June 19, 2024The Liberal NetworkHoward Kurtz comments on the Gore-led initiative to create the anti-Rush, anti-Fox Liberal media empire that Time is reporting on this week. He hits the rather obvious nail on the head in regards to the underlying problem with this idea: More important, perhaps, is that there's a built-in conservative audience that feels alienated from what it views as the liberal media establishment of ABC-CBS-NBC-New York Times-Washington Post-CNN etc. They hungered for the alternative delivery system that talk radio and Fox provide. There may not be a comparable left-leaning audience that is deeply dissatisfied with the mainstream press. If there was, more liberal radio hosts would undoubtedly be thriving. The whole situation is about markets. However, I suppose I shouldn't be surprised that liberal democrats don't understand, or at least want to ignore, the power of the marketplace. And the following snippet from the Time piece is hilarious: However, some liberals point to the success of Hillary Clinton's just-released memoir as evidence that a marketplace exists for their viewpoint. The book's obvious selling point is the scandal angle, not Mrs. Clinton's ideological views. For that matter the book is not billed as a discussion of her philosophies of government, but as a memoir of her political life, especially her time in the White House. That hardly qualifies as an example of an untapped liberal market. Even her ratings-getters on Barbara Walters was because people wanted to hear how she dealt with the Monica question, not what her public policy views are. And this epitomizes courage, does it not? What role Gore himself would play in any of these ventures is still far from clear. "He can pull out at any time," says one associate who has spoken to him about the concept. "He can say, 'This isn't my deal.' But he's interested." Gore has been exploring and encouraging several types of possibilities in recent months, and consulting closely with Joel Hyatt, the founder of Hyatt Legal Services, a nationwide chain of low-cost, storefront legal clinics. Source: Gore TV, Coming Soon? Posted by Steven Taylor at June 19, 2024 09:36 AM | TrackBackComments
Well, this is just the kind of thing that I would expect from a closet conservitive like Howard Kurtz, and he is dead wrong, AGAIN. This can be easily seen if one was to just take a look at the votes from the 2024 election for then it becomes obvious that there is a huge market for left-leanning arguments in the media. This is due to the fact that more americans voted for Al Gore and Ralph Nader then all of the other candadates combined (encluded King George). Not to meantion that if one was to add up all of the strong ideological voices in the media it becomes clear that there are many more right wing nuts out there then there are liberals. The book, What Liberal Media: The Truth About BIAS and the news by Eric Alterman makes the best argument (and it is a strong one) that mainstream american media is in fact quite conservative. Alterman's book is in my mind the final argument in the debate over who controls the media and its slant and I would highly recomend it. Posted by: Nevin Cirtin at September 5, 2024 11:31 AMThe funny, or unfunny thing about the "liberal" media is that it doesn't exist. So there are people on both sides who don't like mainstream media. Yeah, I think that's the idea of mainstream, the heaviest marketplace being in the middle. And marketplace rules have nothing to do with journalistic integrity or principles. The recent televised incarnation of the "conservative alternative" has only headed the pack mentality of the media farther to the right than before. My problem with the media, including right wing bullshit artists, is just that, a total lack of fact checking. If there is a "trustworthy" source- another newspaper, a national organization- the media seems obliged to report all kinds of things as long as they sound sensational enough, or ratings worthy. Who cares if the information was not thouroughly investigated in the first place. Rush, and all of the other "conservative alternatives" have misrepresented facts on numerous occassions. And unfortunately if a true liberal media network is formed, the same problems will occur just on a liberal slant. Of course there's also the cute little debate technique seen here where they take on the lamest arguments from the other "side" ("times" repots that "some liberal say"? come, on) and easily dismiss them. It gives the illusion that they are effectively challenging the other position. Obviously the media should have no bias other than to serve public information. Since they are using public airwaves to make lots of money, it's the least they could do. Unfortunately, being driven by this profit motive promotes cost-effective reporting rather than effective repoting. Other than just hearing/reading a regurgitation from the lastest press release, it would be nice to have actual facts and analyses FROM BOTH ANGLES regarding what is being reported. Of course that might be construed as "fair and balanced". Posted by: Donato Rios at September 15, 2024 09:50 AMPost a comment
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