Republicans paint Fourth Estate as Public Enemy No. 1

[JonLP24]

Source: BostonHerald.com

CHICAGO - Since the introduction of little-known Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as the Republican vice presidential nominee, the GOP has launched a D-day-like offensive on the news media, attempting to frame the Fourth Estate as Public Enemy No. 1.

Rapid-fire reporting on Palin’s past — and most specifically on the pregnancy of her 17-year-old daughter — elicited Republican calls of a "smear campaign" conducted by a mainstream media that a majority of the country already believes has a liberal bias.

This tactical move by the GOP appears, at least initially, to have worked: a Rasmussen poll released Thursday found that 51 percent of Americans believe reporters are trying to hurt Sarah Palin with their coverage and 24 percent say such stories make them more likely to vote for Sen. John McCain in the election.

But many experts believe the mainstream press did nothing wrong in aggressively covering the background of a person in line to be the second most powerful politician in the country.



Read more: http://news.bostonherald.com/news/2008/view.bg?articleid=1117216&srvc=2008campaign&position=12

[GreenPartyVoter]

1. Considering they bought the 4th estate years ago (maybe they

mistakenly thought it had a mansion that came with it?) I fail to see how they can possibly be whining about their own agents of disinformation.

[JonLP24]

3. Me personally I feel the MSM is taking it easy on Palin

I don't know why, probaly a number of reasons. But I feel the media isn't doing enough to report truly what she has done and what she is really about.

[AlinPA]

5. They are berserk over her - I haven't seen anything like this in my life (70 yrs).

They absolutely love her. She will get the kindest attention from here until election day.

[GreenPartyVoter]

6. They might if things get juicy enough, They are about personal scandal and little else these days

[fascisthunter]

8. No Shit... talk about pre-empting propaganda....

[alllyingwhores]

12. F__KING PRECISELY!!

But that, of course, is their tried and true tactic--spewing the opposite of the truth and using their (the GOP's) bought and paid for base and propaganda arm or Ministry of Truth (the corporate media).

With the obvious irony that they are criticizing their own agent.

[TwilightGardener]

2. People want to believe the story, the narrative, the legend--

they don't want facts, and if facts are made known, they won't believe them or care.

[lifesbeautifulmagic]

4. somebody better tell

the AP's Ron Fournier, and let them know over at ABC as well.

[Captiosus]

7. "Public Enemy #1"

Just sucked the wind out of the entire RNC by reporting that the jobless claims report and mortgage forclosures report show both at an all time high.

I suppose McSame will say they're smearing the economy and distorting the record on that, too.

[ixion]

9. this game is otherwise known as "good cop, bad cop"

one pretends to be vexed by the other, but the truth is that they are one in the same. The media, in fact, has been easy on Palin, applying the same double standard they always apply to "conservatives".

[PassingFair]

10. Focus on your OWN family.

She should be greeted EVERYWHERE she goes
with signs that say:

FOCUS ON YOUR OWN FAMILY!

[pampango]

11. They don't trust the "Liberal Media". We don't trust the "Corporate Media".

Interesting common perspective on the media.

[demo dutch]

13. See!!! That's how gullible the American people are, They always buy into their crap!

[ElboRuum]

14. Serious Question...

Why are they only gullible to their crap? Why aren't they gullible to our "crap" (A.K.A reason)? Or does it seriously have to be crap for them to buy into it?

I've always wondered about this. If you are easily led, then when two people talk at you, why do you go a certain way versus another? What's the decision process going on there? What decision are you basing it on?

Damn curious if you ask me.

[JonLP24]

15. I recommend reading the book "Dream"

It roughly explains what attracks americans and that is spectacles. Such as Las Vegas lights, George Bush's Fighter Jet landing 30 miles away from the shore when the standard approach was to fly the Marine chopper, etc. Explains how democrats and progressives don't do this and how the republicans do and explains some possibilities of using similar type of 'advertising' while being truthful.

[demo dutch]

20. Yes and Rove has been a master at translating this. See my post #19. The GOP convention was

a perfect display of Spectacles again, 9/11, POW's etc.

[demo dutch]

19. It seem that Rove is a master in figuring out what makes the average American tick. You're seeing

the result of years and years of the dumbing down of this country. The GOP especially under Rove has mastered to spell out their message in plain and simple terms to the American voter. Americans buy into their symbolism crap because it is embedded into American society. i.e. "this is the greatest country syndrome. Bill Maher frequently suggests that America has become an immature nation that can't see the "big picture". I think that's spot on!

I spend half of my adult life in Europe and it appears to me that the average American is not a critical thinker and thus they fail to ask themselves whether what's presented to them should be questioned. The less plain and simple s is one of the major reasons I think, Kerry (and Gore to a certain extend), had trouble convincing the voters. Dems are generally critical thinkers, who ask questions and don't swallow everything. And so I think that the Dem perception is that everyone should be able to think that way. However critical thinking is at an all time low, college professors complain about that all the time. Besides if our a critical thinker, you might be perceived as smart, and being smart is frowned upon, that's for the elite.

Frankly the only one in recent times who has been able to convey our message to the American people in clear and simple terms has been Bill Clinton (like him or not) They bought into his "crap" as you put it. I believe that this is the only western country that I know ( and I've lived in a few) of where voters asks themselves the question "Is this the guy I can have a beer with" before they feel comfortable voting for him.

[high density]

16. Now the question is...

Will the media continue to tilt even further right as it gets attacked? Answer: Yes.

[screembloodymurder]

17. The UnAmericans.

I've had it with these cool-aide drinkers. They're no longer welcome in my house. They are not my friends, they are not my family, they will not be my leaders. They are the enemy and I will treat them like the kin to the devil that they are. May they rot in Hell.

[marias23]

18. Sarah "Come Out, Come Out, Wherever You Are"

What have got to hide? (Let me guess: Ignorance.)

[Uncle Joe]

21. The corporate media are a Republican propaganda mouthpiece and they muddied their own waters

year ago with their own salacious rumor mongering, slander and libel. They are the equivalent of the referees of professional wrestling always looking the other way during transgressions by the so called wrestlers, even worse the corporate media magnify them.

As just one example, a sizable percent of the American People actually believed at one time that "Al Gore claimed to have invented the Internet" only because the corporate media spread that libel and slander without regard for the truth.

When is the corporate media going to take it self to task for it's own betrayal against real journalism?

"It doesn’t help matters that scads of independent bloggers and self-styled Internet pundits have muddied the journalistic waters, making it difficult for the public to decipher thorough reporting from salacious rumor mongering. The McCain campaign had to formally announce the pregnancy of Palin’s daughter to beat back wildly inaccurate Internet chatter about the governor’s family"

If anything independent bloggers and self-styled Internet pundits are leveling the playing field.

In conclusion I gagged on this final B.S. paragraph, FOX News is only a red flag, the rest are the sword working for the corporate loving Republican Party.

”If we poll about Fox News there’s a perception that they lean to the right," Rasmussen said. "But if we poll against anybody else — AP, local papers, CNN, MSNBC — the perception is they’re actively trying to help Barack Obama win."

[sofa king]

22. I believe those are the Torch D-Day landings to which they're referring.

You know, when the Americans invaded North Africa and the French rolled over and surrendered on the same day. That more accurately describes the relationship between the Fourth Estate and the Republican Party.

Except for Olbermann. That lad's dislike for bullshit of all scents is going to get him in trouble one of these days.