Americans Lose Confidence in Broadcast Media

A new Rasmussen Reports polls finds 55 percent of Americans believe media bias is a bigger problem than campaign contributions.

For some time now, it has been common knowledge that the broadcast news media are in the tank for Democrats. Specifically, they appear enamored with covering Barack Obama's presidential campaign, and appear more than willing to carry his water as he races across the country in the summer heat.

It's akin to a marathon runner who has his fans in the sidelines, ever-ready with overflowing cups of H2O for their hero as he races towards the finish line. The trouble is: It is unseemly for a purportedly "objective" reporter to behave in such an unseemly-and undignified-manner. And now, it is having an impact on how Americans perceive the credibility of those media outlets.

A recent Rasmussen Reports poll shows that 55 percent of Americans believe media bias is an even bigger problem than big campaign contributions. A full 66 percent believe that it is a bad idea to ban campaign commercials, citing "despite the annoyance factor, it's better to put up with an election-year barrage rather than rely on the news media." In other words, Americans are finally fed up with broadcast media bias, and they know they can no longer depend on it for accurate information about news and politics.

This means of course that broadcast news outlets need to begin taking a page from print journalists, who have been far more objective in their reporting and analysis of candidates and the issues surrounding the campaigns.

Part of the reason for this, admittedly, is that the print medium allows for more to be said about a particular topic. It lends itself to revealing nuances that are often lost in the timed segments to which broadcast outlets are constrained. Nonetheless, when reporters go on the record, admitting to NBC's Brian Williams, for example, how hard it is to remain objective in covering Senator Obama's campaign, or Chris Matthews openly admitting to tingles up his legs when Mr. Obama speaks, it's probably about time to send these "reporters" to take a refresher course in the once-revered Canons of Journalism

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ELSEWHERE

Pickens's Slim Economics: "Folksy oilman T. Boone Pickens has taken to the airwaves with a $58 million campaign to publicize his plan for energy independence. His scheme apparently involves building windmills on the Great Plains to generate electricity. Natural gas that had been previously used for electric generation would then be used to fuel automobiles, thereby allowing us to "break the stranglehold of foreign oil." Pickens's commercial no doubt causes FEE readers' classical-liberal antennae to stand at attention. The word "plan" alone rightly provokes worries of coercive schemes. The notion of being independent of energy or any other commodity from foreign countries goes against the teachings of Smith, Bastiat, and others who recognize the gains from specialization and division of labor. Nor will readers knowledgeable about rent-seeking be surprised that media reports describe Pickens as "heavily invested in natural gas and wind power." And when Pickens states in his commercials that "this plan will work but it needs your help," readers familiar with Public Choice rightly suspect that the sort of help Pickens has in mind is tax dollars."

PETA loons want to advertise vegan message on border fence: "While many view the contentious border fence as a government fiasco, an animal rights group sees a rare opportunity. People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals plans today to announce an unusual marketing pitch to the U.S. government: Rent us space on the fence for billboards warning illegal border crossers there is more to fear than the Border Patrol. The billboards, in English and Spanish, would offer the caution: "If the Border Patrol Doesn't Get You, the Chicken and Burgers Will - Go Vegan." "We think that Mexicans and other immigrants should be warned if they cross into the U.S. they are putting their health at risk by leaving behind a healthier, staple diet of corn tortillas, beans, rice, fruits and vegetables," said Lindsay Rajt, assistant manager of PETA's vegan campaigns."

Dems' New National Platform Opposes Defense of Marriage Act : "The 2008 Democratic Party platform draft, which will be submitted to delegates at the Democratic National Convention for approval later this month, expresses opposition to the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), a federal law that presumptive Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama says he wants to repeal. "We will enact a comprehensive bipartisan employment non-discrimination act," says the platform draft. "We oppose the Defense of Marriage Act and all attempts to use this issue to divide us." DOMA defines marriage as the legal union of one man and one woman for purposes of all federal laws. Signed into law by President Bill Clinton in 1996, DOMA protects states from having to recognize same-sex marriages contracted in other states"

Britain's newest epidemic: "The knife violence in Britain has reached epidemic proportions according to an article at Dailymail.co.uk, an online news agency in England. . Americans recognize the sensational headlines and use of the term epidemic to describe the actions of common criminals because of articles by the U.S. media that use the same format but vilify guns instead of knives. The nature of this type of news reporting makes it obvious they are used to sway public opinion against guns, or knives or the use of self-defense by the average citizen. When Britain outlawed guns (and self-defense), their elected officials claimed that the impending domestic tranquility would make them the envy of the world."

Bush wants some endangered species rules extinct: "Just months before President Bush leaves office, his administration is antagonizing environmentalists by proposing changes that would allow federal agencies to decide for themselves whether subdivisions, dams, highways and other projects have the potential to harm endangered animals and plants. The proposal, first reported by The Associated Press, would cut out the advice of government scientists who have been weighing in on such decisions for 35 years. Agencies also could not consider a project's contribution to global warming in their analysis".

Churches ordered closed during Olympics: "An organization founded by a man who escaped from China after being persecuted for his Christian faith says it has uncovered a secret Chinese government document demanding that churches shut their doors for 90 days around the 2008 Beijing Olympics. "Should church members violate these rules they will be subject to the disciplinary actions of the Chinese government," said the report from China Aid Association, an organization dedicated to helping persecuted Christians. "Pastors were forced to sign a written agreement that they would not participate in religious services while the Olympic Games are taking place in China," the organization said. "The document, drafted by Chinese government officials, specifies that the house Churches in China: 'refrain from organizing and joining illegal gatherings and refrain from receiving donations, sermons and preaching from overseas religious organizations and groups that have a purpose.'"

For more postings from me, see OBAMA WATCH, TONGUE-TIED, EDUCATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, GREENIE WATCH, POLITICAL CORRECTNESS WATCH, GUN WATCH, SOCIALIZED MEDICINE, FOOD & HEALTH SKEPTIC, AUSTRALIAN POLITICS, IMMIGRATION WATCH INTERNATIONAL, EYE ON BRITAIN and Paralipomena

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The Big Lie of the late 20th century was that Nazism was Rightist. It was in fact typical of the Leftism of its day. It was only to the Right of Stalin's Communism. The very word "Nazi" is a German abbreviation for "National Socialist" (Nationalsozialist) and the full name of Hitler's political party (translated) was "The National Socialist German Workers' Party" (In German: Nationalsozialistische Deutsche Arbeiterpartei)

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