Tannishblog

Where sits the Media, really?

I can’t count the many times the MSM gets bashed by all concerned parties. The Right has innumerable knee-jerk allusions of how far left the media is. Lately, the progressives – we dare not associate with the term “liberal” – are singing in counterpoint how the same media is in the pockets of the Repulsives… the Repugnants… the… Oh, you get the idea.

Does this mean the media is actually functioning properly? If both sides are whining, then both sides must own sufficient representation. One caveat is the tendency of a news outlet to pander to the dollar, meaning the whole paper (for example) will lean the same way, in order to maximize its readership. An understandable response when viewed as an item of commerce. An unfortunate byproduct of such homogenization is the ease in which we all can avoid hearing both sides of an argument; too easily can we ignore what we don’t want to hear.

That is precisely how our dipolar political standoff has occurred. Back in the day In my grandfathers time, newspapers were obliged by a common code of honor to represent both sides of a difficult conundrums; acting as their own police, they understood that honesty was tantamount to capitalistic gain. Not so, anymore: Money is the walk, the talk, and the entire meaningful universe to corporate news outlets. Money decides what is printed, pandered, and propagated. So much for the good-old-days.

So if media is getting a bad rap from progressives and congressives alike, where do they stand?

Someday I hope to be half as eloquent as Frank Rich of the NY Times. In today’s editorial he bombasts the government with one of the strongest arguments I’ve recently heard for bringing the troops home.

Enumerating our failed war policy is easy. To do so with as few words as possible is the trick. Frank delivers. Regarding the false claim of “Standing down,” he counters with:

So let’s do the math. According to our own government, more Iraqis are standing up — some 263,000 at latest count. But we are not standing down. We are, instead, sending in more American troops. Where have we seen this shell game before

More great writing is evident, but the most poignant paragraph refers to the latest round of gay bashing legislation making the rounds in congress:

The marriage-amendment campaign will be kicked off tomorrow with a Rose Garden benediction by the president. Though the amendment has no chance of passing, Mr. Bush apparently still thinks, as he did in 2004, that gay-baiting remains just the diversion to distract from a war gone south.

When is enough more than enough? I can’t ask this rhetorically anymore. We must pull out. NOW!