How You Can Help Eliminate Media Bias
The New York Times and press outlets which hang on the Old Gray Lady’s every syllable have proven unwilling to report some news painting the Obama administration in an unflattering light.
Consider Van Jones and Acorn’s “pimp” scandal exhibits Y and Z.
The evidence of liberal media bias, by this point, is too overwhelming to deny. CNN went so far as to “fact-check” a Saturday Night Live skit which dared to taunt President Barack Obama.
If it were a court case — the public versus the MSM — the defendant would settle out of court. Gladly.
Some MSM outlets will never acknowledge their biases. Consider the pathetic defenses raised by New York Times managing editor Jill Abramson over the paper’s Van Jones coverage — or lack thereof.
“We were understaffed that weekend,” she said.
It’s not hard to imagine both liberal and conservative news consumers spitting out their coffee after reading Washington Post TV critic Tom Shales’ curious defense of confessed child rapist Roman Polanski during an online chat:
There is, apparently, more to this crime than it would seem, and it may sound like a hollow defense, but in Hollywood I am not sure a 13-year-old is really a 13-year-old.
So what’s next? The battle lines in exposing media bias are drawn. It’s the MSM vs. talk radio, portions of the web, Fox News, and the Washington Times (to which I contribute occasionally as a features reporter).
The problem is clear. The solution? Far less so.
Here are some practical steps the public can take to keep up the battle against biased media:
1. Pen a letter to the editor. Yes, it sounds old-fashioned, but letter pages still go out of their way to present both sides of many stories. It’s one of the few media templates that are worth keeping as newspapers head toward a 21st century reboot. There’s a chance your local paper will print your letter, and an even better bet that someone of importance will at least give it a look.
2. Cancel your subscription. This is the most basic way to fight back against media outlets that refuse to be impartial. Write a civil letter to end your subscription, telling the recipient exactly why you’ll be spending your media dollars elsewhere. If the letter doesn’t have an impact, your cancellation will.
Thanks for the tips. We’ll use them to neuter the conservative media. (As if we didn’t know how . . .)
3:02 am ? Get a life pal.
So, vivo, you’d eliminate an entire spectrum of opinion, shared — in varying degrees — by nearly half the American population?
And you wonder why you’re accused of being communist!
Excellent article, Mr. Toto, and one that will definitely be shared.
I’ve heard whining before, usually coming from the libs, but you guys here whine with the best of ‘em. No wonder conservatives are out of power. Whine, whine, whine. Pathetic.
How is this whining? It is a suggested course of action to correct a media bias that is acknowledged by majorities of both liberals and conservatives.
You do want to know both sides of important issues so you can make up your own mind, don’t you? Or do you put your trust in the powerful, expecting them to take better care of you than you can do for yourself?
Write a letter to the editor? Bad idea. First, the editor thinks you are an idiot. Lynn Ashby, the former editor of the now-defunct Houston Post, explicitly called the Letters part of the editorial page “the village idiot’s column.” Even worse, the editor is free to print your letter either garbled into meaninglessness or even edited to make you sound like the fool he thinks you are. Just let your subscription lapse and don’t bother trying to tell the editor why. He won’t wonder why his newspaper wasn’t good enough for former readers like you, he will wonder why readers like you aren’t good enough for his newspaper.
It never ceases to amaze me how a short simple article about media bias can draw out the left wing trolls. It’s almost like they sit in front of their computers just waiting for a moment to spout their acrimonious drivel. Must be nice to have that amount of free time.
2. marktrail:
“3:02 am ? Get a life pal.”
6:02 am New York
11:02 pm London
2:02 pm Moscow
12:02 am Honolulu
3. Eowyn:
Can u tell it’s a joke?
Look who’s up early to post the counter-opinions. Busy night, guys?
It’s also a bias to consider only “liberal media” and the “MSM” as biased. Here’s my attempt to get Pajamas Media to issue a correction or corroboration of a claim;
http://scienceblogs.com/deltoid/2009/01/telegraph_refuses_to_correct_m.php#comment-1307182
They did not respond to communications or acknowledge the issue, and it seems impossible to find the responsible editor. How’s that for transparency and accountability?
Nice article; But, I beg do differ;
1. #2 cancels #1;
2. Social media is the most reliable these days; And shouting is required;
3. #4 is not possible nor practical;
4. #5 – CONSIDER the Heritage Foundation, American Enterprise Institute, National Review, American Thinker, Real Clear Politics, Hoover Institute; All proven, established media outlets. And there are many more. These sources present material in a clear, concise manner.
5. #6 – Have your message ready; Short and sweet; Carry your banner;
6. #7 – SURE; Ahmadinejad and Obama will have a beer any day now! [See #2. Is a sarc/ tag needed?]
7. Your last two sentences bear repeating;
“The goal here isn’t to transform the media into a right-wing cheering section. It’s to ensure all the pertinent news reaches the public — unfiltered.
Media consumers can make up their own minds from there.” [BRAVO]
8. Thanks.
I like the “vote with my money” idea. Haven’t you been neutered already, little vivo?
8. vivo: “Can u tell it’s a joke?”
Nope.
7. Dan Maloney wrote:
It never ceases to amaze me how a short simple article about media bias can draw out the left wing trolls. It’s almost like they sit in front of their computers just waiting for a moment to spout their acrimonious drivel. Must be nice to have that amount of free time.
Peter writes: Moonbattery.com has the perfect example of trolls like vivo on their site today…
http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2009/10/open_thread_425.html
#7DAN MALONEY,314 PETER THE BUBBLEHAED.TROLLS LIKE VIVO SUFFER FROM THE VIRULENT DISEASE OF STALINISM.THEY CAN’T BEAR THAT ANYONE DISAGREES WITH THEIR TOTALITARIAN FANTASY, WITHOUT WHICH THEIR PATHETICALLY WEAK EGOS WOULD DISSOLVE.THEREFORE,THEY NEED TO TRY TO SHUT DOWN FREE SPEECH WHETHER BY LIBEL OR INTIMIDATION.THEY CAN’T BEAR CONTRADICTION;LOOK AT OBAMA’S THUGGISH BEHAVIOR VIS A VIS FOX.THEY EAGERLY ANTICIPATE THE DAY WHEN THEY CAN REPEAL THE FIRST AMENDMENT,AND IMPRISON THOSE WHO USE IT IN GULAGS. I EAGERLY ANTICIPATE THE DAY THEY DO SO;WE NEED A SECOND AMERICAN REVOLUTION,AND A FIRST AMERICAN DEGUELLO.
#3 EOWYN. VIVO ISN’T JOKING;HE LOVES CASTRO’S CUBA(SEE HIS OTHER POSTS).SCRATCH A LIBERAL,FIND A STALINIST!
16. Deguello, if vivo IS joking, it’s not very funny. As a (recovering) journalist, I find the idea of media “fairness doctrines” and other Stalinist tactics are very scary.
Writing a letter to the editor is waste of time. The editorial staff doesn’t give a damn what you think. Instead, write to the advertisers, telling them that you are offended by their sponsorship of biased and dishonest “journalism”. Give specific examples of what you object to. State that these abuses are now associated in your mind with the advertiser’s products or services, and as a consequence, you will be boycotting those products or services until either (a) the biased and dishonest practices stop or (b) the advertiser withdraws its ads. Be polite, but firm.
The editorial staff can ignore YOU, but they can’t ignore the advertisers who pay their bills. If an advertiser threatens to pull its ads because the relationship is hurting the advertiser’s business, the editorial staff WILL hear about it in no uncertain terms.
Don’t waste time complaining. Hit them in the pocketbook instead.
The NYT and other pillars of the liberal media are on their way out, subscribers and advertisers are abandoning the sinking ships.
FOURTEEN % INTEREST RATE!!!!! With idiotic and desperate decisions like that, good riddance.
“This week, Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim agreed to provide New York Times $250 million in financing in exchange for warrants and a 14 percent interest rate on six-year notes.
Under the terms of that agreement, the publisher said that any money raised from a sale-leaseback would also be used to pay down debt, according to a regulatory filing Jan. 21.
New York Times tumbled 10 percent this week in New York trading on investor concern that the deal with Slim would burden the company with interest costs and dilute the holdings of existing shareholders.
Barclays Capital Research estimated the Slim financing may cost New York Times as much as $35 million in annual interest.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601204&sid=aWcLhnxCIRcU&refer=technology
19. Anonymous:
Glad to see these rats starting to eat each other.
“How You Can Help Eliminate Media Bias”
Easy. Boycott Fox News. Next question.
15. DEGUELLO: “TROLLS LIKE VIVO SUFFER FROM THE VIRULENT DISEASE OF STALINISM.”
Once again, it’s the Trolls against the A-holes.
The best way to address the mainstream media problem is to quit watching it and quit reading it. Their markets have shrunk dramatically over the last 10 years and it’s mostly due to individuals who have quit relying on it, and moved onto other sources.
Quit watching CBS, NBC, ABC, CNN, Fox, C-Span and your public and local TV channels. If you think they are biased, quit watching them, totally. Be pro-active and part of the solution – quit watching them (all of them). Eventually they will either make the changes to deliver balanced reporting or they will continue to die. The same goes for the newspapers and weeklies – quit subscribing or buying at the newstand.
It’s really not hard to quit these news sources. The first couple of weeks may be painful, but you’ll have more time to spend on the Web seeking information and opinion from a wide variety of sources, and what better place to start with than Pajama Media’s PJTV!
Note: Since the early 2000′s, I’ve quit watching all major news outlets, including Fox, and ended all major newspaper/magazine subscriptions. Ever since doing that, I’ve had a much more positive outlook on life. Most others would respond the same way.
13. Eowyn:
“8. vivo: “Can u tell it’s a joke?”
Nope.”
It figures.
21. biblio44:
“Once again, it’s the Trolls against the A-holes.”
#17 EOWYN: VIVO isn’t joking,he loves Castro’s Cuba as do all libs:they are all enthusiasts of totalitarianism.They need the drug of an utopian fantasy to medicate their miserable egos,and won’t tolerate anything that contradicts it,that’s why they want censorship. Stop fearing them;they are only cowardly,mentally,morally corrupt,and undisciplined thugs.Oh,and remember EOWYN, the second amendment exists to protect the first.
# 23 VIVO defecated:”Once again it’s the trolls against the aholes”.Explain the difference,and wipe yourself afterwards, use a copy of the New York Times, my birds do.
BIBLIOT44 (Is that his IQ?: DITTO for you.But with one big difference:you don’t need to use the NY times to clean up,just leave it in your pampers,It’ll inspire future posts of similar brilliance as #21.
BIBLIOT 44(IS THAT HIS IQ ?)apropos #21. Ditto for you, but don’t worry about using the NYTimes to clean up,just leave it in your pampers.
Deguello and vivo, come and see me sometime.
Best regards.
Not.
EOWYN:Was it something I said? Did I threaten your preciousity? I am sOO sorry! NOT!
Regarding # 6 -
6. Challenge progressive talk radio. The Air America experiment continues despite low ratings, but the liberal radio network isn’t the only source of progressive chatter.
Just wanted folks here to know that Air America just launched a new website that better displays its 15 radio programs, as well as online and video content. Hope you will take a look and see where progressive media really is going:
http://airamerica.com/news/10-12-2009/welcome-new-air-america/