RW media spin: corporatism or "working the ref"?

[vi5]

I wanted to open this to discussion. I think we can all agree that by and large there has in the past however many years (at LEAST since election 2K) a right wing spin on everything in the news either subtle jabs and spin by so called journalists, or out and out with the hiring of goons like Scarborough, O'Reilly, et al to get an hour daily to spew their venom. Either way, I think we on here all agree that it exists.

However, my personal opinion is that this is the result of what Eric Alterman referred to as "working the ref". That is to say that for so long conservatives yapped and complained about a non-existent liberal bias in the media that the reporters and news persons and the like began to question what they were doing and saying, and going out of their way to be "fair" and not bash conservatives in any way or downplay reports that made republicans look bad. Similar to in hockey or other sports, always acting like each call made by the ref was out of line and responding with appropriate indignation, to the point where they start to question their own calls and move in the opposite direction to compensate.

I know many on here ascribe corporate motives and active top down decisions to all this, and I don't doubt that at Fox this is the case. But I think what we're seeing from the "journalists" (I use this term loosely) and news rooms is the result of Alterman's theory more than anything else. Just a total, collective group think which resulted from the "liberal media" meme being beaten into their heads over and over. If you tell someone something about themselves over and over again, eventually even they will believe it.

While I believe corporatism plays a part I don't think it's in terms of media corporations actively thinking their lives and livelihoods will be better under a republican rule, as much as they don't want any major controversies and they know that republicans will complain and rant and rave much more than liberals.

Thoughts?

[mikehiggins]

1. Bring back the fairness doctrine

That would be one way to balance the coverage.

If everytime Bill O opened his mouth, FAUX had to let someone from the other side have equal time it would be all she wrote for Billy boy in short order.

Cable isn't under the same rules as the old TV/radio axis?

Make it part of their franchise agreements with the local communities.

All that is lacking is the will to action.

[BillZBubb]

2. That's an interesting take.

But, doesn't the creation of Faux News CLEARLY indicate it's mostly corporate? They were created specifically to lean to the right. There was no real intention to be "fair and balanced"--Roger Ailes doesn't do fair or balanced.

Second, if the media really looked at themselves after being bombarded with fanatics telling them about their "liberal" bias, they would have realized they have actually been more conservative than liberal for at least 25 years.

Stack that up with the fact that strongly Repug leaning mega-corporations own the major media and the weight of the evidence points directly at corporate ownership and control.

My two cents anyway.

[vi5]

3. Like I said, Faux is exempt. There is no doubt there...

I'm saying the rest of the media outlets including networks like ABC/CBS/NBC.

As for why the journalists don't notice thier conservative spin I think it's like a kid who is always told he's stupid or someone always being told their ugly. It not being true doesn't prevent it from seeping into their consciousness. It doesn't prevent them from looking in the mirror and seeing that they are not ugly or realizing they are not stupid.