From: john@anasazi.com (John R. Moore)
Subject: Re: Media bias
Reply-To: john@anasazi.com
Organization: Anasazi Inc, Phoenix AZ USA
Distribution: usa
Date: Thu, 23 Jul 1992 02:37:50 GMT

Keywords: 

In article <1992Jul22.202933.22202@umbc3.umbc.edu> 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.

Wrong! The networks news and the mainstream newspapers are losing
customers. Meanwhile talk shows like the Rush Limbaugh show are
picking up listeners. Rush Limbaugh's audience of 12,000,000 is very
impressive when you consider how few people listen to talk radio.

]	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.

It doesn't take a conspiracy in order to have bias. If you want a good
example of media bias, consider the gun control issue. You see lots
of publicity for Handguns Control, Inc, and yet the major network
refuse to sell advertising to the NRA. Almost every show on guns
or violence is severely biased, and full of factual errors. The
media bandies around terms like assault rifles, and yet very few actual
assault weapons exist. The media invented the "cop killer" bullet that
doesn't exist. The media invented "plastic guns that can't be detected
by metal detectors" that don't exist. Time magazine stated that it
would use its NEWS (as opposed to editorial) articles to further the
cause of handgun control. The president of NBC is trying to get the
2nd amendment repealed. 

I don't want to get into a debate on gun control here, but I think it
can serve as an area where media bias can be clearly exhibited.


-- 
John Moore NJ7E, 7525 Clearwater Pkwy, Scottsdale, AZ 85253  (602-951-9326)
john@anasazi.com ncar!noao!asuvax!anasaz!john anasaz!john@asuvax.eas.asu.edu
 - - A conservative is a liberal who has been mugged by reality! - -
 - - Support ALL of the bill of rights, INCLUDING the 2nd amendment! - -
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