‘We Have Taken Control of Your Political System’

Tue   7 Oct 2008   9:50 by Kevin McGehee in Coweta County, GA 1 comment [Get Offa My Lawn!] [Media Ochre]

“...we control the narrative. Do not attempt to adjust your thinking except in ways we desire.“ Knowing that the Republicans are attempting to distract voters away from the big issues of the day, “are we in the media going to aid and abet the McCain campaign’s obvious ploy?“ asks the WP’s Eugene Robinson. Even if reporters point out that that the allegations McCain’s campaign makes are false, “writing about them at all gives them wider circulation.“ Journalists “have a duty to avoid being turned into instruments of mass distraction” and must press for answers about the issues that really matter. “The McCain campaign has made clear that it wants to change the subject,“ writes Robinson. “We can, and should, change it back.“ » Drowned World Tour Is it really 1992 all over again? Back then, when George H.W. Bush was fighting for re-election against the media-endorsed Clinton-Gore ticket, a major media denizen was quoted as insisting that his industry would not allow the Republicans to win. The comment was picked up on by conservative opinion media at the time, but the media still got away with it and their preferred candidate was elected. Is 2008 really all that different from 1992? Can a nation be hoodwinked twice in living memory by an actively biased media doing the exact same thing it did before? Only the American people can decide that—but, “Fool me once, shame on you…“ would seem to apply.

 

Prudie said: I think the biggest difference between 1992 and 2008 is the internet. In 1992, the internet wasn’t as common as it is now. The only information available was from the media. They had something of a monopoly, which is why I think that the media hates bloggers so much. They can’t control information and manipulate the average American the way they could in 1992. Certainly can’t say that now. Sure, a lot of people beleve in the media as an honest, impartial purveyor of information (just typing that makes me laugh). But I think more and more people realize taht they’re not always getting the whole story. And certainly, some even realize that there are times that they’re not getting the true story. But yeah, if we fall for it a second time, we deserve what we get. » Wed   8 Oct 2008   9:12 You must be registered and logged in to comment.