop on her knees and pleasure me without having to get jewelry first.
I just don’t think Obama will give me that America right now. Yes, Bush sucks donkey balls. I agree with you. BUT DONT BE A FUCKTARD WHO SIMPLY VOTES ANTI-REPUBLICAN BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE THE CURRENT PRESIDENT! You may end up electing someone you hate more!
Pete makes it sound like he is voting solely on the war issue and nothing more. You need to agree with a candidate with more than just one issue in my opinion.
Dear Everyone
I think i might be the only one who listens to all 3 hours of the show. That being said I barely mentioned Barack Obama before this week. This week that is the biggest story. for good reason. His speech yesterday was different from anything any other politician has given in my lifetime.
As far as John Mccain perhaps you did not hear me say that it is not fair to be critical of him for his age. I made fun of his age . i made fun of his teeth. That is what I do. i made fun of a caller for saying that he would see chinese people and snap from a flashback.
I also pointed out that some ww2 vets still have that feeling when they see or hear anything about Japanese people.
some Jewish people wont buy anything from Germany.
I also said I like the fact that john mccain has had military experience.I like that in my presidents. I said that I think thats an important quality.
I dont expect many of you to be able to or even want to listen to all three hours everyday but you can bet your hair that I will be reading these comments and making my own from time to time.
That said , I love you all
Pete
i just read what I wrote and realized that I have no respect for punctuation,grammar or making sense
Pete
Quote from THE MAN: “…dont expect many of you to be able to or even want to listen to all three hours everyday”
But we do want to.
Ant
ps, its just this damn job gets in the way
Pete you are wrong. Go to the east side of Cleveland either a Jewish person is driving a Mercedes or they are too poor to own one and claim that it is because it is made in Germany.
“Quote from THE MAN: “…dont expect many of you to be able to or even want to listen to all three hours everyday”
But we do want to.
Ant
ps, its just this damn job gets in the way”
SERIOUSLY, WHAT DO PETE’S NUTS TASTE LIEK!?
Yeah, your blog master needs to add some editing features and graphics so we can dazzle you with our most excellent punctuation, spelling and graphics.
Ant
ps, hint, hint, hint BIG BRO
Quote from J from C:
“SERIOUSLY, WHAT DO PETE’S NUTS TASTE LIEK!?”
Tastes like chicken.
Ant
ps, finger licking good
I’m still unclear on what all the hullabaloo is, regarding Obama’s pastor (or whatever his official title is). Does anyone actually know what he said? I hear so much about how inflammatory it was, but what exactly was it?! I’m not sure how I feel about Obama, though I think it’s pretty clear that of the candidates that are viable, he’s the only one that’s not a total vacuum cleaner salesman. Why doesn’t anyone attack these guys for being so fucking vague about where they stand on ACTUAL ISSUES?! His minister has some controversial ideas? His grandmother wasn’t comfortable around “black boys”? His dog liked to hump too many guests’ legs? WHATEVER! how does this reflect on how he’s going to run the country?! We all have friends and family that say and do stupid shit… how hard is it to relate to this? MOVE ON!
Oh, and Tom (the Army vet who isn’t going to vote for Obama because the guy likes to wipe his ass with the flag)… flags are nice and soft and don’t chaff your ass, so, get over it… it’s nothing personal, don’t fault a man for liking the finer things in life.
Seriously though, if we’re going to make our voting decisions based on something as irrelevant as where he has his hands during recitals of pledges of allegiance, then we AGAIN will get exactly what we deserve as our commander in chimp.
Ultimately, I feel like we’re voting for whoever the vice presidential candidate will be (at least with Mccain and Obama) since it’s likely that they’ll both be dead within 20 minutes of their respective inaugurations (albeit for different reasons).
Quote from Dr. Dre’del:
“Ultimately, I feel like we’re voting for whoever the vice presidential candidate will be (at least with Mccain and Obama) since it’s likely that they’ll both be dead within 20 minutes of their respective inaugurations”
Well Michelle is worried too.
Ant
ps, Number 2 sometimes rises quickly - just look at the new NY gov
^^^^^
*clap clap clap*
Pete, you should play the comedian that said that the only way a black man would live as president is if he had a mexican VP.
Carlos Mencia!
John from Cleveland:
“But don’t take Christian radio to be automatically right. Hell, look for Irish people who vote Republican, they almost don’t exist and they are almost all Catholic!”
Dude, have u actually listened to that shit? They’re so far to the right even you would be nauseated by it. Who cares about Irish Catholics’ voting tendencies — on the issues, those stations sound way Right to me.
“I want to live in the America where I get rewarded for getting an education and working hard.”
Good luck finding that one, since it never existed here. All of the hardest working people I know make fuck-all compared to their lazy dicknugget bosses. And more and more of the highly educated people I know are working service industry jobs. So when you find that America, point the way, my friend.
“I want to live in the America where my wife is glad to drop on her knees and pleasure me without having to get jewelry first.”
What the fuck does that even mean?
“I just don’t think Obama will give me that America right now.”
You think the president should make your wife blow you? I thought conservatives wanted government out of their lives (unless it’s to tell them who they can marry, what to do with their bodies, etc). You’re really blowing away the stereotypes, John
“Yes, Bush sucks donkey balls. I agree with you. BUT DONT BE A FUCKTARD WHO SIMPLY VOTES ANTI-REPUBLICAN BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE THE CURRENT PRESIDENT! You may end up electing someone you hate more!”
Hey, “fucktard” is my word! How dare you use it against me, you unoriginal taintscrubber! And when did I say who I was voting for or against? I live in NY, so my vote doesn’t count, which means I don’t plan to cast it, even though my polling place is a block away, since I can think of 15 better things to do instead, including try to extract that damn piece of lint that’s been in my bellybutton for like 30 years…
Ant: “Yeah, your blog master needs to add some editing features and graphics so we can dazzle you with our most excellent punctuation, spelling and graphics.”
Oh, that’s all you need is more of an excuse to sit in your mother’s basement refreshing this blog all fucking day
Quote from J from C:
“BUT DONT BE A FUCKTARD WHO SIMPLY VOTES ANTI-REPUBLICAN BECAUSE YOU DON’T LIKE THE CURRENT PRESIDENT”
The current president has made it so easy for all of us to be a fucktard (sorry Big Bro).
His base is bolting - even they’re sickened by both his words and actions.
Ant
ps, and not all Christian radio sucks, “The Catholic Channel” on Sirius is great - Check Father Dave out now on “the busted halo”, or Lino in the PM (don’t miss Pete tho), Dave and Susan in the AM
Notice how the blog master reserves the right to wink and smile.
Ant
ps, we need more of that in here in case things get heated or misconstrued
Ant, you can wink and smile — just use:
; - ) or : - ) [without the spaces]
ps, what is with all the ps’s? You can’t move your cursor back up after you write your silly nickname and just add to what you already said?
Thanks.
Ant
ps,
or 
won’t know it works until its posted
1. I NEVER ever listen to Christian radio. Sorry, they’d never vote for me in a primary if I ran for election. And, to be honest, I plan to run for state senate in 2010.
2. You need a sounding off for each person who is and will contribute. Have the person sound off on every issue they normally vote on.
3. Ant is using a typewriter… I am sure of it.
OFF TOPIC:
Since you work on the web site, sort of, can you please update Pete’s schedule? My wife said we can go to Vegas if he and Arty do another show or in NYC if we can find a good weekend.
Quote from J from C:
“And, to be honest, I plan to run for state senate in 2010.”
Its starting to make sense now.
Ant
ps, who say’s I’m using a typewriter
John, I only do the blog. Pete’s butler is supposed to update the schedule, but he’s a lazy bastard. I keep telling him to replace that British jello-gargler with a Mexican.
You know guys…if this keeps up like this what we need more than a Blog is an IRC room…
I was going to make a point here, but I started reading all the posts and by the time I got through, I couldn’t remember what the topic was in the first place…
Ant… congrats on popping your emoticon cherry! Welcome to the internet
You guys are nuts!!!!
but very funny!
Sorry to be such a late commenter.
I’m really becoming completely lost at how to get good information, and not spend 3 hours per day teasing the reality away from the rest of the pisswater effluent that inundates newsmedia.
If I could count the times I’d seen a negative foreign policy piece in international media, only to have the “Agenda-laden” NYT bury it with the rest of the crowd… Sometimes I think they post wacky John McCain sex scandals just to keep everyone guessing.
Also, aren’t journalists (saving carefully vetted imbeds) confined to the Green Zone? In which case, who knows what’s going on outside?
“pisswater effluent that inundates newsmedia”
Good use of this week’s vocab words Rob, I’m so gonna use that one.
Is anyone like me in finding Patriot radio really off putting? Their hubris is encapsulated (see, I can use da big words too) in their name…Patriot…radio. As if the rest of us aren’t. If you listen to those other stations, you’re not a patriot! The only radio station patriots listen to is this one!
Well, here are a couple of quotes from a great American on the subject. Save Patriotism from the Patriots!
“Patriot: the person who can holler the loudest without knowing what he is hollering about.”
-Mark Twain
“Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it.”
-Mark Twain
Quote from T from V:
“Is anyone like me in finding Patriot radio really off putting? Their hubris is encapsulated (see, I can use da big words too) in their name…Patriot…radio. As if the rest of us aren’t. If you listen to those other stations, you’re not a patriot! The only radio station patriots listen to is this one!”
Not only do I listen, BUT I listen with my hand over my heart.
Ant
ps, don’t tell those patriots about surfing around here at Indie or the Catholic Channel, and BTW, God Bless America too - warts and all
Im waiting for Part 3 of ObamaFest today at 2pm only on Sirius 110.
So being a fan; I checked out Pete’s show just to give him some support. Now Pete and Big Bro have me thinking…damn them. Great show. The original post is about the media coverage.
Big Bro can you give and example of a national media story that you covered personally that the national news/big media got wrong?
America is a great country where I am able to live my dream. Do I want more? Of course I do and I have the opportunity to get more. I just need to work harder. I think Pete may feel the same????
I think any report from FAIR has to be read with caution. This is a clearly LEFT biased group, but they insist they are not. Yet their primary targets are on the right and they are almost exclusively cited by left and center left groups and bloggers.
Not that I think such bias renders their claims moot, only that partisans and ideologues tend to be blind to their own sides faults but certain their criticism of their opponents is the by god truth!
This particular report is misleading, I think, because it picks from all available media sources to make this timeline and most people do not get their news from such a wide range of stories. To hop around from source to source to source and call it a critical timeline seems to be to be a bit misleading.
This report is pushing a particular narrative, the evil Corporate press vs. the courageous independent (read: left wing) journalists.
I note this report doesn’t mention any of the East Coast media outlets who uncritically advanced Joe Wilson’s lies about his trip to Niger, why is that? Shouldn’t his deception be a part of a critical timeline of journalistic malfeasance? Not if you want to score points against you opponents, you don’t.
“FAIR’s Feminist Fraud. Before the Super Bowl, reporters fell for the feminist news “hook” that studies showed domestic violence increased during and after NFL football games. In a news conference called by the far-left media critics Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR), Sheila Kuehl of the California Women’s Law Center cited an Old Dominion University study, claiming violence against women increased 40 percent after Washington Redskins games. But of all the reporters who covered the story, only Washington Post reporter Ken Ringle called the author of the Old Dominion study, who said “that’s not what we found at all.”
Ringle also pointed out that FAIR representative Linda Mitchell claimed she knew Kuehl was misrepresenting the Old Dominion study, but declared: “I wouldn’t [challenge] that in front of the media…She has a right to report it as she wants.” Ringle also revealed that The Boston Globe cited “one study of women’s shelters out West…showed a 40 percent climb in calls” to shelters on Super Bowl Sunday. Globe reporter Lynda Gorov told Ringle she never saw the study, but had been told about it by FAIR. That’s an interesting picture of the media news chain: from liberal activist’s mouth to front-page story with no fact checking.”
http://www.mediaresearch.org/mediawatch/1993/watch19930301.asp
Also this:
Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) is a tax-exempt “media watchdog” organization founded in 1986 by radical activist Jeff Cohen, who regards the Democratic Party as “right wing.” FAIR’s position, as summarized in a 2004 article co-authored by its senior analyst Steve Rendall and staffer Anna Kosseff, is that, contrary to the claims of conservatives, the mainstream media in America are biased to the right, not to the left.
As evidence for their claim that the establishment media were conservative, Cohen and FAIR cited as evidence the relatively scant coverage and few interviews the media gave to radicals. Political programs typically pitted moderates-labeled-as-liberals against conservatives, argued Cohen, while “dissidents like Noam Chomsky and [unilateral nuclear disarmament advocate] Helen Caldicott never appeared once.”
As FAIR became more widely known in media circles, Cohen rose from being an irregular guest to a regular pundit on television. From 1992 until 1997 he co-wrote a syndicated column, “Media Beat,” with FAIR executive Norman Soloman, who continued to write it solo thereafter. In 1994 Cohen and Solomon began a continuing tradition of giving annual FAIR awards called “The P.U.-litzer Prizes” for examples of what they deemed right-wing or capitalist bias in media.
…
FAIR’s Advisory Board includes actors Edward Asner, John Cusack, Tim Robbins and Susan Sarandon; journalists Ben Bagdikian, Barbara Ehrenreich, Susan Faludi, Katha Pollitt [of The Nation], and Studs Terkel; musician Jackson Browne [a supporter of the Sandinista dictatorship]; and feminists Eleanor Smeal and Gloria Steinem. Asner, Ehrenreich and Steinem are members of Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), which describes itself as “the principal U.S. affiliate of the Socialist International.”
FAIR receives financial support from the Rockefeller Family Fund, the Samuel Rubin Foundation, the Tides Foundation, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy, the CarEth Foundation, the Ford Foundation, the Stewart R. Mott Charitable Trust, Working Assets, the Streisand Foundation and others. Such grants account for approximately 30 percent of FAIR’s annual operating revenue, the rest coming from the donations of 56,000 supporters and subscribers to FAIR’s magazine Extra!
From 1998 through 2005, the Ford Foundation made grants to FAIR totaling at least $450,000. It gave another $200,000 to Laura Flanders, the founder of the “Women’s Desk” at FAIR who also served as a producer-host on Working Assets Radio. Flanders is the older sister of the Clinton administration speechwriter Stephanie Flanders and is the niece of neo-Marxist CounterPunch Editor Alexander Cockburn.
Excerpted from: http://www.discoverthenetworks.org/groupProfile.asp?grpid=7092
I would give the novel you just posted a whole lot more credence if you hadn’t put so much emphasis on “LEFT” right off the bat. Who cares what their leanings are? Dispute what they’re saying, not why they’re saying it.
I find it very interesting that certain people believe that “right” does not just represent their political standing, but also describes their sanctimonious contention that right is exactly what they are on any and all issues.
Please…dispute the things posted, not the people posting them.
Uh… Did you see my first post?
I quote:
Your points are well taken. I would agree that this particular publication is certainly not unbiased and probably could have added a few other notes to lend themselves a bit more credibility.
However…
Lets not detract from the importance of the topic. Regardless of whatever bias that is present, it’s a chilling reminder of the state of the press. A disturbing number of the people we rely upon for information failed us, on both sides of the political divide. Can we agree to call this an incomplete but disturbing catalog of failures on the part of the media?
Travis,
I don’t know if I can agree with that. This catalog of failures seems to be more 20/20 hindsight with a dash of Monday morning quarterbacking.
I think a great deal of skepticism is warranted concerning this organization primarily because the trusts which fund the group are notoriously leftist (not liberal or conservative). Also, more than one board member is avowedly Socialist!
We have as much to fear from the government sector as we do the corporate sector and leftists don’t seem to get that. I don’t trust ‘experts’ to run things which involve human interaction. We need expert mechanics to work on our cars and expert carpenters to build our houses. We don’t need expert sociologists to order our communities and the extent to which we’ve allowed it, our communities have suffered.
I really don’t care if they’re outright communist in their leanings. If they make a convincing point that stands up to scrutiny, it’s not fair to discount the content of their comments due to their ideology. You can be suspicious, just try not to be dismissive.
I would agree that both the corporate and government sectors are dangerous and self serving. I think most people would.
I’m glad to see this thread has picked back up. I’m going to post a couple of responses.
First, to Todd, I find it HILARIOUS that you would caution readers that FAIR is biased, since I already did exactly that in my original post, but then you would post something from two of the farthest Right sources on the Internet (Discover the Networks and Media Research Center) and not offer any caution at all. Do you really expect us to take you seriously when you pull shit like that? Give us a break, man.
Then you write: “This particular report is misleading, I think, because it picks from all available media sources to make this timeline and most people do not get their news from such a wide range of stories.”
That is exactly why this is a GREAT sample — they pick stuff from the corporate media that is in some cases good reporting (like Knight Ridder’s pre-war work) and in many cases bad reporting. If they were making some kind of universal claim, they woudln’t show any reporting they agreed with at all. In fact, they published a separate piece that highlighted examples of good mainstream pre-war coverage. So they’re not just out to get the media.
And on the matter of how FAIR goes about critiquing the media, their objectivity of their survey research is actually unparalleled, despite their bias. In their anecdotal analysis, they obviously pick out stories they consider bad journalism to focus on, as do the groups you linked to. But in their studies, they use very sound techniques. This is something the Right would never dare try. They look at a media outlet, or a group of them, and they analyze what sources they’ve had on over a period, then they compare the *self-identification* of those sources along the political spectrum, or based on their express views on issues, and they tally up the results. They have so far found that all mainstream outlets, including PBS and NPR, drastically favor conservative/Republican voices, as well as white/male voices. This methodology is impeccable. So while conservatives whine about a liberal media, they’ve got no studies to point to — just anecdotal evidence. The objective evidence shows the exact opposite, even if you think Democrats/liberals are leftists (which is laughable).
In any case, if you have an argument to make, Todd, we haven’t really seen it. If you think the reporting on the war had a different bias than FAIR does, then why not show us? Why not point to a comparable study or compendium, including source-analysis like I’m talking about? If you think there is a mainstream source that favored anti-war opinion, show us! Otherwise, trying to undermine the source seems kind of like you’re dodging the issue.
Art made a fair request of me: “Big Bro can you give and example of a national media story that you covered personally that the national news/big media got wrong?”
Most of my work in media has been as an editor, but I’ve done a decent amount of reporting, too. I’ll provide some links that I hope will satisfy…
These are from my previous organization, The NewStandard. We recently moved the web archive and there’s something screwy with certain characters in the text, so I apologize in advance. Should still be perfectly readable…
“Katrina Survivors Face Cops, Gougers, ‘Gangs’
This piece was written during the post-Katrina chaos. If you compare it to what the mainstream was reporting at the time, I think the differences will be obvious. It wasn’t 20/20 hindsight that kept me from having to issue a mia culpa after writing this; it was just a healthy dose of skepticism that was severely lacking in the corporate press at the time.
Federal Whistleblower Office Accused of ‘Purging’ Staff
This is a very significant corruption story that I was one of two journalists to cover at the time. The other was a Washington Post columnist, not a reporter. The mainstream has touched on it since.
U.S. Forgives Iraq Debt To Clear Way for IMF Reforms
Nobody else touched this one, to my recollection.
Controversial U.S. Groups Operate Behind Scenes on Iraq Vote
This one is self-explanatory. Nobody wanted this angle.
My partner Jessica wrote what remains one of the best expose’s of the Katrina aftermath. The NY Times ran a pathetic version of this story the day after we ran ours, and we learned they had been sitting on theirs for days. They probably would have held it if we did not publish our report.
Abuse, Forced Labor Rampant in New Orleans Justice System
There are tons more examples, but I’ll leave it at that, and you all can judge if I know what I’m talking about.