The liberal media

[Precious Roy at work]

What is your opinion of the "liberal media?"  

Most major news sources (ABC, NBC, CBS, The Washington Post, The New York Times) are considered part of the liberal media, skewing coverage for their own liberal reasons.

Notable exceptions include FOX and The Washington Times.

Needless to say I'll give my own highly-opinionated response to my own question, but I want to hear some of your opinions first.

[|MP|Buccaneer]

I don't think the mainstream media is skewing it too much right now, in either direction.  Now I'm going to get blasted for this, so let me explain.

Most importantly, the media is showing the war itself, protests, and demonstrations of support.  They are also showing coverage of the Arabic point of view (multiple angles).

I think that many of the reporters have a sudden case of patriotism, that they are caught up in the war itself, the excitement that brings, and knowing that this is the "best" time for their careers.  So I think some of them have changed their opinions a little to make themselves more appealing to the US Public (much more so with Television coverage then print).

Overall, I'd say they've been pretty moderate.  This may look conservative to the liberals, or just because to go from liberal to moderate, they had to get more conservative.  But I see plenty of coverage of all the angles.  Editorials, I think, are being carefully chosen to not be too liberal.  

So, overall, I'm liking the shift from liberal to moderate, but I don't expect it to last.

BTW, I'm sure I will agree with you on some of the short-comings in the media and it's coverage.  But I don't attribute them all to being liberal or conservative.

[jn.loudnotes]

Frankly, I don't really disagree, only I don't see much in the way of opinion lately at all.  The media seems to be shying away from debate or any forceful condemnation and/or support of the war.  Mostly they're just reporting bland facts with a few images to color things.

Mostly, I feel like I'm hearing virtually nothing at all.  While of course they can't describe every detail for security reasons, it all seems very sketchy from here.  I feel like I know there's fighting in random places, but that's about it, liberal, conservative, or otherwise.

[|MP|Buccaneer]

The lack of opinion is one of the things I'm enjoying a bit more.  It's nice to just hear facts over all opinions.  It may make you feel less connected, but it makes me feel more informed.  

[Cossack]

I watch the evening CNN the most out of all of them. Evening news is more accurate. I dont have cable so I dont listen to the Faux News rubbish. All in all I think CNN stays away from some of the most brutish facts, they dont put much of an opinion on the facts they give you. Personaly News is News. Everything is on a spin, if you think about it too much, you focus more on the news service than whats going on.

[|MP|Buccaneer]

Quick Update.  NBC went into liberal mode tonight.  I watched a solid twenty minutes of women crying about their loved ones, and a little brother reading a note to his big brother, that just died (which looked very encouraged and not spontanious).  This followed by interviews with parents of some of the POW's.  

They are really focusing on the POW's right now, as if, for some reason, POW's and deaths are something new that was never expected.  "How does there being 5 POW's change your feelings on the war?" What a fucking stupid question to ask.  This is a direct quote, and I do know there are more then five, but obviously the reported didn't.  Ah well.

[tasty]

Why is having any emotion in reporting immediately interpreted as liberal? Just because POWs and deaths are to be expected doesn't mean they aren't worth reporting on. Reporting can have a humanitarian side.

[|MP|Buccaneer]

Not any emotion Tasty, but a huge overdose of gut-wrenching sadness.  Reporting on POW's and deaths doesn't make it necessary to show a woman sobbing uncontrollably.  Or staging a kid to read a letter to his dead brother (A kid so young, it didn't seem like he could even understand what was going on).  It was worthy of Jerry Springer to me, not journalism.  After all, there's a difference between reporting the news, and asking a pointed question to elicit a purely emotional response.  They way they ask the questions also shows if they are slanting, and they were.

[tasty]

There's only one news show worth watching: NOW with Bill Moyers on Public Television. Yes, he's obviously liberal but his show consistently has the most interesting and qualified academics and intellectuals, and Moyers asks thoughtful and poignant questions of them. Its on at 9 on Friday nights where I am, so I don't get to watch it all that often but if you're ever home on a Friday night I highly recommend his show.

To see the most hilariously moronic thing I've ever seen, go here: MRC Dishonors awards

[The Ghost of Bondo]

I've found all the US news sources to be incredibly boring and hard to watch...all news and no commentary.  So much sometimes that I really don't know what is happening.  I'd like to see them putting it in perspective more.

One thing of interest, while I was enjoying my time north of the border I got hooked on CPAC, the Canadian Politics Channel.  During the day it is basically CSPAN, but after session they has some really interesting interview/debate opinion things from many diverse angles.  It really allowed me to gain something from it as opposed to just being dazzled.