[Speed Gibson,
Thursday October 28, 2004 at 12:56pm]
Starve the Beast?
A somewhat despondent Elder at Fraters Libertas urged that we cry havoc and "Starve the Beast" meaning the MSM.
By feeding the fire, he means subscribing or supporting their advertisers. His heart is in the right place. Even I never thought the MSM could be this openly dishonest. The Swift Vets are ignored, while Michael Moore and John Kerry get the biggest free passes to date.
Now as regards national network news (including PBS), I agree. I don't watch any of them, and neither would Edward R. Murrow. They're just not credible, and they're anachronisms given CNN & Fox News. We don't need them anymore. The same goes for 60 minutes, Dateline, and 20/20. Even Meet the Press et al should find a home on cable or die. The Today Show and Good Morning America never were serious news programs, and maybe they should just stick to pop culture.
Local TV news' problem is rather different: excessive fluff. It's more like People Magazine than real news. Again, who needs "Dimension" features on seat belt design?
But newspapers? If you have a choice between The Washington Post and The Washington Times, obviously there's no need for the Post in your life. But unless the Pioneer Press raises its standards, and there have been a couple of hopeful signs, we're stuck with the Star Tribune this side of the Mississippi.
I submit it is better to have read and laughed than not to have read at all. We know what to expect. We know to read the last couple of paragraphs first. We know when they're publishing false information, especially when they're lying. Nick Coleman isn't fooling us! But there is also a great deal of useful, accurate information as well, and we'd be foolish to spitefully ignore it.
But I would recommend this: buy your paper at your coffee place, the gas station, wherever. What newspapers really want is your name on the subscription rolls to impress advertisers, not your anonymous change in SuperAmerica's till. Or find a way to share the paper with your neighbor, and save a tree a year.
In order to fight media bias, we must stop feeding the fire. The multi-headed media beast must be starved. I urge you to step back and take an inventory of your media lifestyle. It's time to make some changes.
By feeding the fire, he means subscribing or supporting their advertisers. His heart is in the right place. Even I never thought the MSM could be this openly dishonest. The Swift Vets are ignored, while Michael Moore and John Kerry get the biggest free passes to date.
Now as regards national network news (including PBS), I agree. I don't watch any of them, and neither would Edward R. Murrow. They're just not credible, and they're anachronisms given CNN & Fox News. We don't need them anymore. The same goes for 60 minutes, Dateline, and 20/20. Even Meet the Press et al should find a home on cable or die. The Today Show and Good Morning America never were serious news programs, and maybe they should just stick to pop culture.
Local TV news' problem is rather different: excessive fluff. It's more like People Magazine than real news. Again, who needs "Dimension" features on seat belt design?
But newspapers? If you have a choice between The Washington Post and The Washington Times, obviously there's no need for the Post in your life. But unless the Pioneer Press raises its standards, and there have been a couple of hopeful signs, we're stuck with the Star Tribune this side of the Mississippi.
I submit it is better to have read and laughed than not to have read at all. We know what to expect. We know to read the last couple of paragraphs first. We know when they're publishing false information, especially when they're lying. Nick Coleman isn't fooling us! But there is also a great deal of useful, accurate information as well, and we'd be foolish to spitefully ignore it.
But I would recommend this: buy your paper at your coffee place, the gas station, wherever. What newspapers really want is your name on the subscription rolls to impress advertisers, not your anonymous change in SuperAmerica's till. Or find a way to share the paper with your neighbor, and save a tree a year.