"Our media and political system
has turned into a mutual protection racket."
Bill Moyers (b. 1934)
Journalist, media critic
I basically disagree with Bill's statement above, I think it's a cute wrap-up of a boatload of criticisms of news media and politicians, but it really fails to reflect the intense competition among different elements of the media and the political parties and political partisans. Another thing: Moyers didn't include the baleful influence and power of very wealthy persons who are partisan ideologues and who are trying to buy a presidential election this year.
I agree with his sentiment in this respect: the individual, influential media channels that transparently support specific political ideologies and specific candidates are devastating our democracy. Think Fox News, Rachel Maddow's channel, Wall Street Journal, New York Times, you add your own suspects to the list….
If you are a fanatic devotee of one of these media heavyweights, or if you just casually but consistently prefer one over the other, then I invite you to think of all the reasons why you resist watching the "other" channels that spew out the "other side" of the story……repeat after me: they're biased, they lie, they twist and filter the truth, they shamelessly flack a perniciously narrow and discredited point of view, they're evil tools of the Devil……
But that's exactly what the advocates of the "other" channels are saying about your favorites.
Doesn't that bother you a little bit?
Who's getting the straight story?
Is anybody getting the story straight?
What's happening now...
Better political news coverage.....
Have the news media quit on us?
How to improve political news....
Changing nature of political coverage?
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