Ace asks, “Did Media Really Band Together To Protect The Chevy Malibu?”
That’s the charge leveled by the Truth About Cars:
Jack Baruth surveys the literature and concludes: “The media really didn’t want to let anybody know that the new Malibu sucks.”
The Truth About Cars previously featured an ahead-of-the-curve review — “The Malibu sucks” — and now, only after initial reviewer spinning, is the truth breaking out that the Malibu sucks.
How bad is media bias? Well, political considerations even distort car reviews.
We know they distort movie reviews, but at least movies are communicative, and as such related, in a way, to political campaigning (as Leni Reifenstahl could tell you).
But even product reviews — car reviews — are infected with Obama boosterism.
When I was a kid, I thought the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes was funny, but stupid. That would never happen, I thought. That’s what made it funny. It was so dumb. People were acting in such unbelievable ways.
But it’s actually spot-on, isn’t it?
Of course political considerations distort car reviews, when it involves keeping Dear Leader propped up. That last link in Ace’s post goes to a CNN-Money article. CNN-Money famously ran as headlines last year “Wingnut Debt Ceiling Demands” and “Florida and Texas in Jobs Pissing Match.” (We California residents are wondering…what are these “jobs” you speak of…?) In April of this year, CNN-Money ran article titled “Rising Gas Prices Aren’t as Bad as You Think,” despite calls from Obama and Steven Chu for just that. In 2010, their parent organization baked a cake on air to celebrate the one year anniversary of Obama’s stillborn “stimulus.” For a branch of Time-Warner-CNN, effectively the PR branch of Obama’s White House to say an unkind word about a product of Government Motors, you know it has to really, truly blow some serious chunks.
Related: “How NBC News, Dave Weigel Protect Obama From Romney’s New Line of Attack.”
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