Daisy,
At first I was amazed at how every second of bad news that hit the media somehow became the fault of George Bush. But now I just turn it off. There is no human in a whole lifetime who could possibly do even a tenth the damage blamed on our President.

The desperation of the liberal media is really quite humorous.

smile

[ December 04, 2005, 05:30 PM: Message edited by: smilinize ]

So what we as citizens who aren't going to take it anymore need to do is ban Target...Believe me they'll get the message and face it, they need us more than we need them....There were over two thousand names on the petitions we gathered and delivered to the Lowes stores here in town....Whalla, all the Holiday tree signs came down. Like I said "WE HAVE THE POWER, THE PEOPLE" because "THESE STORES NEED US" more than we need them. Boomer women we are millions strong and needn't be dictated to by anyone. I say God Bless President Bush and all the good he does try to do. I said this before this poor man is dammed if he does and dammed if he doesn't.

[ December 04, 2005, 05:57 PM: Message edited by: chatty lady ]

Correction in response to Smilinize's post above:

"Liberal media" is a myth. This site doesn't have enough room to list all the ways that's a fallacious notion.

If it's television you mean, let's call it "commercial television." And we can hardly call them "desperate" when they make up to 50% on their investment dollar.

Did anyone see Saturday Night Live? They were making fun of all the stuff about taking Christmas out of everything. They were siging Christmas songs with really stupid lyrics. I know they meant it to be funny, but it was sad.
Lynne

They may be making 50% but they are wrong, wrong, wrong in the way they accomplish it. Smile is correct in her statement that it is the liberal media that is at fault, but I unlike Smile do not find them or what they do, funny because the weak minded tend to get their twisted ideas by listening to the media, you know the ones who can't or won't think for themselves....Isn't Politics grand? Sometimes LSmith5434 the best way to get a point across is to make fun of it. Thats all some folks will ever listen to, let alone understand...LOL

Smile
It's not true that I'd have to believe the media to be conservative if I don't think they're liberal! That's one of the logical fallacies rampant these days that keep people at each others' throats in political discussions.

The most fundamental point is this, and everyone needs to think about it: a democracy can't exist without a free press. Thomas Jefferson said that a free press without a government was preferable to a government without a free press.

Truthfully, to guide you to "sites" that can shed light on this would be difficult for me. I'll need to think about books you can read. Keep in mind that this has been my field since undergrad, and I've been teaching it for 15 years.

But these are some important points:

The biggest constraint on news media today is the market, which is neither liberal nor conservative, but apolitical. I would like to see all news take the public service model, as was attempted before the demise of the Fairness Doctrine in 1980, meaning that stations couldn't advertise during their news hour.

Calling the press "liberal" began with Barry Goldwater. His ideas at the time were considered way on the fringe of political thinking, and when the press quoted him and then quoted others who opposed him, he thought they were "liberal." You can start by looking at the rhetoric surrounding him. Nixon and Agnew were huge opponents of the media and tried to shut down the brand new public broadcasting service, which was reporting on the Vietnam war.

Justice Powell in the 1970s thought that "corporations" were being scorned by society and sought to remedy that by attacking the press as too "liberal." Back then, conservatism was associated with business. Then the think tanks started up. Do you ever wonder who they are and what they do? They're not academics, only a very few perform any research. How are they funded? Why are they taken seriously? They're on all the talk shows, their columns are in the newspapers. Pay attention even if they give you facts and figures. "Facts" and "figures" are often used to mislead.

And look how corporatized everything is these days. It's almost like the robber barons have returned from the dead.

The purpose of the press is to be a watchdog. We should WANT the press to be critical of WHOEVER is in power. If you think the press right now is critical of Bush, recall how they skewered Clinton and then Gore. If the Monica Lewinsky story wasn't kept alive by all the newspapers and all the networks, we wouldn't have been aware of it. Journalists are trained (or at least used to be trained) to ask tough questions on behalf of citizens so that we can make informed choices.

I'm sorry, but all the attacks on "liberal" media are only serving to undermine confidence in the press by everyone. It's working. Undermining our confidence in anyone's ability to attempt to be objective will then allow for all "opinions" to be viewed as equally valid. Want to be a cannibal? That's fine. That's your opinion. How about a child molester? No problem. Now let's hear from the other side.

See?

Happy Kwanzaa, DJ! What do you do to celebrate?

I 100% agree with you about the over-commercialization of Christmas. It always bothered me, but more-so since my daughter died in 1994. When that happened, a lot of life's fluff fell away and my perspective of just about everything changed.

Maybe I wasn't clear. I'm a Baha'i. We don't have any holidays in December. But I have Christian relatives and visit them on Christmas.

Kwanzaa is specifically an African American observance. I'm not exactly sure how it's celebrated.

I being the inquisitive person I am wanted to know more and have learned by simple research that Baha'i believe in a single God who has repeatedly sent prophets into the world through whom he has revealed the "Word of God." Prophets include Adam, Krishna, Buddha, Yeshua (Jesus), Mohammed. The religion is interesting and if you want to know more simply google the word Baha'i. I am always fascinated by the differences and yet the similarities of religions.