Vanity Fair on why the media is hated

http://www.vanityfair.com/online/culture/2009/06/23/a-media-guy-asks-why-do-they-hate-us.html

 

It was interesting...I think he was still too high with his value on the validity of the liberal media complaint, but perhaps I'm just naive at this point. Fact that many media members would be more likely to be Democrat: Yes. Vast liberal media conspiracy: Emphatic no. Unfortunately, the right wing pundits who so many people simply believe on face value are always presenting the latter as fact.

 

It's stylish to be negative. People are not exactly trusting about the clergy, either.

Here's how I take stock: If I hear someone express something original along these lines, I listen. If it's a repeat of something I've heard Rush Limbaugh already express, then I ignore it. I can't tell you the last time I've heard any media-bashing that demonstrated an iota of original thought or, usually, the capacity to think independently at all. And, really, I've worked for some right-leaning papers and heard the same kind of crap from the other side. In either case, what usually shuts them up is, "I don't care about Fox or CBS. Give me one example from the newspaper where you live. Just one specific example." And they usually can't. Because unless it's been pointed out to them in a mass e-mailing or a radio or TV show, they don't know about it.

 

My favorite is getting accused of being liberal as a SPORTS WRITER. I've heard it a couple of times. Apparently, my baseball coverage can be too liberal at times.

I also remember one time posting a NYTimes sports article on another blog. Being about sports, there was no room for political bias, but I got inundated with responses from people screaming the Times was liberal, so they couldn't trust their sports coverage.

 

Here's what I always told people who complained reporters were too liberal.

"You're right. And it would really help if you wrote a letter to my publisher demanding he raise my salary enough so I would become a Republican."

 

People have always bitched about the media. None of this is new. This is like asking "Why do people hate politicians/lawyers?" The press really is the Fourth Estate in this country and the public likes to take shots at its institutions. And there've been complaints (both valid and not) since the invention of the printing press. "Hatred" for the press is definitely not what's hurting it right now.

 

It's been a constant 40-year campaign by one political party, which has controlled the White House (and thus the daily news agenda) for 28 of those 40 years.

 

Prove it. I'll wait.

 

In my state, the two main newspaper publishing groups are both owned by unabashed ultra conservatives.
So it isn't a vast liberal conspiracy here.

 

What country are you in? In the United States, you don't have to prove the lack of a conspiracy because that would be crazy. In this country, the burden of proof is on the side making the accusation that a conspiracy exists.

 

What a great choice to have the author write this peace.

No, I don't know anything about Matt Pressman, but could he have a better last name?

 

Come on. Admit it. You know you write more articles about left-handed pitchers than right-handers.
And that feature your paper ran on Steve Young? What more proof do you need?