If Kerry wins, what does that say about the media?

[Doctor_J]

If Kerry and Edwards win the election, they will have overcome the longest, most intense, one-sided media blitz in history. Will a victory mean that Big Media has been defeated as well? Will it mean that america has stopped listening to the propaganda?

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

1. I think it will

mean that Big Media will be forced to reassess. However, I wouldn't put it past Murdoch and his ilk to figure out how to reign in the internet and other ways for Americans to find out the truth. We must remain vigilant.

[Joanne98]

2. They failed their assignment

It will ruin them. Watch for the "librul" media to pull out all stops.

[mermaid]

3. No...It Will Mean That

just barely enough people have quit listening to big media to be willing to drink the damn kool-aid anymore.

We still will have a hell of a fight, because, I'm betting if Kerry/Edwards DO win...he's in for an even worse time than they gave Clinton for eight years. Mark my words.

Wanna see an attack media? Wanna see a journalist asking the TOUGH questions, like they ought to?? Elect a Democrat. You'll see it then!

Goddamn liberal media...

[fknobbit]

7. Unless the Dem's gain control of the house as well,

I fear you are right about more crap than they gave Clinton.

[Sparkly]

4. The ho media will prosper.

They flourish when they have an Enemy.

[maggrwaggr]

5. the media is America's biggest enemy

And we HAVE to figure out a way to defeat them.

No matter who wins, no matter what else goes on, getting a truthful and free media in this country is the key to the very survival of democracy.

This is not hyperbole.

[Doctor_J]

20. I agree

they've done more to accelerate the decline of the US than any other entity.

[NNadir]

6. What happened to Pravda after Gorbachev fell?

It's still there, but it actually has started reporting the news rather than government propaganda. CNN might have to study the matter if their boy Bush falls as well.

[rocktivity]

8. Kerry should immediately re-institute the Fairness Doctrine

make a big to-do about revamping the FCC, and get it started on a "study" of the relationships between big government, big business, and big media--with the public urged to join in. Just the possibilty of Kerry passing a law (or worse, an executive order) that GE must divest itself of NBC, for instance, should scare them into becoming more "fair and balanced" quite enough!

:headbang:
rocknation

[NEOBuckeye]

11. Kerry should appoint Howard Dean to Chair of the FCC!

He'll clean up the media muck quick enough!

[kaitykaity]

9. According to Pat Buchannan on McLaughlin last night,

the media want Kerry to win.

The Thugs are already planting the excuse.

[maggrwaggr]

15. that's weird

Buchanan, while a racist homophobe psychopath, has been speaking the truth quite a bit lately.

[kaitykaity]

18. Maybe the powers that be were tired of

him being off the leash.

But yeah, you're right, he's been pretty amazing lately.

[maggrwaggr]

19. yes, you know you're in an alternate universe when you agree with Buchanan

But I've been agreeing with Buchanan a LOT ever since Bushco got the reins.

[kaitykaity]

21. He's someone with the courage of his

convictions, even if his convictions are hateful.

What I mean is, Buchannan isn't just a pro-Bush bobble-head
like Nofacts or InSannity, you know?

[calimary]

24. Wow - wonder which media he's watching.

It's not the same one I see, day in and day out. He claims there's this big movement? I see tiny little hairline cracks in the wall.

Some of them have an awareness. John Dean said a number of his colleagues, privately, have recently admitted (or, to invoke one of the republi-CONS' phrases, have "had to at least concede") that they've done a poor job. Apparently they got the message a little too late - about going easier on the president. John Dean said there was a large public outcry that there was too much Monica-coverage on the news, and he says the media realized that this was much more of interest to the inside-the-Beltway types than it was to Middle America. They got the message alright. Unfortunately, it was one administration too late. And only now are they starting to hear more and more complaints about bush getting a free pass - when bush's tour of duty is, frankly, just about over. Only now.

I think it's a culmination of things:

People have been witness to stuff that wasn't covered - just by going to "Fahrenheit 9/11." That movie, ALONE, did a LOT of educating and eye-opening, and REALLY put the media in its place. And the very fact that it's such a mind-boggling, record-breaking hit - especially for a documentary (and I know conventional movies whose producers would be THRILLED OUT OF THEIR MINDS if they'd been in theaters for this amount of time and would now be pushing a 100-million-dollar box office gross. You DON'T IGNORE NUMBERS LIKE THAT. NO MATTER HOW YOU FEEL ABOUT THE CONTENT. BOX OFFICE REVENUE THAT SUBSTANTIAL, especially considering the realities behind it, CANNOT BE IGNORED. The press knows it. The people know it. And, even worse, the press knows that the people know it.

There are a few people who the media CANNOT HELP but treat with even-handedness and respect, who are out there talking to anyone who'll listen. Specifically, The Jersey Girls - the 9/11 widows who've been so outspoken. Even efforts to trash them and claim they're little more than Democratic Party operatives have failed. Even the Joe Scarboroughs of the world have HAD to be deferential to these women. And they NEVER hesitate to speak their minds, utter the uncomfortable truths, and provide the proof or documentation or facts or first-person witness accounts to back it up. They are more or less UNTOUCHABLE.

There are occasionally the facts that just simply cannot be spun. Like stuff coming out of the 9/11 Commission. Like ANYTHING that comes out of the White House in a Friday Night News Dump (such as the latest AWOL documents). If it were favorable to this White House, it'd be saved for the Sunday morning chat shows or "60 Minutes" so it, or the reaction to it would lead the news first thing Monday morning. And the FACT that the war is a lost cause and it's not all milk and honey over there - even now. And our troops are NOT coming home. And long retired reservists are being called back to service. And more troops are being sent over there. And it's just not abating.

Furthermore, there are some in the media who really like to stick with a winner. This is a REALLY "loyal" bunch (well, except for Pox "News"). The more the polls slant away from bush, it won't be just other republi-CONS who start shying away (watch them fall all over their tongues trying to find a "diplomatic" way of asking him NOT to come to their districts and help them campaign). Some in the press will read the writing on the wall and decide they don't want to hitch their wagon to a loser. A LOT of it is about SAVING FACE. A LOT of it. On the morning of November 3rd, you don't want to be standing there with egg all over your face, having cast your lot with bush and finding yourself nice and cozy and secure and well-positioned and "in" with the group that now has to pack up and LEAVE. Everybody wants to turn to their friends and colleagues and say - "SEE? Didn't I call it? I knew it all along! I was RIGHT, WASN'T I???!?!?!? Besides, the Kerry people are liable to remember, clearly, who was with 'em and who was agin 'em. And when it's Kerry on the way in, NOBODY wants to be stuck in the bush, so to speak. When you see the thoroughbred galloping by, you don't want your reins hitched to the mule with the three bum legs.

[kaitykaity]

26. Some say that the Bush gang are just holding

their powder back until after the convention, when
Kerry is limited to $75 million and can't really fight
back.

I agree about the pack mentality of the Washington press
whores, but it's the nuts in the conservative media that I
worry about.

[rocktivity]

10. Any suggestions as to who President Kerry should pick to head the FCC?

If Gore weren't working up his new TV network, he'd be perfect, of course.

:headbang:
rocknation

[NEOBuckeye]

12. Howard Dean

Definitely.

[rocktivity]

13. Dean for FCC? BRILLIANT!

Smart, passionate, high-profile and would be able to rule with the mere threat of political blowback--he would literally be the next best thing to Gore! Would he have Murdoch and Co. shaking in their shoes, or what?

:headbang:
rocknation

[ChocolateSaltyBalls]

14. I think it would say more about the people of America........

and that they can figure out for themselves what is real and what is nonsense.

It will however send a message to the media that they are not as persuasive as they think they are....and to some who consistently refer to many of their fellow Americans as Sheeple.

[maggrwaggr]

16. the media will say to them selves "hm, we didn't try hard enough"

and they will continue to be even more corporatist than they are now.

We really need to simply shut them down. By any means necessary. They are the greatest threat to democracy we have. They are a way bigger threat than terrorists or any foreign enemy.

[Name removed]

17. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[maggrwaggr]

22. maybe you haven't been paying attention

Have you watched CNN lately? If you're the least bit informed, you'll notice that they are heavily slanted toward Bushco, especially Wolf Blitzer.

Watched MSNBC lately? Have you seen that show Scarborough Country?

Watched Fox lately? no comment required

[Name removed]

27. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

28. LOL

if you think Colmes "balances" that nutjob Hannity, I have a freaking bridge to sell you.

[Name removed]

30. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Skittles]

31. Colmes is a tool for Hannity

get someone like Carville on there and he'd blast that nutjob Hannity out of the water. FOX is simply an RNC propaganda tool - what is sad is that even FOX fans know that. And with all due respect (none), I will write any way I please.

[Mayberry Machiavelli]

34. Dude couldn't even spell "Andy Dufresne" right. R.I.P. n/t

[thistle]

23. I don't think the media has taken a clear stance on Kerry yet.

They haven't been so bad to him as they were to Gore. They also haven't been very friendly. I think their real posture remains to be seen.

[mermaid]

25. I Think It Is Still Too Close To Call...And The Media Doesn't Want

to burn bridges to either side just yet.
someone else correctly pointed out the media all wants to hitch their wagon to a winner. I don't think there IS a CLEAR winner yet, and it's scaring the HELL outta the media...the corporate-whore media that WANTS, SO BADLY to support bush...but is afraid that they may be riding a loser if they do.
Hence them not warming to Kerry just yet...and them not trashing Kerry nearly as badly as they did Gore.
They (the media) are trying to burn the candle at both ends right now...and THAT, more than anything, should be taken as a good sign for us, come November!

If Kerry/Edwards was a clear loser, the media would have already pounced ages ago. They haven't. They are trying (and it's amusing to watch this...look closely and you will see what I mean here) they are trying to stay in Bush's good graces, while trying to find a way to either cozy up to Kerry a little bit...or at least not alienate Kerry completely.

[maggrwaggr]

39. well as long as they're Pro-Bushco, does it matter?

lies are lies. Covering up the true stories is covering up.

The media is the enemy of America right now.

They need to go.

[Darranar]

29. No...

The media is more pro-establishment than anything, and Kerry is certainly establishment.

When real change happens in this country, then perhaps the corporate media can be said to have been defeated.

[vetwife]

32. Will we get the media back when we win?

[rocktivity]

36. Well, we COULD get it back

all Kerry would have to do reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, appoint a high-profile FCC chairman like Gore or Dean, and then start thinking out loud:

"You know, these aren't your father's public airwaves. What with the Internet, cable, and corporate media coglomeration, maybe the old rules don't work anymore. I mean, how objective can a network owned by a defense contractor be when it comes to war coverage? SHOULD one radio network own nearly ninety percent of the stations? ARE the cable companies charging too much? Do we need to rethink how we issue and renew licenses? And what about music downloading? I'd better send my FCC chairperson on a fact-finding mission--you know, some studies, surveys, public hearings, and of course, plenty of input from the people. After all, it's THEIR airwaves..."

LOL!!! That would do it--heck, the mere possibility would do it! I think things would get fair and balanced REAL fast!!!

:headbang:
rocknation

[rocktivity]

37. Well, we COULD get it back

all Kerry would have to do reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, appoint a high-profile FCC chairman like Gore or Dean, and then start thinking out loud:

"You know, these aren't your father's public airwaves. What with the Internet, cable, and corporate media coglomeration, maybe the old rules don't work anymore. I mean, how objective can a network owned by a defense contractor be when it comes to war coverage? SHOULD one radio network own nearly ninety percent of the stations? ARE the cable companies charging too much? Do we need to rethink how we issue and renew licenses? And what about music downloading? I'd better send my FCC chairperson on a fact-finding mission--you know, some studies, surveys, public hearings, and of course, plenty of input from the people. After all, it's THEIR airwaves..."

LOL!!! That would do it--heck, the mere possibility would do it! I think things would get fair and balanced REAL fast!!!

:headbang:
rocknation

[Darranar]

38. Who are "we"?

If you are referring to the people of this country, I do not think we have any considerable chance of "winning", at least in the sense that it is highly unlikely that any 2005 president will actually represent our interests.

If you are referring to the Democratic Party, then yes, I think it likely that the press will tilt a little more to the Democrats if Kerry achieves victory. However, it will likely be as establishment, or almost as establishment, as it is now, forming an obstacle to any meaningful change.

[Yavin4]

33. Propaganda Only Goes So Far

You can tell the people 24/7 that the economy is booming, but if the only job that people can find is retail clerk, then they're not going to believe it. The people in the Soviet Union found this out as well.

[mbee]

35. Gore received the largest vote count ever with the exception of

Reagan, but the media said he lost. They'll do everything in their power to give Kerry the same treatment!