Liberal Media Watch, Part 3

There's an interesting column written by Ed Siegel for today's Boston Globe on the subject of Fox (aka Faux, Fixed, and various other F-words) News. Siegel's contention is that, "If you look at Fox News as part of that corporate Murdochean empire, the prevalent aesthetic isn't conservatism, it's an in-your-face, irreverent attitude that can swing as far left ("The Simpsons") as it does right ("24"). The guiding principle of the Fox Broadcasting Network since the beginning has been to thumb its nose at the rest of the media while appealing to a younger audience."

And here's a comment on the column that I think is worth adding, since it sums up the typical conservative critique of the media:

“Your basic premise/assumption, posted in your next to last paragraph, that CNN and the broadcast networks cater to the center is at best niave and at worst, intellectually dishonest. It's that kind of left-centric view of the 'world' (at least in this article, the journalistic slice of the world) that makes me come to accept that this election will be won by the Democrats largely due to the 'Jaywalking' effect: voters who haven't a clue as to the real world, real life and in most cases, who their elected representives (at any level) are. God help us!”

At this point, I think how you see CNN says much more about who you are and your values than it does about CNN. I personally believe CNN is a centrist operation, but I’m at the left edge of the Democratic Party. I have even more leftist friends who would describe it as “right-wing corporate propaganda” whereas the commenter above thinks it’s left-wing, but s/he is probably very right-leaning.

I like watching MSNBC just b/c for so long the only opinionated voices in TV news have been on the right. But I can see where Olbermann, Maddow, et al are presenting a slanted view, especially in their unwillingness to ever criticize Obama (even if they personally disagree with him) for fear that they might hurt him electorally and/or piss off their partisan audience. It’s not really journalism at that point, more of a PR office for a particular candidate/party. But really, like Fox, I think MSNBC is about entertainment, politics as sport. And that general lack of public seriousness may be one of the biggest problems facing the country right now.