RateItAll: The Opinion Network

I am afraid of the liberal media. Everytime we are watching some lefto mope on the tube, my poor dog, Fido, upchucks. Then I gotta clean it up!

Afraid? I think that's a poor choice of words. I have utter contempt for the media, but I don't fear them. However, it's my opinion that ALL politicians walk in fear of the liberal Press. They want the Press to say nice things about them.

Yeah, and Democrats are afraid of the conservative media. Why can't partisans just defend their ideas without worrying that someone won't give them a chance? It's called pluralism. Enjoy it, don't take it personal. Ideology isn't the question. Taken as a whole, the media is neither liberal nor conservative. Of course there are both liberals and conservatives in the industry, just like in any other. The majority could care less. They're not out there for altruistic reasons or to serve the public interest. Particularly since Watergate and the Nixon era, the ends have been scandal mongering at the expense of objectivity and propriety. Their goal is the next big scoop; the more sensational, the more emotional the story is the more air time it'll get. But hey, maybe it's not their fault, maybe it's ours; after all, many people tune in to hear about Laci, Kobe and Michael Jackson. We just go right along with it. The media doesn't peddle political ideology most of the time; rather it promotes smut and the inconsequential, probably out of a fear of offending viewers or their corporate sponsors.

There is no way that the word 'afraid' should be used.

The biggest myth going. Fox and MSNBC are practically paid political advertisements for the Bush Campaign. And what about Sinclair Broadcasting with their 'movie' about Kerry?

Faulty wording, but this is an inviting topic for discussion, although this is not the optimum list for responsible views. Since the early 1960's, there has been a detectable liberal favoritism in the mainstream press, which consisted then primarily of newspaper reporters. TV was not a significant player in the news business until well into the early 70's. Most of what made up the old Washington beat was columnists for the six or seven major newspapers (NY Times, LA Times, Washington Post, etc.)and the news magazines (Time, Newsweek, etc.) JFK enormously enjoyed favorable treatment from this group, although Johnson, Nixon, Carter, Ford, Reagan and Bush '41 did not. TV reporters began to gain prominence during Nixon's presidency and this gradually grew throughout the 70's and 80's. Clinton was perceived and portrayed by the press as the new JFK. His sexual dalliances were generally ignored or downplayed, which emboldened Clinton into thinking he would get the same pass JFK enjoyed in this arena. It would not be so. I don't criticize today's press for taking an adversarial stance in reporting on the sitting president. We need the press to report on what is happening and what these powerful people are doing on our behalf. I criticize the double standard applied with democrats. A case in point is Dan Rather's recent debacle. He has wrecked his career by attempting to overblow a small story (committing a crime himself publicizing altered federal documnents) about GWB's military record and performance from the 1970's, while ignoring the fact of John Kerry's dis-honorable discharge from the Naval Reserve in 1972, subsequently upgraded to honorable during the Clinton Admininstration. You decide: which is a bigger story? And why did it take five years to come up with a flimsy story about Bush, while no time was spent on Kerry's story. Not just Dan Rather, 60 Minutes and CBS. Aren't NBC, ABC, CNN, MSNBC and CNBC in this business also? None of them are interested in the truth, or in the right of the American voter to know?

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I don't think Republicans are afraid of the main stream media but I do think many distrust it. It's people who totally trust any type of broadcast news who are the really scary ones. After all, you know, all journalists aren't as credible as Dan Rather.

I am not afraid of them, but I am afraid that empty-headed people searching for their way will fall pray to the Peter Jennings and the CNN's of this country.

there is no doubt that most members of the media are left of center politically, but my belief is that they generally train their guns on the people who hold power. when jimmy carter was president i remember the photos of the so called killer rabbit which made him look like a complete idiot. when bill clinton was president, he deservedly received more bad press than the current president bush and his father combined. i'm not saying that a bias doesn't exist, but if it does exist it is because conservatives chose not to enter this field until recently. stop whining and wringing your hands like a bunch of feeble old women and do something about it. these aren't the ravings of some left wing nut, i am a registered republican and strongly support president bush.

I think the media has indeed been bias with regards to the war. They only concentrate on the BAD that the USA is involved in but never report on the positive. Many things have improved in Iraq. I think the media is so concerned about getting Kerry is the White house that they say anything to get him elected to the point of only reporting some of the news.

I think no one who pays close attention to the media seriously believes that it is liberal. The media, like baseball, football, basketball, golf, public education and (fer crissake!) Congress is a witless, willing tool of our capitalist masters.

I see Michael Moore.... How often do you see him?. All the time...

It's no secret that republicans'uselessly demonize liberals and the liberal media, they wouldn't be republican if they didn't. I would have to say that FOX News is ten times as biased as any media outlet in existence. And as far as I know, most liberals and the liberal media don't agree with the idea that we are safer after the capture of Saddam.

The Liberal Media that couldn't stop talking about Clinton's blow#@$? The Liberal Media that never attacks Bush for his foreign policy that will insure that we will be attacked in the future? The Liberal Media that spills the lie that we are safer after the capture of Saddam?

Well, NPR is biased and so is CNN. They scare me with their bias, I'll admit it. Long live FOX News!