MY OWN PERSONAL MEDIA BUBBLE By Michael S. Malone
There’s nothing like writing the (momentarily) hottest column in the country to get a sense of the changing balance of power between the traditional and the new media.
Two weeks ago, in my ABCNews.com column, I took off on a brief tangent from my usual technology and business orientation to instead discuss what I saw as shocking bias by the mainstream media – in particular, television network news, newspapers and newsmagazines – in its coverage of the Presidential campaign.
What happened next is, I think, an interesting glimpse into the dynamics of the traditional and digital media now, nearly a decade into the new century, and a dozen years after the widespread cultural adoption of the Internet.
I began writing my ABCNews.com column during the Dot-com Bubble of 1999. And I’ve been writing it, week in and week out, in good times and bad, for nearly a decade now. Hundreds of columns, in fact – by a factor of about three the longest single writing gig of my professional career. And over that time I’ve learned a lot about both column writing and the new media world. I’ve learned that you can carefully craft a thoughtful column . . .and have nobody read it. And you can dash out a column just to meet your deadline . . . and set the world on fire. I’ve learned how to momentarily goose one’s readership (slam Apple Computer) and how to lose it (write about semiconductors). And I’ve learned that sometimes that one solitary reader out there who understands what you’ve tried to say is worth hundreds who don’t.
The genesis of my media bias column began with a conversation. Last summer, with two other Valley veterans, I started an on-line tech-business newspaper called Edgelings.com. This being a virtual enterprise, each morning the three of us hold an editorial meeting over the phone. Needless to say, it being election season, the conversation often turned to politics – a touchy subject, as one of my partners was an Obama supporter, the other was for McCain. For my part, I try not to talk about politics.
But one morning I found myself interjecting, “Well, one thing we can agree on is that the mainstream media is more one-sided and biased than we’ve ever seen it. I’m ashamed of my profession right now.”
I had never really verbalized that before, but it had certainly been on my mind, especially after perusing the most recent issue of Newsweek, a magazine I’d read since childhood, but which was now so obviously in the tank for Sen. Obama that I swore, on ethical reasons alone, to never read it again.
At midnight a few days later, once again as always up on deadline, after seeing the kids and the pets to bed and saying goodnight to my wife, I sat at the computer in my home office, wearing a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and wrote my column on media bias. The words, as they sometimes do (in good columns and bad) poured out, suggesting that I had already been composing the piece in my unconscious. I tried to write from the heart, and at the same time not come down politically on one side or the other – but just to call for balanced, unbiased reporting from my peers.
I finished at 1:15 a.m., filed the piece and went to bed. At the time I had only two concerns: that there wasn’t enough tech in the column, and that it was about 200 words too long. In the morning, once I was sure it was up on ABCNews.com, I also posted it on Edgelings, and scheduled it to also be carried on our media partner, Pajamas Media. And that was that. When I checked in at noon, there were about thirty reader comments on ABC and about the same number on Edgelings. I had no emails from friends about it – which most often happens when I write an editorial for the Wall Street Journal. So, I basically shrugged, filed the column away in my mind as a moderate success, and then went about my day.
Then all hell broke loose.
What happened next is a lesson not only in the growing power of certain key nodes in the blogosphere, but also the surprisingly enduring cultural strength of the traditional media.
The column seemed to strike a chord in readers, particularly Republicans, for whom the obvious bias of media coverage of the campaign was a growing source of anger. The first major site to pick up the story was Charles Johnson’s Little Green Footballs. Because I could track link-backs through Edgelings, I spotted the story on LGF within minutes of its appearance . . .and watched in amazement as the number of comments quickly grew into the hundreds – the fastest reader response cycle I’ve ever seen.
Meanwhile, the number of comments on Edgelings, no doubt powered by LGF, blew past 100 faster than any story we’d ever written. Then, just as the attention began to level off, the most powerful one-man blogger on the planet, Glenn Reynolds at Instapundit, linked to the story. Glenn has often linked to my column . . . and each time produced what blogospheres call an ‘instalanche” – a sudden and massive spike of traffic. ABC loves them, as do I. But this time, Reynolds linked to the Edgelings version, and now the comments there blew past three hundred and climbing (it would finish at 450), while traffic skyrocketed.
While all of this was going on, the blogosphere was lighting up as well. Scores of blogs, some of them in other countries, now began to comment on my column, many drawing their own collections of comments and reader debates. But now, for the first time, I also began to see the power of the traditional media when it came to conferring credibility. As much as what I actually said, what seemed to matter most to many of these bloggers was who I was when I said it: Mike Malone, of that embodiment of the traditional media, ABC. I was variously described as a ‘liberal reporter’ who had seen the light, and (briefly on my Wikipedia page) a “right wing journalist”. I suspect that most of these writers visualized me sitting in some newsroom at ABC headquarters in New York, heroically taking on the media overlords around me – not a middle-aged guy sitting in his den in California.
Many noted the disclaimer at the end of my column (”This is the opinion of the columnist and in no way reflects the opinion of ABC News”) and assumed it had just been put there by ABC to distance itself from my apostasy – and that, once the hullabaloo I had created died down I would be summarily fired and driven off into oblivion. In fact, the disclaimer was put there years ago (after I called for Dan Rather to be fired in the National Guard letter case) and, though the powers that be at ABCNews.com were a bit stunned by the huge response, in point of fact my editor had merely cleaned up my copy a little and posted the piece. He knew it was controversial, but he also knew that was my right as a columnist. Any credit for courage goes to him.
By Friday afternoon, the requests for media interviews began – and that’s when I knew I had touched a nerve. What is interesting to note here is that none of the requests came in through Edgelings, but rather through ABC or, incredibly, the publisher of my last book. Apparently, that remains the sole province of the traditional media.
In the end, I only did two radio interviews: one with a Denver station, the other with Lou Dobbs. The latter was especially fun, because Dobbs was even more incensed about the subject than I was and we chatted like two old newsies sitting in a bar swapping horror stories. But after that, I realized that I risked becoming Joe the Journalist, and not wanting my life vivisected by vengeful bureaucrats and fellow reporters, I stopped all interviews.
I’ve been around enough news cycles to sense when a story is winding down, and by Sunday morning I thought it was about done. Both ABC and Edgelings had a couple hundred comments, I’d probably reached two or three million readers and listeners, and it was time to start thinking about next week’s column.
Then came Matt Drudge – the single most influential journalist in America.
On Sunday afternoon, when I spotted a mention of my column on the Drudge Report, my jaw dropped. I knew what was coming. Nobody on the planet, perhaps nobody in history, can move as many readers as Drudge can with a single sentence. Whatever readership I had before now probably increased ten-fold. So did the comments. Because Drudge linked to the ABC version of the column, by Monday morning the number of comments about my column on ABCNews.com had jumped to two thousand. I was now, despite having gone to ground, officially a news phenomenon. The next day, after a friend called, I turned on Fox News to watch as Britt Hume, under a photo of me and above a news scroll carrying my name, read from my column to set up a debate with his panel on media bias. Sean Hannity read a lengthy passage from my column on his radio show.
It couldn’t get much crazier than that – and it didn’t. In the end, the meme I created took on a life of its own and left me, happily, far behind. My column had, unexpectedly, accomplished what we columnists dream of happening just once in our careers: it set off a national debate, and freed people to talk about a topic that had been gnawing away inside their hearts. Within days, other, more famous journalists came forward to agree with what I said. Pew and the Media Research Center released surveys that seemed to confirm widespread and egregious media bias – a belief underscored by multiple polls of the general public. And I noted, with great satisfaction, that in the last twenty four hours of the campaign, the media – embarrassed at last – seemed to try a little harder to balance its reporting . . . only to backslide (as noted even by Tom Shales) on election night.
So, what did I learn from this experience? That it is possible in this new cyber-world to be a lone writer sitting at his laptop in suburbia and write something that actually changes the course of events and, momentary at least, sets the national debate. I also learned that the raw power -and the ability to mobilize people — of the Web and the blogosphere is both immense and growing fast. But legitimacy is still conferred by the traditional media – which makes their duty to be fair and unbiased even greater.
Finally, I also learned that, while it is unsettling to be a momentary media star, it is also depressing afterwards to go back to writing about semiconductors and the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. . .
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126 Comments
1. Jeff:Beats cleaning barns, eh? Good luck!
Nov 8, 2008 - 5:52 am 2. oMan:This is a great column about a great column. You have the whole package here: timely, fair, self-aware, incisive comment about a matter that touches all our hearts. Namely, how much it hurts to be lied to, by those whom we thought deserved our trust. The techno-cultural dimension/dynamics of how that essential drama plays out, is also of great interest. It is the form to the substance. But it needed the substance; and you delivered. Well done.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:02 am 3. Broadsword:But…you didn’t tell us what color pajamas you wear…
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:14 am 4. jakad:Michael, actively address your depression by continuing on the path a while longer–allow your unconscious to be your guide and write more…much more…about the MSM having lost its objectivity.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:16 am 5. Letalis Maximus, Esq.:Charles Bukowski said that your typewriter is your machine gun. And he was right.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:27 am 6. Marilyn Terrell:Thanks for the fascinating backstory. For the benefit of those who somehow missed it the first time, here’s the link to the column on Edgelings: http://pajamasmedia.com/edgelings/2008/10/24/editing-their-way-to-oblivion-journalism-sacraficed-for-power-and-pensions/
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:32 am 7. Mr Lucky:Very thoughtful Michael. Delving with such openness into the reasons we do things and the repercussions that follow (good and bad) is seeming to become more rare. The level spin in our culture is so great that I sometimes wonder why some question that dizzy journalistic behavior is so prevalent. I wish more journalists would give such honest expression as you have rather engaging in image building as their main vocation.
I’m a part time musician and I can relate to that sudden rush of influence only to go back to my day job. Ah yes, back to “normal”. The comment about one out of hundreds appreciating is understood. But I think you reach father and more than you realize. Such as, thanks for the inspiration.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:36 am 8. free:Mr. Malone,
Bless you.
You may just be the media’s Joe the Plumber. Please put your foot into this mess. We need you.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:36 am 9. geokstr:We, meaning the flyover people with no voice, but great frustration, knowing how “it” all works, but unable to be a Mr. Malone.,
How long do you think your gig with ABC is going to last, especially now that your bosses have been successful in their attempt to implant Obama into the Oval Office? Mustn’t bite the hand…
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:41 am 10. newscaper:Thanks for your work, Michael.
I have been annoyed to see more bits and pieces here and there in the MSM, if not expressing doubts about Obama, at least acknowledging that based on his sparse track record and the conflict between that and his later campaign rhetoric, we really don’t have much of an idea how moderate or harder left he’ll actually govern.
Noce — finally — but too little too late. now their man is in they can pretend to be ‘objective’ once again. Sheesh.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:42 am 11. Ron M.:Thanks for your insight. Now Chris Matthews has confirmed it once again when he said that he has to make sure the Obama Administration is successful. The question is: Was Matthews trying to make the Bush Administration fail over the last 8 years?
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:50 am 12. Linda F:What is amazing about this is that the traditional media outlets have nearly ZILCH idea about the topics that inflame, interest, and captivate the online bunch. I know that I use the TV mostly for watching DVDs and videos, weather information in the morning, and “zoning out” after work. There are few shows I watch (The Ghost Whisperer & Numb3rs); for the rest – and most of my news – I go to the web.
I used to watch obsessively – CNN during the first Gulf War. Now, when I want to know how the war is going, I read Michael Yon or other miliblogs. There, I get unvarnished, unspun reportage.
I suspect that I’m not alone.
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:51 am 13. Jane:Cheer up. Just be thankful you had the experience even one time. Many people who write will never even know what it is like to be published by Pajamas Media. Your article on media bias was great – I appreciated it. Thanks. Hard times coming, be grateful, not depressed that you have employement. Take care…
Nov 8, 2008 - 6:59 am 14. ChooseTheHero.com » Blog Archive » "My Own Personal Media Bubble:" Michael Malone, after the hype.:[...] everybody in the world who was interested in the recent election. He’s done a follow-up (“My Own Personal Media Bubble”), which is the usual kind of interesting look at the history and hype of what ruled the news cycle [...]
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:00 am 15. Chap:That last sentence is a powerful observation that explains why some folks act the way they do sometimes, not wanting to ‘go back’…
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:07 am 16. Bill Kelly:You indeed touched my nerve but found it already frazzled. I too have been a long time subscriber to Newsweek and have found it unreadable for its bias. The greatest summation of media bias came when I passed the newspaper stand at the supermarked and saw the (I am pretty sure it was) Columbus Dispatch banner headline the morning after….THE DREAM HAS COME TRUE
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:09 am 17. Phred:Congratulations. One question: why go back to writing about semiconductors and the Microsoft Yahoo deal? You wrote a column on a subject about which you were passionate and it received national attention. Maybe that’s not a coincidence. Consider that you may have more to contribute to national debates of this kind.
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:11 am 18. Joan of Argghh!:I wish you well in your brief recognition of the battle, a momentary comment on it, and your return to political retirement.
Sarah Palin has picked up the guantlet and flung it in their faces.
And I would encourage every politician to quit playing the media’s game and start calling bullsh*t on the anonymously source pillories. Just laugh at stupid “reporters” like Sarah did and say, “who said that? I won’t respond to anonymous garbage.”
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:13 am 19. Chapomatic:[...] reporter got a little famous a week or two ago. He notes: Finally, I also learned that, while it is unsettling to be a momentary media star, it is also [...]
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:24 am 20. kidneystones:Hi Michael,
You’ve won lots and lots of fans and pointed the way forward for more than a few journalists. (I hope!) The latest is that Chris Matthews is planning a serious run which explains, in part, why he believes it’s everybody’s job to support you know who.
Many, many thanks and keep up the good work!
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:24 am 21. linda Sherman:just thanks for your civic contribution- sometimes good gets rewarded; now i’m going to read your tech column
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:35 am 22. Oxbay:From Limbaugh to blogland there has been triumphalism yelled from the ramparts over the last several yearsabout how the MSM is losing influence and diminishing in importance. The 2006 mid term elections and this year’s elections prove how far from the truth that proposition is. The MSM flexed their muscles conspired with the Democrat party and brooked no dissent. Democrats good Republicans evil. Their attitude toward the Republican party is no different from International Answer,Code Pink, and the Democrat party. I hope that all media types who profess to be even handed pay a devestating price for their cruel indifference to honor.
Nov 8, 2008 - 7:56 am 23. Zane:As you note, Legitimacy is still conferred by the traditional media. BIG MOJO, MAN! And because of that, expect a bailout package for NYT and friends.
Nov 8, 2008 - 8:09 am 24. U Becha:Clifton Fadiman called it “a majority of one”.
Nov 8, 2008 - 8:12 am 25. Maggie45:Thank you for what you did. It took a lot of courage, I think. For more on media bias read Doug Ross from yesterday:
http://directorblue.blogspot.com/2008/11/899mo-bmw-lease-payments-of-mediacrats.html
Nov 8, 2008 - 8:24 am 26. Judith L:You’re a good man, Michael Malone. Be careful. You might play a role in restoring the reputation of journalists.
Nov 8, 2008 - 8:30 am 27. Rob Finch:I’m a professional Librarian with a Masters of Library Science (MLS). I analyze the scope accurcy and coverage of information sources for a living so I can no longer read Time, Newsweek, or the New York Times. I can’t watch ABC news. They simply do nor provide accurate news. When I’m at the Reference Desk I fact check for a living. My first degree was in history so I know how to do research. I look for hard sources and quotes when reading any news source and what I’m finding is mostly editoral not supported by the facts. I have lost all faith in Western Media. This did not begin with George W. Bush. I remember learning more in one day at the Library than I ever learned watching or reading about Bosnia-Serbia. Don’t reporters do ANY research? This is just sad.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:00 am 28. kat-missouri:In reality, your comments will be even more important in the next four years as we see what type of programing and investigative journalism we get in the Obama administration.
Now that they’ve gotten what they want and insulated him from attacks based largely on some misguided notion of finishing the civil rights movement, how are they going to now do the job that the media is meant to do and help keep the American people informed? How are we to insure that the government does not do anything that would be detrimental to our liberty and security?
They had no qualms during the Bush administration, but I imagine they have many now.
They are like old drunken whores trying to pull together the tatters of their ghastly clothing after an all night bender.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:03 am 29. Richard:Wonderful article. Congratulations. It is my opinion that reporters/editors write for each others approval and not their readership’s. Hence a negative article on Obama/enviroment/gay rights/abortion brings scorn from their peers. A positive article brings cheers.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:09 am 30. RBJ:“Finally, I also learned that, while it is unsettling to be a momentary media star, it is also depressing afterwards to go back to writing about semiconductors and the Microsoft-Yahoo deal. . .”
Hey, as a tech-IT-consultant who reads a lot of tech articles *and* a political junkie, just a note of encouragement to say keep writing.
Besides, the rate things are going, the google-microsoft-yahoo dance may still be worth a few laughs in the months ahead…
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:10 am 31. Jack:Secret Service man knocks on door of White House bedroom. Michelle Obama answers in a robe. Oh the horror.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:11 am 32. tim maguire:Not to worry geokstr, he went after the media, not The One (you can’t blame Obama for accepting all the free campaign work, I’d do the same in his position). That carries it’s own dangers, of course, but the media are star f—ers to the last and Malone has some cachet and will be the recipient of enough gratitude to keep him employed a while.
To Michael, thank you for both articles (that one and this one) and for your attitude. Usually people in your position get bitter when they lose control of their own moment and lash out at the people they inspired. Good for you for doing your part and still keeping your head on straight.
And for saying what so many of us have been desperately waiting for someone with legitimacy to say.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:40 am 33. Jack:Mr. Malone, I left a comment that said, “You should be ashamed.”
But to be honest, that isn’t going to be enough for me. I want the journalists that have tanked for Obama to pay. I want them to pay higher taxes if mine go up, and I want proof that they do. If my children are drafted or forced to do community service, I want theirs to do it too. If my address is made public, I want theirs made public as well.
I want all journalists to be treated as Joe the Plumber was, as Sarah Palin was.
It seems almost over the top now, doesn’t it? Yet the above doesn’t even begin to capture my true feelings.
I’ve got to go have a bath now. Thinking about journalism makes me feel soul damaged and profoundly unclean.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:43 am 34. Drew:“One man with courage…”
Well Done!
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:53 am 35. Peg C.:Great piece and consider me a new fan who will check your work regularly.
I suspect you know a bit of what Bernie Goldberg experienced after his first book, “Bias,” was released. It rocked a lot of worlds and so did you. Bloggers can write all day long about MSM bias but only a MSM “journalist” (I use the term loosely) can have ultimate authority when discussing the subject. That said, except via the filters of blogs and talk radio, I am DONE with MSM. (The obvious reason why the MSM and Dems want the Fairness Doctrine – to rob millions like me of a source of info as well as our ability to express ourselves and deliver our feedback and outrage.)
Michael, it doesn’t matter to me whether you are liberal, conservative, or libertarian. All that matters is you write from a base of experience and expertise and you appear fair to all sides. That is all most of us want. 95% of the time we are not getting it and that is why we are hoping for the death of the MSM, sorry to say.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:59 am 36. Miriam:Having left one of the original comments (on LGF I think), it needs to be restated:
1) Don’t just blame the editors/publishers. Blame the reporters as well.
2) Keep writing about this. Please.
.
Nov 8, 2008 - 10:02 am 37. Politcal Mom:All I can say is thank you for having had the guts to point out what so many of us had been seeing this entire election cycle. You were our voice and cast it into the public sphere. Although I doubt it, perhaps in the future the press will return to their responsibility to inform, rather than trying to sway opinion to a predetermined end.
Nov 8, 2008 - 10:05 am 38. sherlock:I am grudgingly supportive of the idea that conservatives should not descend into the nastiness that has come from the left over the last 8 years… with respect to the office of the President, that is.
With respect to the media, however, I am struggling mightily to remain a law-abiding citizen who has never even had a traffic ticket in his life. The fantasies I have of what I would like to do to that sanctimonious pack of villians who have taken away the voice of the people and replaced it with their own are decidedly not those of a gentle person. I want vengeance.
Nov 8, 2008 - 10:29 am 39. nlcatter:matt drudge
the moron of the blogosphere
Nov 8, 2008 - 10:30 am 40. Chris Barry:Bully to you sir. I will now look forward to your technical columns.
Nov 8, 2008 - 10:30 am 41. UnmooredLefty:I’m not sure what nlcatter is on about, but about a month ago I emailed a ‘journalist’/columnist that I correspond with irregularly. I was complimenting him on a particularly perceptive (I thought) column. In passing, I noted that I didn’t detect in his writing the bias I see in his paper (that I subscribe to) and in major media, particularly the NYT et al.
I got back a flaming attack accusing me of “smoking something weird” and suffering “an attack of insanity” for merely suggesting that ‘journalists’ were “in the tank” for Obama.
Nice. They just lost another subscriber.
Nov 8, 2008 - 10:54 am 42. Jim Treacher:Instalanche! I always feel happy inside when somebody uses my word.
I loved the column, but I didn’t even realize you were on Fox News and all that. Well, you really struck a nerve. Now these ombudsmen are saying, “Whoa, gee, I guess we did kinda lean towards Obama a tiny bit, eh? Sorry, folks, heh heh.” My favorite might be Seth Meyers from SNL saying that ignoring Biden’s utter derangement was a missed opportunity. Ya think?
Nov 8, 2008 - 12:23 pm 43. LizBrooklyn:Thank you for both columns. I would love to what we can do ourselves, if anything, as consumers of news to address this issue? Obama seems like a really nice candidate/president-elect, I just didn’t understand why he was treated differently. Watching both the primaries and general election, I thought perhaps the media just didn’t like Hillary and that she could be a punching bag for this process. The right wing had done it for so long, it seemed to be accepted behavior in the collective unconscious. Once the general election started, I realized something else was going on. I felt the media did this to Bush too (run up to the war, etc), so I didn’t understand until you pointed out the incentive factor, and what would motivate certain behaviors in editors in a rapidly changing industry. Anyway – if there is something we can do as readers, please let us know.
Nov 8, 2008 - 2:50 pm 44. casel21:That column brought home the magnitude of the danger. Doubtless, journalism students think that stuff about the role they play in a democracy is an old fashioned and empty platitude.
Nov 8, 2008 - 3:20 pm 45. ArtD0dger:Thanks for both pieces, Michael.
Personally, I think that the media is not so much biased within a bipolar world as it is maniacally mono-polar within a vast landscape of worldviews. That’s generally a characteristic of a One True Faith.
Nov 8, 2008 - 3:34 pm 46. Jim Treacher:“I would love to what we can do ourselves, if anything, as consumers of news to address this issue?”
Stop giving them your money.
Nov 8, 2008 - 9:52 pm 47. Tex Taylor:Though I appreciated your honesty and enjoyed the article, the MSM will not change their colors – ever. It’s their religion. They’ll go down in flames before they stop the blatant left-wing bias.
But in their excitement to get Obama elected, the MSM may have helped expedite their own demise. Without an enemy like George Bush and his cabinet to mock, what are they going to write about to increase their already dwindling readership/viewership?
As a small GE shareholder who keeps my few shares at a loss so I can at least vote to voice my disdain, I’ll be real interested what MSNBC is going to do when the current CEO loses his job. And the heat is on.
If the financial trends continue, sooner or later shareholders are going to say enough. Can’t continue to operate with decreasing revenues forever.
And I’m going to be one of the loudest to rub their noses in their failure. Are you listening Keith Olbermann?
Nov 8, 2008 - 11:10 pm 48. John D:But notice that the MSM only picked it up either AFTER the election or too close to it to make a difference.
Nov 9, 2008 - 1:31 am 49. Pajamas Media » It’s Not Easy to Be ‘Ashamed to be a Journalist’:[...] Read more here. [...]
Nov 9, 2008 - 3:28 am 50. Trish:Your article struck a chord with me and I linked to the Edgelings post. Thanks for articulating so well what I tried and failed at. Now, I especially love how so many of the media are back peddling with insincere apologies over their bias. Too late for that, they knew exactly what they were doing. (I got hit by Drudge when Sarah was nominated. It was awesome.)
Nov 9, 2008 - 5:20 am 51. Gary Ogletree:Job well done.
Nov 9, 2008 - 6:08 am 52. G-Ma:Thank you for your article. Maybe it’s a shot heard around the media
Nov 9, 2008 - 6:26 am 53. Greg:world.
I cancelled my subscription to the Detriot Free Press. After many years
of the reporters using words or the turn of a phrase to demean or marginalize a subject or person, I had enough. I told the customer service rep, media bias, was the reason for my cancellation. I get a letter from a editor stating I had cancelled due to their endorsement
for presidential candidate. I fired a note back, it’s not the endorsement, it’s the bias. They couldn’t even get that right.
11. Ron M.:
… The question is: Was Matthews trying to make the Bush Administration fail over the last 8 years?
—
The answer is of course yes – Matthews (and Olberman) intentionaly and with full knowledge was dragging Bush down – even at a huge cost to America and American lives. Personally I never say an expression of such pure hatred as Olberman has. Newsweek as always been in the tank for the left.
I also think he was not alone. Not a grand conspiracy but more of a mob-mentality.
Your article did strike a nerve – people have been noticing the bias of ‘Journalism’ for at least a couple of years now – Isn’t that how PJM got stared? And ‘journalist’ are among the least trusted? Right down there with Lawyers and Politicians. I even saw a T-shirt once which read “Tree, Rope, Journalist – some assembly required” which expresses some of the frustration people feel.
It was an excellent and gutsy article – something sadly missing from ‘Journalism’ lately.
Nov 9, 2008 - 6:50 am 54. Lynn:Hoorah!!!! You certainly did hit a nerve! WaPo ombudsman investigating media bias has finally admitted they are biased!! It wouldn’t have happened without your article. I congratulate you for starting the snowball which turned into an avalanche of discomfort for the MSM. Someone out there should give you a prize for excellence in journalism, you deserve it.
Nov 9, 2008 - 7:07 am 55. Louis:First I want to thank you for what you have done, clearly media can influence national policy unfairly.
Nov 9, 2008 - 7:19 am 56. Alice:Second a column about the FCC and congress doing something about media bias and journalistic responsibility would be nice icing on the cake on this situation.
I read your article and although I appreciate your confession, I find your epiphany a bit late and a bit self congratulatory. A lot of us non-writer types knew 21 months ago that the media had selected a like minded, socialist president, and they proceeded to promote him and tingle for him, as the Messiah we (some of we!) had been waiting for. I personally would have rather had a experienced, American loving, hero. Silly me!
Nov 9, 2008 - 8:09 am 57. Texan:Microsoft better look out! Mr. Malone has “cachet” now!
Nov 9, 2008 - 8:44 am 58. Lance Burri:Seriously, the original column was one of the best I’ve read in a long time and the follow-up had me smiling! I can just see Mr. Malone sitting at his computer, watching the system he’s reported about over the years actually work. Sobering but funny too. Without the internet, I shudder to think what baloney would have been sucessfully passed off to unsuspecting viewers as truth by the networks and newspapers. Good work and well done, Mr. Malone. You have my thanks and, I suspect, thousand of other readers thanks as well.
I have often wished that something like this would happen to me, but like you say: “you can carefully craft a thoughtful column . . .and have nobody read it. And you can dash out a column just to meet your deadline . . . and set the world on fire.”
So if it happens, it’ll happen when I least expect it.
Nov 9, 2008 - 9:51 am 59. Andrew Ian Dodge:I was impressed by your courage in writing that piece. I agree with 100% and am glad to see more backlash. I looked at the title of this column and read on with a wee sense of dread on your behalf I have to admit.
Nov 9, 2008 - 10:45 am 60. Dodgeblogium » “Ashamed to be a journo” piece causes firestorm…:[...] and am glad to see that is created a bit of firestorm.. I looked at the title of Malone’s most recent column and read on with a wee sense of dread on his behalf, I have to [...]
Nov 9, 2008 - 10:50 am 61. Craig:Congratulations on such a successful piece. It was the article that brought me to the PJM site…by a link.
Too bad NBC never read it. They happily trumpeted a commercial for NBC news with the slogan, “The Power of Change” during the election coverage.
Nov 9, 2008 - 11:04 am 62. JT:Thankyou……I hope you don’t owe back child support.
Nov 9, 2008 - 11:28 am 63. SeanLA:” vengeful bureaucrats and fellow reporters, I stopped all interviews.”
Nov 9, 2008 - 11:50 am 64. jm:“vengeful bureaucrats”
“vengeful bureaucrats”
So joe the plumber is braver than you are. So much for `speaking truth to power’ and all that trash huh? So as you yourself say. Keep quiet, take what you get and stick to writing bla bla bla.
Congrats
re: 45
i think this sums it up fairly well:
” Personally, I think that the media is not so much biased within a bipolar world as it is maniacally mono-polar within a vast landscape of worldviews. That’s generally a characteristic of a One True Faith.”
Nov 9, 2008 - 1:03 pm 65. Gilligan:Allow me to join in the hope that you don’t have any back child support, tax liens, embarrassing medical conditions, DUI arrests, unpaid speeding tickets, crazy ex girl friends or overdue library books because if you do, I suspect that we are all going to know about them soon.
The problem is not that the media can’t investigate and report. The news that 17 year old Bristol Palin was pregnant, her due date, the name, age and photos of the child’s father all reported within 48 hours of Sarah Palin’s pick as VP candidate refutes that contention. The problem is that they often don’t want to. If you keep writing like this, they will want to. Unless you want your home address, along with photos of your kids being published, you probably ought to stop writing this sort of article.
Nov 9, 2008 - 2:41 pm 66. BC:Apparently you actually learned nothing: your first article was pretty dopey; the right wing mediasphere simply loves any article that bashes the MSM bogeyman; and this article is just as dopey, if not more so. If the “liberal” MSM was as investigative and as journalistic as you guys supposedly wish for: there would have been no invasion of Iraq; Bush would have been impeached; and/or McCain/Palin would have lost by at least 30 points. For starters.
Nov 9, 2008 - 5:30 pm 67. BP:Very interesting insight to your original column. Great job – let’s have some more! God Bless – hope you don’t get blacklisted from the MSM for your openness and honesty. I too have vowed to never buy another Newsweek (or Time). Thanks!
Nov 9, 2008 - 5:59 pm 68. Smartacus:#66, BC: I agree that the MSM is not as “investigative or journalistic” as many think…but you are wrong about your most of your conclusions.
There was a similar “herd mentality” regarding the run-up to the Iraq war…but since Clinton had the same intelligence about Iraq’s WMD’s as Bush 43 did, as did most of the world’s intelligence agencies; and since we had unified as a nation post-9/11 around the horror of terrorism; and since—with the blessings of most of the citizenry—Bush had vowed to punish nations that harbored, aided or abetted terrorists (which Iraq did); and since the UN was singularly spineless in doing anything worthwhile with regard to containing Iraq’s pressing forward with WMD development and aiding terrorists (remember Saddam promised $25,000 to any surviving family of a suicide-bomber against Israel?)……..well, the press therefore did not question the President much…perhaps as it should have been.
In fact, the MSM is episodic in the application of their journalistic capability. If they find something they want to crush, or an agenda they want to push, they will be VERY investigative to the point of losing their objectivity, (e.g. Abu Ghraib, Watergate, global warming, “green lifestyles,” gay marriage, avian flu-pandemic).
But if the story doesn’t fit their narrative, they will either ignore it (e.g. the non-story of the UN’s complete and utter corruption managing the Iraqi Oil-for-Food program; the role of Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac in the economic crisis; the global rise of radical Islam), or they will propagandize against it (e.g. Sarah Palin, Joe the Plumber, gun ownership, drilling in ANWR or offshore, profit by “Big Oil”). (Need I point out, “etc. etc. etc….ad infinitum?!”)
They are just a bunch of dopey sheep too lazy to think so they follow the herd, committed to their unquestioned liberal agenda.
Moral of the Story (All together now!):
Never Trust the Media!
Nov 9, 2008 - 6:52 pm 69. Brian Richard Allen:……………………Never Trust the Media!
…………………………………………Never Trust the Media!
Thank you, Mr Malone.
Now please keep it up!
Brian Richard Allen
Los Angeles – CalifUBAMAcated 90028
“The basis of our governments being the opinion of the people, the very first object should be to keep that right. And (was) it left to me to decide whether we should have a government without newspapers or newspapers without a government, I should not hesitate a moment to prefer the latter. But I should mean that every man should receive those papers and be capable of reading them.”
–Thomas Jefferson (anticipating, perhaps, both the planet’s Pravda-patterned press’s putrid polemicists and propagandists and the pathetic products of our beloved fraternal republic’s “school,” “college” and “university” indoctrination centers) — to Edward Carrington, 1787.
Nov 10, 2008 - 5:35 am 70. SAF:While liberals decry right wing religious indoctrination they have created an equal if not larger left wing version in the entire world of journalism with a few rare exceptions. Obama intends to smother these exceptions through revival of the “fairness doctrine.”
So I believe the MSM will continue on its leftward journey accelerated by the incoming administration. While this article is good don’t expect it to have much of an effect with the possible exception that you will either get warned or fired so as to keep your mouth shut going forward.
Nov 10, 2008 - 7:01 am 71. Cliff:I would just like to add and I didn’t before cause I didn’t want to get lost in the sea of thousands of comments that that column really resonated with me.
Not because it wrote about political bias, to which I knew existed, but because I noticed it or thought it started at the same point you did during the Israeli-Lebanon War. Somehow during that war, I looked at the cover of my newspaper and decided that political coverage is so biased and it hasn’t stopped since then.
Nov 10, 2008 - 7:16 am 72. notutopia:I love the fact that your group of three teleconferencing journalists were BALANCED! A pillar tripod that will change the biased structure of journalistic reporting.
Nov 10, 2008 - 8:29 am 73. beverly:Mr.Malone the power of media is in the hands of the people now. Keyboards over the web and blog sites like LittleGreenFootballs, whose members support unbiased media sources and can have healthy open debate 24/7 and are proponents for a balanced conservative America. Your words of honesty concerning the BIASED media were music to our ears. Thank YOU for being the catabolic force to start this ball rolling and Let’s never let it stop!
All my paper media and magazine sources and subscriptions have been cancelled. I recommend others consider doing so as well. I will find some other source to line the bottom of my birdcage.
PS: Always trust your unconscious mindstreaming. It knows you better than you allow yourself because it knows no intimidation ! BRAVO!
You were fantastic! Don’t worry, there is plenty of work for a reporter such as yourself. The Fairness Doctrine and the attack on radio needs a little light, don’cha think? Radio is technology, right?
Nov 10, 2008 - 8:43 am 74. Ted S.:The most important sentence in this article is, “not wanting my life vivisected by vengeful bureaucrats and fellow reporters, I stopped all interviews.”
In other words, the “free press” is now in the business of suppressing free speech.
In 1948 Orwell predicted a “Ministry of Truth” whose actual work would be to suppress truth by 1984. He was only off by a few years.
Welcome to the future.
Nov 10, 2008 - 8:55 am 75. Corky Boyd:Your article struck a chord because it was the right article, about the right subject by the right person. Your background as a journalist, writing from the inside, gives you legitimacy none of us outsiders can ever achieve.
You are now an accepted source on the subject of media bias (though it was more about suppression of anything damaging to Obama). Please use your new found credentials to continue the meme.
Nov 10, 2008 - 8:58 am 76. WEGL88:Bias? It’s more like partisan media. They argue that I’m wrong and I won’t read, watch or buy from them. Rathergate was the point that the last of their credibility left. Why did they think we’d believe that lame forgery and the fetid excuses for their inability to admit it.
The liberal media is dying a slow death.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:01 am 77. clayusmcret:On Charlie Rose a very well known network anchor was saying “I know nothing about Barak Obama’s plans for foreign policy.” “I know nothing about Barak Obama’s domestic policy.” “I know nothing about Barak Obama’s…..” This was not two years ago, or even a year ago. This was as Barak Obama was being elected President of the United States. If he could not answer the question at election time, what average American could?
A pox on the traditional news media for not doing what many people have fought and died to allow – an open and honest news media capable of revealing facts to the American people.
As we celebrate the Marine Corps’ 233rd birthday, I wonder what we fought all those years for….because I cannot find it.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:06 am 78. Karridine:Great stuff! Would that you could write the story for the headline most-coveted by newsmen of the first 4 decades of the 20th century: “Christ Returns!”
But then people would think you’re just another Baha’i, and dismiss your story outright without researching Baha’u'llah, the Glory of God!
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:07 am 79. John T:Re: #12 Linda F. You are certainly not alone. You might as well have been describing me. I don’t watch TV news anymore except for John Stossel, and the Weather Channel. Likewise on the TV shows, and then only on DVR. I don’t want to even see the “newsbreaks”. That’s all crap.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:14 am 80. AnninCA:I read your original piece and thought it was exceptionally good, particularly in that you identified that the real motive is that the industry is dying.
That is the problem. Notice that it was a bevy of lawyers who rushed to Alaska to dig for dirt.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:16 am 81. Foo Bar:I work in high tech, and its my mission to destabilize the traditional media. Its a war, and we’re winning.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:21 am 82. WCW:You ask rhetorically, “What did I learn from this experience?”
How about: If you play to the grievances of the wingnut brigade, you’ll receive the momentary accolades of the 24 hour news cycle, and a pat on the head by Fox News?
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:25 am 83. Jeff Weimer:I find it rather chilling that you were EVEN WORRIED you would become “Joe the Journalist” for speaking your mind and truth to power. This is not the modern media age I thought I knew.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:25 am 84. Tazzerman:The fact of media bias is something that we ALL need to keep an eye on and challenge every single day. We ALL are ‘warriors’ for accurate and non-biased news and information.
Michael I applaud you, pajamas or no.
Please, lets ALL keep in mind that it’s NOT only the MSM but Hollywood and TV as well that molds public opinion in a HUGE wayt.
Its not only in the way that they present the news but in how and whom they portray in movies, TV shows and TV ads that help sway the American pouplace AND the world in general.
Ever vigilant
-tm
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:32 am 85. ExTex:The REAL truth-to-power.
Thanks.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:40 am 86. Skip:Kat-Missouri: “They are like old drunken whores trying to pull together the tatters of their ghastly clothing after an all night bender”.
Spot On!….The best description of current MSM I’ve read, and explains why I’ll never trust contemporary media again. My days reading The Washington Post and watching major news networks are over…
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:40 am 87. Judith:Guess what…I get to claim credit for successfully riding on your ‘quote-tails’. What a masterpiece your article was and I could not help but forward it to about 20 people who in turn did the same. You hit a nerve and it that was a good thing. For some of us who do not have the eloquence, nor the outlet, we were able to finally put our head on the pillow and sigh with a reassurance that it wasn’t just us.
Thanks!
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:43 am 88. jim Matlock:To return to the original meme; The failure of the MSM to vett Mr Obama. He may be as wonderful as the major news organs assumed, in which case he could have withstood any amount of their snooping and poking into associations, school and professional records and so on. It’s not Mr Obama’s job to come clean on all this; it was their job to dig it out and display it for the public to consider. If he turns out to be something other than what he purports to be it will be on the press’s head – although the country will pay the price. This is a role the mainstream press has proudly assumed since the days of Watergate (before that is was the duty of less than savory muck-rakers) and they abrogate it at great cost to themselves and to the nation.
Nov 10, 2008 - 9:55 am 89. Ceemack:As a couple of others have mentioned, I think that nerve you touched actually points toward a new writing avenue.
There are others who write regularly on media bias in general. But if a tech columnist were to start writing columns that contrast how the traditional media cover stories with how those same stories are treated in the “new” media, particularly the blogosphere, well…
…it might be more interesting to both you and prospective readers than the Yahoo-Microsoft deal.
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:03 am 90. Dyana:Thank you Mr. Malone for writing with integrity and courage, do not loose faith in “Truth”,it sets us free. Your article’s veracity restores our hope of getting the real story without the MSM bias we’re all turning our backs on. You’ve chosen the ‘high road’ and great rewards will follow! Godspeed Mr. Malone
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:16 am 91. vinny:Before you go praising the progress of blogosphere and how much of an impact an unknown blogger can have, consider who would care about your story if it were not published on ABC. You didn’t write anything new, and such articles were common throughout the blogosphere when you wrote your post. The only surprise there was that a mainstream paper reporter was willing to criticise their own. Your piece was essentially playing catch up to the other writers.
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:21 am 92. Cherry:Another newsbrief likely to be missed by MSM. Americans no longer trust your reporting; very few still care about what you have to say. We would be thrilled to see NYT,WAPO,LAT, SAC BEE,… all close down and their staff to be sitting by the curb, holding beggar’s cups.
People on both sides of the political sphere have been complaining about media bias forever but the media itself never talks about it because of course, THEY would NEVER be so biased, they have standards. Yeah right! My only complaint is that I wished you had written about the media bias during the election earlier instead of toward the tail end, then maybe McCain might have had a fairer shake.
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:25 am 93. mnotaro:I saw almost no journalist during this election stay objective…it was like their opinions were pouring out of them with their smiles and their tones…and why is it that the MSM are all a bunch of liberal illuminati? Why can’t they all be a bunch a right wing conservatives? Bad luck or what?!
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:39 am 94. Eagle50:I read similar comments over the weekend… I despise the media attempts manipulate citizens, it’s condescending and unethical, and un-American. I decided to stop complaining and try to do something about it.
On Saturday I created a website called http://www.50millionamericans.org – and propose that those of us who are fed up with yellow journalism and liberal media bias organize our resources and efforts, discover and partner with like minded organizations, and try to affect real change.
United we could become a powerful force for change. We were out-flanked during this last election by people who did a better job of organizing this kind of grass roots effort.
The website is simple, a blank-slate for us to create together. If interested or curious, visit and vote on the opinion poll, maybe leave a comment.
If you like this idea, talk about it with everyone you know. Spread the URL around.
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:54 am 95. Linda:Bravo Mr. Malone!
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:55 am 96. Joe:Great articles, both! Please keep writing about this topic. Something MUST be done. The founding of the Fox News Channel was supposed to be an antidote, but the rest of the MSM, and the Democratic party, were able to successfully characterize it as a right-wing channel.
The zeal with which the MSM went after Joe the Plumber is atrocious. I can still picture Chris Matthews reading his “breaking news” reports about JTP, and saying “It gets better” when he adds more details. I guess the tax lien on JTP’s house was something the public absolutely needed to know, rather than unimportant and irrelevant stuff like Obama’s associations with Bill Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and ACORN.
Something HAS to be done.
Nov 10, 2008 - 11:25 am 97. Tim:Glad to know you weren’t in your mom’s basement wearing pajamas. When you wrote the article!
Nov 10, 2008 - 12:03 pm 98. Suz:You should write more articles on the media bias. I suspect we will still see more of it.
Nov 10, 2008 - 12:16 pm 99. Steve:A clear cut down the middle observation.
Very happy for you that the article went well for you.
It was with horror that I, a proud liberal, watched the entire mainstream media complex become a gigantic left-wing version of FOX News. By the end of the campaign, I couldn’t even go to the New York Times or Washington Post websites anymore for fear of what the latest Palin-bashing piece might be. I can only hope that now that Obama has been safely escorted to victory, the press will cover his administration with something resembling professionalism.
This campaign, ever since the primaries, has been one of the lowest points for the media since they got credit for starting the Spanish-American War. The media has nothing to bank on besides trust. Once that’s lost, it takes a very long time to regain.
Thanks for speaking out. You had the megaphone that the rest of us didn’t. You spoke for us.
Nov 10, 2008 - 12:19 pm 100. Nomad of Norad:The thing about all the digging up of dirt on Joe the Plumber and his like is that nobody on earth is flawless and perfect — since, by definition, everyone makes minor mistakes and have minor shortcomings — the trouble is that those in power that don’t deserve it, or those who lust for power, will go dig up anything at all they CAN find on you, even if it’s totally irrelevant to the issue brought up, just to distract people from the uncomfortable (to them) thing that is being exposed about them.
People telling themselves “Gee, look at how bad a person this Joe the Plumber guy turned out to be…” (yeah, right!) must remind themselves that they themselves are no better or worse than Joe the Plumber… and could easily be in an even worse mess of trouble if they themselves make the mistake of saying the Emperor is Starkers… It’s like that scene in Star Trek V where Kirk says, “Uh… just a moment here, but… Uh… What does God need with a starship?” and promptly got struck by lightning by the false god.
Nov 10, 2008 - 12:47 pm 101. x:Or, perhaps, your practical mind makes you a good candidate for writing about politics, and you should do some more of that too.
Nov 10, 2008 - 4:09 pm 102. The Sanity Inspector:Liberal media bias is a shame but, at this late date, it isn’t so much of a shock anymore. It’s simply a given, part of the chessboard, and we’re fortunate that we have the internet to help route around it. Hard to be a gatekeeper when the walls are down.
Nov 10, 2008 - 4:57 pm 103. Robert L. Mayo:“a lone writer sitting at his laptop in suburbia and write something that actually changes the course of events”
My idea of paradise.
Perhaps, someday…
Nov 10, 2008 - 5:24 pm 104. Macy:I was interested to learn that you are just a guy with a laptop but as you say – if you didn’t have abc news after your name the story wouldn’t have had any legs at all.
Nov 10, 2008 - 5:51 pm 105. Diane:Perhaps the funniest and darkest take on media bias of the campaign –
Nov 10, 2008 - 5:55 pm 106. tengunny:http://penetratinginsights.blogtownhall.com/2008/10/20/obama_kills_19;_msm_yawns.thtml
Inspirational, buddy! Thank goodness you DID write that column, I guess, eh? You weren’t the first guy to say it, but you were the first guy to say it who was listened to!
Nov 10, 2008 - 6:01 pm 107. Louis:What I remember as news media- print & TV – and, separately, as entertainers, have, with this election cycle, completed their full transmutation to “Fan Magazines” of one form or another.
One national newspaper’s headlines, top of page, far left columns, averaged between 3 and 5-to-1 stories with Obama in the headline, versus McCain. I asked their public affairs editor if the ratio had to exceed 10 to 1 for her to notice anything unusual.
The term, “journalist” is likewise obsolete and has been superceded by the more accurate,”publicist”, or, as real journalists used to call them, “Flacks”.
Remember to employ the proper designations, “Fan magazine”, “Publicist” and “Flack”. Using the osbolete terms will mark you as an old timer.
Nov 10, 2008 - 6:12 pm 108. Andrea:The media was just another voter with a huge megaphone during this election.
Forget the soul-searching of the Republicans. The media has some soul-searching of its own to do.
There’s more to the “past 8 years” than Bush’s record to complain about. Plenty can be said about the complainers.
Nov 10, 2008 - 6:13 pm 109. PackMan:Good for you for writing the column in the first place (and thanks), and also for sharing what happened in its aftermath. Great stuff.
Liberal Media Bias sucks; and kudos to Charles J. at LGF as well; fantastic site.
Nov 10, 2008 - 7:08 pm 110. Mike:RE: #33, Jack. I will not allow my children to be taken away by a Fascist/Communist state organization. This compulsary “voluntarism” will be the quickest way, along with gun confiscation , to set off an armed revolution against His Lordship Obama. This smacks of the Komsomol, or Hitler Youth, and once the ignorant and uninformed are finally made aware of it, there will be hell to pay by Ayers, and Obama. Obama is already being called , by msm types, a creepy creature and cult like. Resist Communism and remember: McCain will now say ANYTHING to make the Old York Times “like” him again. The dumb old bastard can’t figure out that they already love him again because he lost and will vote lib at every chance.
Nov 10, 2008 - 7:33 pm 111. Tee:I’m a Malone Fan. My wife and I decided to cancel our local newspaper due to media bias. When someone called her about this, she told them the reason and was asked why we didn’t write to the editor? And BTW, she was also told we owed $5.20 for the issues we’ve already been sent. She was then asked for a credit card or our checking account number for automatic payment. She said to bill us and wasn’t going to give any other information. Today, we got another $75.00 renewel notice for our “subscription.” Remember when you could cancel a magazine/paper simply by simply NOT sending in the renewal statement.
Nov 10, 2008 - 7:33 pm 112. BMoon:What is surprising and disturbing is that there were not more outcries. That the press wants to act like Pravda is understandable considering their mindless indoctrination at the hands of their journalism schools. But since when do normal Americans acquiesce to being treated like Soviet serfs?
Well Michael, now you know what that little kid felt like when he cried “Hey!The Emperor has no clothes!” He must’ve had a life afterwards too.
Nov 10, 2008 - 8:38 pm 113. vegas art guy:Your column about the MSM bias was a great piece of writing. This column was just as interesting. Keep it up.
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:31 pm 114. TonyO:You are an honest man and you wrote the truth. That sets you apart from the 99% of the corrupt, lazy, arrogant and ignorant yellow-livered scum that pass for the press in this country.
Nov 10, 2008 - 10:57 pm 115. TheEnigma47:. . . But legitimacy is still conferred by the traditional media – which makes their duty to be fair and unbiased even greater.
********
It is essential that the American people wake up to this comment and the truth, which it holds. It is time to revoke the right of the MSM to hold dominance over what is and what is not news. Only then can we force the MSM to become, if only slightly, more responsible in the manner in which they report the news can we trust anything the MSM puts forth as news. From our political campaigns, laws and even the propaganda of “global warming”, the MSM is so corrupt that it may require that it be completely abolished and new organizations arise to take the place of the many elements of the MSM. The description of the MSM that best fits is PRAVDA, the bedmate of the dnc. Unlike PRAVDA of the Soviet Union, which answered the communist party, the PRAVDA of the US answers to the dnc.
The MSM had more than bias on its collective mind in this past election. The MSM was out to prove to the American people, that it was the MSM, and NOT the American voter, who would make the decision on who was to occupy the White House. The MSM considers the American voter not sufficiently intelligent to make this choice, and thus, by controlling the “news” reports, articles, etc., the MSM controls what the American people, as a whole, are allowed to think. Sounds more and more like PRAVDA doesn’t it?
Following its speech at the 2004 dnc convention, the various elements of the MSM assigned a staff of investigators and “reporters” to dig into the background and history of “osama” obama. This information was NOT gathered to inform the American people, it was gathered so that the MSM would be in a position to blunt the release of any negative information should it surface. Proof can be seen in how quickly the MSM brushed aside the revelations of the racist and Anti-American rants of “osama” obama’s “reverend” wright. Compare these acts to how President Bush was treated by the MSM when he gave a speech at Bob Jones University. When the name ayers came up in a negative connotation concerning “osama” obama, it brushed the association/affiliation aside, referring to ayers as “someone from the neighborhood”. The MSM knew this to be a lie, a side step of facts, yet again, refused to challenge “osama’ obama. To paraphrase a line from an old Sonny and Cher song, “And the LIES go on”.
The only way we can have an honest election is when we have an informed electorate. The MSM was determined that for the 2008 election, the American voter would have a little negative information about “osama” obama as possible. It was in that manner in which they placed their efforts to ensure the outcome of the election. Whenever the Republicans, bloggers, etc brought forth negative information, the MSM immediately jumped in to “brush it aside” as being insignificant. Time and again, this happened, with no effort to provide a substantive challenge to “osama” obama. Yet, compare this to the manner in which Gov. Palin was viciously attacked by the MSM, including sending a hoard of lawyers, reporters and investigators to Alaska with the assigned task, find all the dirt you can”. As demonstrated by the smear campaign against her, the MSM had no time or concern to verify the filth that emanated from these “investigations”, just the accusation was sufficient. Yet, known facts about “osama” obama lay hidden from the American people for 4 years.
Sadly, far too many American voters were too lazy, too arrogant or simply too STUPID to make the effort necessary to inform themselves about “osama” obama, its associates/affiliates, background and history. The MSM depended upon this attitude and they succeeded in determining the outcome of the Nov. 4th election. The Internet has made finding information, good and bad, so easy that failure to do so is indicative of a lazy and arrogant individual. One does not have to do the research themselves, there are hundreds of web sites upon which one can find this information. Some true, some false, determining what to believe is the individual’s responsibility.
If you want the next election to be fair, honest and representative of the American people, then, you, as an individual must make certain that all information that is relevant to the voters about the candidates be made available. Stop watching the MSM news channels, stop subscriptions to MSM publications, stop listening to or viewing npr/pbs. Stop making donations to npr/pbs. If they refuse to be honest with you, they do NOT deserve your contributions. When someone repeats negative information about a Conservative that they received from a MSM outlet, challenge them to prove it other than what came from MSM sources.
It is time to make the MSM accountable to the American people. It is time to force the MSM to stop being the PRAVDA of the dnc. If they refuse to be honest, then they do not deserve your patronage. Again, to paraphrase a portion of an old Smith Barney TV commercial, if the MSM wants your patronage, make them “earn it”. If enough people refuse to tune in the “news” reports or read the “news” articles, the loss in revenue generated by advertising with the MSM outlets will cause those advertisers to “pull the plug”, thus resulting in loss revenue for the MSM outlets, a domino effect if you will.
Wake up America, and Americans, SAVE your nation. Take it back from PRAVDA (MSM) and the dnc.
Nov 10, 2008 - 11:02 pm 116. Dorothy:I was one of those who shared your column with many others. It was well written. The ABC name on the page was a shocker, but it helped to show that someone on the inside knew what was deliberately going on and that newsrooms weren’t just filled with the brain dead. Those of us who follow the news closely on radio, television and websites don’t expect truth any more from the big sources. We couldn’t figure out how you got the article out past the gate-keepers, but were grateful that you did.
The way it is now, newspapers bring ads, background color stories and entertainment, obituaries and food information. Some junk is put together to fill the news holes or the spaces not taken by ads. Television is for entertainment, sports and weather video, pretty females and metro men. If a person wants news they have to go to their choice of websites as well as read the comments for nuggets of good information. It’s a shame that no one is doing serious investigative work any more, putting together good packages of information called news stories. For instance almost all of the stories covering the political season were belly button stories. The writers sat, examined their belly buttons, examined their deep thoughts, threw in a few facts after which a few pictures were added and there was the completed story.
I can’t see things changing. The general population has been so dumbed down they don’t know why they need to be informed about the changes in their world.
Nov 11, 2008 - 2:14 am 117. Hettie:Your article was also discussed in Hungary’s largest circulation (if this means anything in this day and age) daily’s online edition.
http://nol.hu/kulfold/az_objektiv_media_a_kampany_vesztese
They didn’t really get your point though…
Nov 11, 2008 - 11:13 am 118. Rob:The current biased product of the In the Tank Media Industry is like intellectual poison. It is designed to distract and mislead. I think it is time to find alternate sources of news and information. Cancel your subscriptions and send some money to Michael Yon and the other real news sources out there.
Nov 11, 2008 - 12:34 pm 119. bcurn:Would I be throwing a wet blanket on your “hottest collumn in country” to reveal that you have never “changed any course of events ,momentarily at least” in your life. Your ego got massaged due to you expressing a true thought many of us have experienced. How ironic your criticism of your own trade has sparked this interest, because many believe reporters have no scruples. bcurn
Nov 11, 2008 - 3:37 pm 120. Tim:Great, but where is the call for a solution, such as the adoption of a written code of ethics, like most professions have done?
Nov 11, 2008 - 6:20 pm 121. J:Mike the journalist?
Go for it.
Nov 11, 2008 - 10:20 pm 122. kasper:Though I appreciate Malone’s willingness to announce his revelation about today’s media. the idea that the reputation of journalism can be restored is laughable.
I have worked in newspapers for the last 30+ years. I know how news is made and manipulated, and that most journalists have a profound lack of critical-thinking skills and sense of proportion. In addition, young journalists newly released from academia have no knowledge of civics and history. They know everything already.
I wish Malone well in trying to turn the tide — but too little, too late. The idea that people will eventually wake up someday and realize they’ve been mislead and misinformed, isn’t going to happen. The uncurious public finds it much easier to be dictated to and MSM never asks the questions that matter.
Nov 12, 2008 - 7:44 am 123. Sonny:Michael Malone also brings to mind how the media takes unsubstantiated, unverified rumors as those told about Saran Palin after the election and thrashes her and her family to shreds.
Until that kind of “journalism” stops, it will never redeem its credibility with the public nor will the circulation of the press stop declining. After the “Joe the Plumber” incident, there are many of us that now bunker down with a, “That could happen to me” mentalilty.
Viciousness and humiliation of others will not sell newspapers. After Bush bashing for 8 years, posters on 52-48 want everything to be lovey-dovey overnight. They did what they did out of hatred and it was that anger that resulted in Obama being elected.
Instead of an informed electorate, people voted out of emotions and feelings instead of reason and logic. That is where the change is needed, not putting expectations on the losing party.
You can be sure our Republic will not survive under the current conditions. It is not just one side or the other “changing”. Until voters know the difference between Constitutional rights and vested rights, injustices will continue to prevail and voters will continue of vote out of anger as our society falls into the ash heap of history.
Nov 12, 2008 - 10:03 am 124. Instalanche « Journoprof’s Blog:[...] http://pajamasmedia.com/edgelings/2008/11/07/my-own-personal-media-bubble/ [...]
Nov 12, 2008 - 1:47 pm 125. Flo:I confess I’d not read your stuff before this article. Now I will be watching.
Nov 13, 2008 - 11:02 pm 126. Ted S.:Thanks for your thoughts and that you take the time to share them with the rest of us.
Now if only someone would do the same thing for the Democratic Party … Oh, Wait! … Someone has …
http://topleasecraig.blogspot.com/2008/11/why-im-democrat.html
Nov 16, 2008 - 9:57 pm