The Media Matters... Not Any More

Despite all the controversy about the value, accuracy, and objectivity of network and cable news, I share the perception that most of the media is politically biased and that the press’s fascination with personal scandals and sensationalism have taken its toll on its credibility.

Do you remember when President Bush (number one) was attending a state dinner function in Japan, got ill, and fell from his seat on to the floor? The press gave its reports minimizing the incident and assuring the public that all was well with our President. I never believed a word of their reports, not for one minute. I figured that I’d wait a few days and get the real story. It would not have surprised me if President Bush had died that night and the news would be shared with the American public as soon as it was “convenient”. As time went by and the president appeared to be well and moving about the country’s business, I realized that I no longer had faith in much of anything that was reported as “news”.

After eight years of the Bush (number two) era, I find that George W. Bush has done serious damage to our political system without even a slap on the wrist. Bush twisted the truth beyond recognition and subtly deceived the nation about his major policy proposals. He blurred the truth and distorted facts so much that honest discussion was and is impossible. His misleading public statements, disregard for honest discussion, and use of public debates as nothing but marketing opportunities fostered a template for those who followed in his footsteps.

The press is the institution charged with monitoring the actions of government and providing the public with information. After the Bush White House successfully rendered the press and the media to a state of impotence, today’s press core and the media is comfortable entertaining Aunt Sarah and her Tea Party groups, the Birthers, the Death Campers, and others with outlandish claims that defy rationale thought. There’s lots of reporting on the Tiger Woods scandal and very little follow through on the ethics investigation on John Ensign. We hear Dick and Liz Cheney struggle to rewrite history with very little challenge to their arguments designed to distort, deceive and mislead.

Bottom line for me...the media doesn’t matter anymore unless you take whatever is being said with a grain of salt. Those that set their beliefs based on thirty second sound bites are doomed to be misled.