Media Curmudgeon

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February 15, 2008

Readers Respond to the Final Word on Fox News

Guest blogger Jesse Kornbluth writes:

"Just for the record...Bruce Braun writes:

'Apparently, Jesse is one of those that will forever blame Fox News and Mr. Murdoch for facilitating everything bad or evil in right wing politics. Are CNN and MSNBC blameless?'

What I wrote:

'No, the problem isn't the Fox News pundits. It's almost every pundit, including some Mr. Derrough would think I'd admire. Because, for me, it's not the opinion or the commentator, it's the context, it's the environment -- the problem is 24/7 cable itself, a bread-and-circuses medium that sucks intelligence out of the creators until they are sound-bite shills for whatever point-of-view is held by the owners.'

Maybe Mr. Braun read a piece by some other Jesse."

Also, astute blog reader Marilyn Keenan writes:

"So is he, Braun, saying that just because that's the way it's always been, that's the way it must always be? If we don't like the way things are, we should just shut up and accept them because he can 'prove' they've been that way before? He, like so many, takes the tack that there are only two shades----all black or all white. There are liberals and there are conservatives. There's right and there's left.

But he forgets that the majority of us are moderates, centrists, in the middle. (And research supports that, too.) And I find it hard to believe that most of us wouldn't prefer more balanced news, information, and analysis and not just the partisans from each end of the spectrum point-counterpointing each other as the media's lazy way of trying to be unbiased.

When you read research that says viewers want a different point of view, does that mean go get another contrarian to say contrary things? I used to use lots and lots of research in my job, too. And research gets analyzed and interpreted. I understand about ratings, too, but surely there's a way to provide good background, analysis, information, data, and thoughtful opinion without having to be too liberal or too conservative. There really are lots of shades of gray. Has anyone really tried?"

And guest bloger Michael Weiscopf writes, in part:

"Not necessarily the final word...one cannot escape the hard reality that Fox is a propaganda machine. He may argue that other networks aspire to be as effective as Fox News is, but that is not really the point...or is it?"

The Media Curmudgeon sides with Jesse Kornbluth in keeping the record straight and with the notion that the biggest problem is 24/7 cable news -- too much time to fill with nonsense. I agree with Marilyn Keenan that moderates -- the majority -- deserve better, and I agree with Michael Weiskopf that the issue is that Fox News is biased.

I would add that a huge problem is the talk show hosts -- O'Reilly, Hannity, Beck, Carlson (Tucker), Matthews, et al. They are entertainers who try to establish a public persona by being outrageous just to get noticed, just like Rush Limbaugh, Don Imus, and Howard Stern. They are all outrageous celebrity-seeking warlocks who belong in the same cauldron.

Posted by Charles Warner at February 15, 2008 6:12 PM

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