What is not reported is often far more important than what is
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| The Media, Their Mouths and Their Minds |
And you thought the media made it tough with their mouths open. They make things far more difficult when they choose to keep them shut.
Consuming news as a conservative is always an unappetizing proposition, given the Leftist slant to nearly everything on the menu. Being fed a steady diet of what collectively amounts to "You are wrong, and an ass (to boot) for what you think" leaves the average diner unsatisfied.
We are delivered so many servings of these media bias sins of commission we have been forced to make antacids the fifth food group. Here at the Media Research Center we find ourselves perpetually understaffed and overwhelmed in our efforts to chronicle it all. (We were going to address this by conducting a hostile takeover of the New York Times, but we found them to be too hostile and with too little left to take over.)
As far as the media is concerned, in |
The last thing the media wish to do is chronicle the fumblings and foibles of their Liberal cohorts now at the controls on Capitol Hill - and try as they may, the Congressional Republicans' serial errors are simply not enough to feed the ravenous 24-hour media beast.
So more and more we are fed less and less. What they choose NOT to place on their bill of fare -- their sins of omission -- often leave us starving for the news staples of life.
The latest and best example of this is the goings on in Iraq.
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| "In Iraq News Tonight, ..." |
Four years of our failing to bring stability there gave the political activist media - the New York Times, Washington Post, ABC, NBC and CBS to name but a few - the chance to deliver us the bad news they wished. What began as a steady stream of negative stories grew to be a torrent.
And with the eagerness of a puppy in pursuit of its tail, the MSM was balefully predicting no hope at all for any success in the future.
The press has also been trying to spin the results of the 2006 election into a "mandate" for a precipitous U.S. troop withdrawal from Mesopotamia.
They were so busy opining on what the election meant that more than 40 attempts by congressional Dems to force an end to the war seemed to escape their notice. Lost too in this shuffle was that a great many of the freshman Democrats -- who were a part of this supposed newly minted anti-war majority -- were in fact voting in opposition to their Party's leadership on these measures.
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| A Freshman At Once in D.C. and His District |
Or at least trying to appear that they were. (These youngsters have yet to learn that the key to success in Hollywood or Washington is sincerity - once you learn to fake that, you've got it beat.)
When the David Petraeus Surge was announced in January, and throughout its early stages, the media were again the Choir of Our Discontent. Singing along with Sen. Harry "The War is Lost" Reid and company remained easy so long as we continued to struggle in Iraq.
But as summer came and went, the facts on the ground improved to such a degree that even the media had to change their tune and report them.
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| Whole Rest |
But then the music stopped. On September 10th, General Petraeus appeared before Congress to discuss this progress, and since then two things have diminished sharply -- the bloodshed and the press' reporting on and about it.
As chronicled in our Media Reality Check, the Big Three Networks (NBC, ABC and CBS) all abruptly dropped the Iraqi ball, airing a combined 178 reports in September, 108 in October and just 68 in November.
As far as the media is concerned, in Iraq, if it succeeds it does not lead.
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| Now This is News |
Remember this the next time the press regales you with polling data showing Americans displeased with the progress in Iraq -- they have not been properly told of it by the people rushing to instead report the poll.
In Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Silver Blaze", Sherlock Holmes counseled us to be mindful of the dog that does not bark. He deduced the story's horse thief to be someone a curiously quiet canine knew well, for it would have barked at anyone else.
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| Free and Informed |
It is advice worth heeding regarding the media. If these hounds are silent, there is either Conservative good news afoot, or their Liberal friends are once again sinking in their own morass.
The price of remaining free is eternal vigilance; the same can now be said of remaining informed. In a Presidential year especially, it is every American's duty to do so.
—Seton Motley is Director of Communications for the Media Research Center and Contributing Editor for NewsBusters.org.


























Editor at Large
Comments Policy
Duty
January 2, 2008 - 10:47 ET by iveseenitallIt is our DUTY to speak out. You are so right. Above all, apathy is what will drag us down. For too many years the MSM, the educational system, and the "liberals" in general have had their way. They've successfully followed their mantra of "be an agent for change". Everything they touch changes the world for the worse. Success is anathema to them; they embrace failure. They would rather see America destroyed than to admit that they are wrong. They will ruin the world, sans conscience. We owe it to the young to speak out and stick to our principles in the face of their sarcasm,mockery, and lies-- the staples upon which they feed.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
what now
January 2, 2008 - 10:53 ET by OklahomaIsShapedFunnyI am a listener in the front row.
I'm friggin' pumped by the message... "HECK YA!"
uh.....
now what?
Stay pumped
January 2, 2008 - 11:06 ET by iveseenitallStay pumped, Oklahoma. Lose any "fear" of speaking out. Beneath their facade, "liberals" are poltroons, paper tigers who deep down don't even believe half the crap they spew. And when they finally see the light and eschew "liberalism", they are like smokers who have quit. They become allies in the fight for right.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
it's easy if you try...
January 2, 2008 - 12:09 ET by OklahomaIsShapedFunnyI think liberals do believe their crap.
I believe if "truth" and "reason" being "spoken" had transformative power over liberals then we wouldn't have a NewsBusters site to visit daily.
I feel that my conservative paradigm mimicks my faith tradition of seeing the world getting worse.
Seriously...
Imagine the most ideal champion for "truth".
Imagine a guy who looked like Indiana Jones (or insert your best looking mature dude).
Imagine he had the charm of Will Smith (again, your most charming dude).
Imagine he had the intellect and communicating ability of Rush Limbaugh.
Imagine he had a "history" as white as snow, billy graham-ish.
And so on....
If this guy was solidly conservative... Imagine the MSM and Liberal reaction and take on him.
By what means can "truth" be championed?
(no intentional john lennon references... he was a putz)
Irony
January 2, 2008 - 12:44 ET by iveseenitallThe ultimate irony of liberalism/communism/socialism is that adherence to it will bring the few to power while the many continue to struggle. People such as Hillary will never stand in line waiting for the kind of healthcare she wishes for you and you family. Algore will not be suffering the airport hassels you have. John Edwards is not moving from his mansion anytime soon. They and their ilk will live a life of luxury as they watch you run faster and faster to keep up with their rules, regulatiions, and taxes. It's what Mark Twain dubbed "The Big Lie". He was referring to the odius practice of physical slavery. I'm talking about economic and intellectual slavery. In many ways they are the same things, all slavery. "Liberalism"( socialism/communism ) must be studied. The more you know, the better off you are. The more you learn what it truly is, the more equipped you are to fight it. And fight it you must. No less than America's future is at stake.
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberal"
Silence can be golden
January 2, 2008 - 12:20 ET by SouthernRootsOf course, without the daily barrage of bad news from Iraq, the public has been able to get a breather and become less sensitized to news from Iraq.
In many cases, they now have to go elswhere to find out anything about Iraq and they are discovering that it isn't as bad as they had been hearing. They are finding out that the surge is actually working and their optimism is rebounding, albiet slowly.
I would like the good news from Iraq reported more heavily, but I can at least be grateful that the constant, daily barrage of negative stories has slowed down - finally.
I would like to see the MSM "journalists" be forced to go back, read, memorize and then be held strictly to the Society of Professional Journalists Code of Ethics, such as:
I won't be wronged. I won't be insulted. I won't be laid a-hand on. I don't do these things to other people, and I require the same from them. - J.B. Books (John Wayne)
Thanks
January 2, 2008 - 12:49 ET by iveseenitallThanks for the reminder, Southern Roots. Too bad "liberals" don't ever play by the rules---they think "rules are made to be broken" -- How ignorant that is!
NEVER,NEVER trust a "liberals"
The monopoly the old media
January 2, 2008 - 12:54 ET by rbosqueThe monopoly the old media has had for quite some time is fading away. People are becoming better informed from radio and the internet. People will always strive to be free. The day socialism and the media that pushes it are gone will be another Independance Day!
Do you mean Americans didn't vote surrender in 2006?
January 2, 2008 - 13:44 ET by CTSeton:
This is one of the best MRC Editorial Posts I seen on this board, thank you.