From: jswitzer@afit.af.mil (Chip Switzer)
Subject: Re: Media bias
Keywords: bias
Organization: Air Force Institute of Technology
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 16:23:48 GMT

alex@umbc4.umbc.edu (Alex S. Crain) writes:
 
>In article <1992Jul22.190252.16079@afit.af.mil> jswitzer@afit.af.mil (Chip Switzer) writes:
>>Well I did get a chuckle from reading this.  Hopefully that's what you
>>intended.  I'm really at a loss to try to convince anybody that the
>>media is far more left than the rest of the country (which would be
>>irrelevant if it were not painfully obvious from watching/reading the
>>news).  I have to conclude that you either have your head in the sand
>>or that you just assume that because the news reports things the way you
>>personally see them, that they must be mainstream.

>       I have no faith at all that my views are mainstream in any society,
>but I still think that the liberal media is a conservative boogie man. The
>media, particularly network news, is hotly competitive, and if the media
>were off base, there would be a valuable opertunity for one of the major
>networks to shift to the right and grab a chunk of the audience. This has
>not happened, nor will it.

Well, here is where any good conservative has to point out the fallacy in
in your slightly obscure view of capitalism.  The media is certainly not
an open market.  It is full of monopolies.  Nearly every major city has only one
major newspaper.  (Seattle has two owned by the same company...)    Contrary to a true free market, a new newspaper cannot just spring up in a city with an 
oposing viewpoint.  There are too many other factors that favor the established newspaper. 
 
The networks used to have complete control over the airwaves, but have lost 
much of their past market share to the likes of CNN.  IMHO, the reason CNN has
gained so much on the three networks, is that they do a better job of 
reporting the news without bias.  

Ask yourself why the media is so regualted if it is truely a free market.  
You don't have to regulate a free market.  
 
>       The American public is not stupid, much to the chagrin of Rush
>and the dittoheads. 

It's not the conservatives who believe the public is stupid.  The media 
must believe it though.  It isn't enough to report the news--there has
to be analysis along with it.  We aren't bright enough to understand the 
current events so we have to rely on reporters to condense and explain the
news to us.  

I like the way *any* act the president has made during this year has been
reported.  Everything he does, says, or signs is predicated with, "Of course
this is an election year..."  Why not let us be the judge of whether or not
the president is posturing or just doing his job?  Note: I am not trying
to prove the media is anti-Bush--just pointing out that the media seeks to
not only report the news, but explain it to us.  This is where the bias
almost always comes in--intended or not.


>       I don't believe in a Liberal Media Conspirisy, so I conclude that
>the public is getting what the public wants. What I do believe is that
>the public is not as conservative as Rush and the Dittoheads would like,
>just like they're not as liberal as Jerry Brown would like. This being the
>case, it doesn't surprise me that both sides are claiming persecution from
>the media.

Are conservatives part of your "public"?  If so, and if you've been listening,
you'd have to conclude that *we* are not getting what *we* want.  And please
discontinue the "boogie man" and "conspiracy" angles.  They just make you
look foolish.  I have no problem discussing the issues, but I will bow out if 
the tone remains this immature.  I propose the "e" test.  Ask yourself, before
you bring up a point, if it will make you look as petty and downright stupid
as the person holding up the giant "e" during the Democratic convention.  Or
for that matter like all the speakers who felt the need to bring this 
important issue up.


Chip Switzer                            "A witty saying proves nothing." 
jswitzer@afit.af.mil                              -- Voltaire 
                        

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