The Anchoress, a three-time Weblog Awards finalist and 2007 Catholic Blog Awards Winner (congratulations!) in the Best Political/Social Commentary category (scroll down at link to see it), delivered a cold but necessary shower earlier this evening to those of us who are tempted to exaggerate or overstate the impact New Media is having on most Americans.
I'll bet that a lot of us can relay similar stories to the ones she referred to in her very perceptive post ("Good news leaks past the embargo on good news…"; links that contradict the Old Media-driven beliefs described and bolds/italics were included in her original):
Unfortunately, it is still true that until a new president is installed in the WH, preferably one with a D after the name, only the downsides are newsworthy, and that holds true in every subject. Every subject. My elderly family members are convinced that everything, everywhere, is going to hell, and they are fretful and terrified. They think everyone is out of work, the economy is in a recession, the war in Iraq is lost and there are no real terrorist threats - that’s just made-up stuff. They’re sure America is dying. They are sure the world is headed for famine. They are depressed and do not want to send out Christmas cards, because how can you do that when so much is bad in the world?
Story Continues Below Ad ↓If you ask them to look around and wonder how people are buying tiny houses in Queens for a million dollars - while everyone is working, their neighbors are expanding their homes, new businesses are being constructed - if you point out that the the stores and restaurants are crowded - if you ask them how it is that France and Germany have elected America-friendly leaders who are making it a point to work with the unanimously hated President Bush …it does not compute; everything is bad. “All I know,” they say, “is what I hear, and it sounds like the world is going to come to an end soon, because how can it keep going? There is going to be a depression and nuclear war! The oceans are going to cover the whole coast! Everything is going to be lost! Little children are being allowed to get sick and die! Here! In America!” And of course, “everything about Iraq is bad. There is nothing good.”
All they know, you see, is what they hear.
Her identification of the elderly as being particularly vulnerable to Old Media's selective reporting is important to grasp, as the elderly vote in greater numbers than other age groups.
Perhaps there should be an active campaign to promote fair-and-balanced Fox News, talk radio, and access to the expected-to-be-free online version of Wall Street Journal in retirement communities, assisted living centers, and nursing homes.
Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com.
—Tom Blumer is president of a training and development company in Mason, Ohio, and is a contributing editor to NewsBusters
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and if a Democrat were in
November 17, 2007 - 00:12 ET by motherbeltand if a Democrat were in the White House right now, with the same conditions we have, the economy would be picking up, we would be creating more jobs by the hour, CNN would broadcast good news from Iraq, we would be making great strides against global warming, there would be no homelessness, and in the words Scarlett O'Hara, we would "never be hungry again!!"
I could not disagree more
November 17, 2007 - 00:12 ET by Lame CherryThis featured blog on geezers is only reflective of the rather inept and non God inspired people of this person's family.
I have an Aunt whom I adore who is approaching 90 and she is brilliant by God in sifting through the rubbish. She spots things and knows very well what is a media scam and what is not.
Of course she worked for the weather service before radar came to be and later ran an agribusiness for 40 years in keeping an entire community viable, so she is pure American in not ever just simply standing by and waiting for a government check or expecting a job was a benefit instead of work.
Too often children are all termed brats and geezers are termed worry warts........I use the term geezer with love and affection as I would not be the person today if it was not for those old people who would talk to a young kid while everyone else would not make time for me and thought that Jake, Oliver, Bill etc.... were ready for the bone pile of life.
There are far more geezers in this world who know the facts.......and they too sit around coffee shops, bingo halls, golf courses and Churches and Synagogues talking over things they hear on Rush or some kid is telling them he read off of Drudge or Newsbusters.
I had a 78 year old woman just yesterday come by my computer and read a WorldNetDaily headline asking me what it meant.
I know geezers and forgive the French, but most of them didn't have a pot to piss in..........they grew up in depression, wars, nuclear bombs, had their kids killed, had their homes foreclosed on, lost everything, were humiliated, begged for a job..........and that is who our American geezers are. They don't buckle under the MSM nor get led around in mass.
Sure you got the AARP communist propaganda groups, but hey they die off just like all groups do eventually. American geezers are a tough bunch of people who lived life in more ways than one. I will bet most are calling the nightly anchors dumba**es just like most people are.
The people who believe the old media are like the people who believe Ron Paul is a savior in the wacko new media of Rense. You will always find the lunatic fringe, but they do not win. They either shoot their wad in fury or they cower...........while real voters are brave enough to go out and toss the worst of the lot out of office.
Daschle had his day.........the rest will have it coming too when the geezers get it talked over.
*HIC IACET ARTORIVS REX QVONDAM REXQVE FVTVRVS
This featured blog on
November 17, 2007 - 01:05 ET by Tom BlumerThis featured blog on geezers is only reflective of the rather inept and non God inspired people of this person's family.
I appreciate the general observations, but not the tone of that opener, esp as you're taking a shot at a person who is clearly a very devout Catholic (Anchoress) in what is likely an extended family of very devout Catholics.
Yes, a lot of the elderly are on top of things, and have acquired a natural conservatism through life experience. Any kind of attempt to get to generalities is dangerous, but note the following:
- Once a lot of the elderly start receiving Social Security and get used to living on it and/or end up depending on it and/or feel they can't get by without it, their former attitude towards the government and entitlements changes, sometimes slightly, sometimes significantly. I've seen it happen several times. This was part of FDR's "brilliant" political strategy in creating the program.
- Old Media is always after the well-to-do in the sense of making anyone who is well-off feel guilty for it. That includes the elderly well-to-do. Of course most resist, but even if only 10% of them get taken in by the class warfare and two Americas garbage, it has a big impact.
Excuse me, LC, that is not
November 17, 2007 - 09:43 ET by motherbeltExcuse me, LC, that is not a "featured blog on geezers." The subject of the blog is the negative viewpoint of the media wanting people to think that things are terrible all over...end of the world (women and minorities hardest hit.) The fact that she mentions that some of her elderly relatives believe it, does NOT mean that she is calling all elderly people uninformed and stupid, as you seem to imply that she is (otherwise, why would you feel it necessary to tell us of the smart informed older people that you know?).
Give the lady a break. You're going way off on a tangent here.
Ah, yes, “the family
November 17, 2007 - 05:30 ET by maggieqpublicAh, yes, “the family discussion”.... always a good topic around the holidays.
Here’s more anecdotal, specifically about the war in Iraq. When the war was not going well, my brother-in-law did NOT express the view, “The war is not going well. There are no weapons of mass destruction. The President should not have invaded Iraq. The war has been poorly managed. We should leave Iraq.”
Instead, he adopted the extreme MSM mantra, “Bush is an idiot and a liar. The war is unwinnable.”
Because his words became extreme, my brother-in-law now refuses to acknowledge that there are some new signs of hope in Iraq. Too much of his ego is invested.
The MSM remains a destructive force because it does not enlighten citizens with facts. Rather, the MSM (with some exceptions) provides a constant narrative of extreme and one-sided opinion, and now many Americans are locked-in to angry and hardened positions on important issues.
For Pelosi and Reid...
November 17, 2007 - 11:37 ET by heldmyw...Nothing has changed.
I was stunned at their last statements on the $50billion war funding package, using words like "unwinnable", and "lost cause".
How long can the Left deny that things are getting better? Incrementally, slowly, painfully, and doubtless with some setbacks to come, but how long will it be before they accept the truth?
Watch for the seismic shift. Some Dem will say "MAYBE we're winning... but Bush is doing it all wrong!"
Then, the game will be up.
This war is "unwinnable"
November 17, 2007 - 11:42 ET by motherbeltThis war is "unwinnable" because a Republican is in the White House. If a Democrat is elected, that will change, because the "right" people will be in charge.
Dingy Harry said "This war is lost." If Democrat becomes President, he will proclaim a chance to "snatch victory from the jaws of defeat."