General Discussion
Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsWhen did the conservative "liberal media" meme get started ?
FDR ? Vietnam War ? With William Buckley ? Anyone ?
Kingofalldems
(38,458 posts)Pigboy Limbaugh later pounded it into the ground.
11 Bravo
(23,926 posts)Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)I don't know. I think it was just conservative's reflexive reactions to hearing any news story that didn't fit their narrative, regardless of veracity of said narrative.
1000words
(7,051 posts)It's the reason why the monied conservative elite began buying up and creating media empires almost immediately after. They were going to make sure that kind of accountability was never going to happen again.
Tommy_Carcetti
(43,182 posts)I think Watergate was deeply embarrassing for the Republicans and they knew their image was badly tarnished.
So they needed a rehab, someone who could obscure the taint of Nixon, someone with a "bright and cheery" personality who was capable of throwing out quick soundbites without needing to say anything of substance.
So who did they pick? An actor, of course. Not a great one obviously, but one who was good enough to read their script.
landolfi
(234 posts)immoderate
(20,885 posts)I associate the onset of this coincides with Walter Cronkite turning against the Vietnam War.
But I'll accept the "real answer."
--imm
leveymg
(36,418 posts)steve2470
(37,457 posts)Back then the Federalists probably said " thee lying scoundrels in the PRESS ! "
Recursion
(56,582 posts)nattering nabobs of negativism, effete liberal media, etc.
JHB
(37,160 posts)...the current strain of it can be traced Buckley, Goldwater, and those who rallied around them.
For example, from McCarthy and His Enemies (1955) by William F. Buckley and L. Brent Bozell Jr. (father of the Media Research Center guy, naturally). Bozell was a speechwriter for Goldwater.
possessed in order to draw attention to the gravity of the situation .
Perhaps, again, the complexities of the Communist problem were
lost on Joe McCarthy in the early days of his venture . After all, he
had seen alarming reports of various investigating agencies on certain
employees of the State Department . And who, McCarthy may
have asked himself, who but Communists would do and say such
things? That only Communists would so act is perhaps a logical
answer to the question ; but logic in our age, must be strained
through the woof of irrationality and the warp of ignorance . Many
non-Communists behave in a baffling manner, and McCarthy
should have taken this into account-all the more since he was prepared
to challenge the President of the United States, the political
party in control of Congress, and the vigilantes of Liberalism in the
press and the classroom.
There's plenty of other things which would take too long to post right now, but suffice to say their view of the press was a liberal version of what FOX News actually is. Any setback (like Goldwater's loss) could be blamed on liberal media bias.
steve2470
(37,457 posts)1000words
(7,051 posts)Well done. Thank you.
Guy Whitey Corngood
(26,501 posts)Not really sure. On edit, post 10 above makes sense to me.