Crazy People Exchanging Views

Posted on August 6, 2004

The media wars just got nastier. First, there was Robert Greenwald's documentary Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism, which reveals memos sent by the corporate honchos to reporters telling them to downplay John Kerry's war record and the Abu Ghraib scandal but to give President Bush favorable, respectful coverage.

Then Fox News Channel Chairman Roger Ailes asked, "Why does CNN hate America?" Now, Richard Parsons, CEO of TimeWarner and CNN has fired back. During a speech to minority journalists in Washington today, Parsons was asked by Univision Anchor Jorge Ramos why CNN was losing the ratings battle with Fox. Parsons said that CNN actually has more unique viewers than Fox (which is true, by the way.) Parsons said that Fox was more like talk radio on TV, which meant that its viewers stayed longer because people tended to "come and sit down for an hour or two and listen to crazy people exchange views." Ouch. He also said that CNN is not liberal in its bias and -- in another jab at Ailes -- said that no corporate memos are sent to anchors telling them how to slant news. CNN, in fact, has been widely criticized for its pro-Republican slant during its coverage of the Democratic National Convention.

So, is Fox News right? Does CNN's or MSNBC's analysts report in a fair and unbiased manner or do they all just parrot back the talking points memos sent out by email every day from the Kerry and Bush campaigns? You know who's got the right idea? Jon Stewart, host of Comedy Central's The Daily Show, who wields his humor against both Republicans and Democrats alike. Perhaps mindful of CNN's disastrous and overly talkative coverage of the Democratic National Convention, Stewart asked viewers to simply listen to the candidates' speeches on C-SPAN or public television, then turn their tv sets off. Don't listen to the pundits, he said. Instead, ask yourself, "Did I like what that candidate said?" "Does what he said square with the facts or is it just empty rhetoric?" Then, make up your own mind.

I agree. With all the networks accusing each other of biased coverage, it's hard to get to the truth on the important issues. So, this year the informed voter has to do a little legwork. Read the actual platforms on both JohnKerry.com and GeorgeWBush.com. Read the news online. Independent thinking -- it's a good thing.