In the old days, newspapers in America were partisan. If you were a Democrat, you read your city's Democrat-leaning paper, and Republicans read the other one. They were open about it.
Then the 1960s came along, and the media began advertising that they were fair and balanced. Almost without exception, media outlets were left leaning, but called themselves balanced. That is why people hate Fox News: they are not part of the system. They should be team players and lean left while calling themselves fair.
Perhaps Fox, as well as talk radio, are part of a larger trend. We may be going back to partisan news sources. Instead of pretending to be balanced, news sources will all pander to a particular audience, as Fox does, and as MSNB (the Fox of the Left) does. Media gatekeepers are coming out in the open about the agendas they are pushing.
Is this because we no longer believe in being balanced? Or is it because media gatekeepers are becoming less relevant, so they are becoming louder to be heard? We no longer need people to filter the news to tell us what they think we should hear. And those gatekeepers are nervous. "If you can't be good, be good at it," is their mantra. Meawhile, Digg.com and Huffington Post and blogs are leaving NYT and CBS in the past century.
Then the 1960s came along, and the media began advertising that they were fair and balanced. Almost without exception, media outlets were left leaning, but called themselves balanced. That is why people hate Fox News: they are not part of the system. They should be team players and lean left while calling themselves fair.
Perhaps Fox, as well as talk radio, are part of a larger trend. We may be going back to partisan news sources. Instead of pretending to be balanced, news sources will all pander to a particular audience, as Fox does, and as MSNB (the Fox of the Left) does. Media gatekeepers are coming out in the open about the agendas they are pushing.
Is this because we no longer believe in being balanced? Or is it because media gatekeepers are becoming less relevant, so they are becoming louder to be heard? We no longer need people to filter the news to tell us what they think we should hear. And those gatekeepers are nervous. "If you can't be good, be good at it," is their mantra. Meawhile, Digg.com and Huffington Post and blogs are leaving NYT and CBS in the past century.
No comments:
Post a Comment