| It's Time To Blogswarm against Reporters |
[Apr. 17th, 2008|06:29 am] |
If there is a time to use the power of the blogs to shift focus, it is now. And the shift needs to be on shaming the press into doing their job.
The President has admitted to approving secret meetings which were at least repugnant and possibly war crimes. John McCain opposes the GI Bill and many anti-torture measures while presenting himself as golden on these issues without question from the press. We have two qualified Democratic candidates in the longest primary ever, who have many policy positions they rarely discuss. [Edited to Add: As ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif) asim points out, such questions have relevance, but not as the dominant focus.]
And in last night's faux-debate the press dwelt upon scandals, flubs and flaws on the campaign trail, mostly against Obama, for 40 minutes to an hour. It was an excessive emphasis "the character issue" - an idea largely framed by the right - at the expense of other topics which I'd argue are of greater importance. Unless this character is a massive contradiction - like legislating on family values after an ugly divorce, oh wait that's John McCain - then it's a gossip fest.
I know that even left wing media types like Rachel Maddow will partially blame this on Clinton and Obama and the long primary. As if the long primary owned newspapers and sat in on editorial sessions ordering reporters to give McCain a pass while repeating "Democrats self-destruct".
Here's the thing: those who tell the story are inserting excuses to pretend they aren't culpable for their own actions. Even the term "the Media" uses an impersonal term to avoid how it is real, specific people deciding what words, angles and events are used.
It's time to push the press into better behavior name and shame- for example: Liz Sidoti, who presented John McCain with a box of donut in a playful, cozy manner - everyone who took part in that display lacks the needed distance to report and should be removed from McCain coverage if not their jobs. It's time to contact the AP and ask them to sanction Sidoti for her behavior. |
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| Not only is there gambling, but it's rigged! |
[Apr. 17th, 2008|12:05 pm] |
It seems last night's debate may have been a turning point, and my wish for an outcry holding media workers responsible for improving their own action might come true.
Though not if it only centers on yesterday. It's easy for reporters to play Captain Renault over ABC's behavior. Umbrage at Charlie and George means nothing as long as the donut and bar-b-q crowd is allowed to continue conflicting interests without being named or questioned.
The Nation's John Nichols has a great headline to his opinion piece: Democrats Debate Republican Talking Points.
Alas, his main criticism is how the candidates played along with every loaded question, while the people who asked those questions are a secondary concern: "...the Democratic contenders sounded as if they were reading outtakes from a particularly lame Bill O'Reilly program. To be fair, this was not entirely the fault of the candidates. The line of questioning from ABC "News" personalities...And the questions from viewers appeared to have been selected with the purpose of raising doubts about whether these people may be spending just a little too much time listening to Rush Limbaugh." That seems fair: because ABC controlled the cameras, picked the questions and determined the tone, the candidates are only almost entirely at fault for the end result.
Meanwhie, in my ideal world George Stephanopoulos would lose his job over asking questions dictated by Fox News host Sean Hannity during one of the palsy walsy circle jerks that is the talking head scene.Hannity asked George what kinds of questions they'll be asking at the debate tomorrow and they discussed a few things. When Hannity asked about the first question below about Ayers and whether George had plans to ask such a question, George replied, "Well, I'm taking notes now Sean." It did actually sound like he was pausing to take notes. And Hannity continued to feed him more:
1) Ask Obama about his relationship with Ayers and WeatherUnderground and Axelrod's comments, "They're friendly"
2) Ask Obama why he attended the Million Man March Before the debated ABC contacted UIC for a photo of Ayers, but I'm sure this was for the best possible intentions. |
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