Midnight Oil

[Powderworks] Re: U.S. Media (NMOC)

Dan Heaton dnheaton@yahoo.com
Fri, 18 Oct 2002 13:44:42 -0700 (PDT)


Sorry if this does not address Midnight Oil
specifically.  Much of these comments are in response
to Matt's post, but I think they do apply to the
discussion as a whole.

First of all, the television networks will show all
speeches by the President if the White House
officially asks them to broadcast them. In this case,
they did not make this request.  

In fact, nearly all of Bush's arguments during this
speech were the same generalized statements that he's
been making throughout the torturous last few months
here in the States. He still spouts the same tired
words that do not warrant killing countless people in
Iraq.

Also, many Democrats have been taking Bush to task for
his plans for invading Iraq, but then a large group of
them backed down when it came time to vote for a
resolution. It passed easily in both the House and the
Senate. Could this have something to do with the
upcoming November election?

In terms of the major networks, I both agree and
disagree with Matthew's statements. First of all, I
agree that they do an awful job of presenting
international news unless they believe it directly
pertains to Americans. The big story for them now is
the sniper in Washington, D.C., and other items get
thrown to the background. 

However, I don't completely understand how a supposed
"liberal bias" relates to the poor coverage of the
Bali tragedy and other skipped important news. Also, I
doubt that a conservative news agency would give a
more accurate look at the situation between Palestine
and Israel. I've watched the Fox News Network, the
more conservative cable network, and their coverage is
badly skewered in my opinion.

Sorry to ramble, but I believe some of Matthew's
reasons for the problems with American networks are
incorrect.

Cheers,

Dan

> ATTACHMENT part 3.1 message/rfc822 
> From: "Matthew Marzullo" <mmarzullo@usa.com>
> To: powderworks@cs.colorado.edu
> Date: Fri, 18 Oct 2002 09:20:11 -0500
> Subject: [Powderworks] US Media
> 
> Hi--
> 
> I haven't posted here in while, but this talk about
> the US media has prompted me make a few comments.
> First of all, let me state that regarding the events
> in Bali, there was ample coverage in my local
> newspaper, as well as on Fox News (cable) and on the
> radio. 
> 
> That said, if anyone has closely followed what has
> been going on in US politics, then you know that the
> Democrat party has been trying to limit Bush's war
> efforts over the past few months. Whether you belive
> this is justified or not, it's a fact.      
> 
> With this in mind, let's also consider the fact that
> the major US television networks (ABC, CBS, NBC)
> present the news with a liberal bias.  Remember, the
> networks did not even televise Bush's speech to the
> nation in which he laid out his reasons for wanting
> to take military action against Iraq. The Democrats
> admonished Bush repeatedly to take the issue before
> the American people and publically make his case. 
> So, what happened?  The networks were too concerned
> about ratings and deemed Drew Carey (or whatever
> tripe sit-coms are on Monday nights) as more
> important than the President's speech.  Are you
> kidding me?  Whether you like Bush or not, I would
> think you'd have to agree that this is ridiculous. 
> Not everyone has cable TV.
> 
> So, given that the major networks are largely
> left-leaning and didn't bother to televise an
> important speech made by the President, then it
> comes as no surprise to me that the networks
> wouldn't find more time in their respective
> broadcasts to cover an act of terrorism (Bali) that
> could possibly help to strengthen the President's
> resolve to take military action.  
> 
> Then there is the issue of Americans not caring much
> about what goes on in the rest of the world.  That,
> sadly, is true.  What you then have is a recipe for
> slanted media coverage.  If only a few Americans got
> hurt in Bali (forget about the Australians and
> others), then the news reporting agency can pass off
> the whole thing as a minor event, and as a result,
> nothing the US should take action (militarily)
> against.    
> 
> Let's just face it...liberal or conservative, the
> media politicizes its coverage of the news.  If you
> watched the network coverage of the events in Bali,
> then the hypothesis I laid out may not be too far
> off the mark.  A convervative news agency would
> likely report things differently (especially when it
> comes to Israel and Palestine). The difference is
> glaring. So, you need to consider the source,
> because the US media is no longer objective--it's
> largely biased and self-serving...
> 
> Matt
> -- 
> 

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