Mainstream Media Fears Where Stories They Ignore May Lead
by John NolteForget bias. Bias is officially the good ole’ days. Bias is the warm memory of Mary Ellen Hickenlooper in the back seat of the family station wagon on a cloudless Fourth of July night. Oh, how we long for the Days of Bias when the world was young and full of rainbows and peppermint trees.
Damn that Charlie Gibson. After the 2008 election, I pinky-sweared to myself that I would never be amazed by the mainstream’s media’s behavior again. And I made it through so much — through Van Jones, ACORN, the Tea Parties and all the NEA revelations. Not being caught off guard by any of these non-stories was a victory, like winning a Decathlon … and then Charlie Gibson opens his mouth and it’s like celebrating the win only to have some judge tap you on the shoulder and point to the swimming portion.
Yesterday the anchor of a major network (ABC) consciously chose to try and look like an imbecile rather than have to answer why he wasn’t covering what so far ranks as the biggest story/scandal of the year. And I say “try and look like an imbecile” because the ruse didn’t work. You, me and anyone with an IQ above room temperature knows he wasn’t telling the truth about not knowing anything about the ACORN scandal. The Manhattan/Cocktail Party Bubble is immune to many things – humility, tolerance – but we’re supposed to believe a network news anchor went two or three days without hearing ACORN was fired by the U.S. Census Bureau?
Of course, we’re not supposed to believe that. “Incredulous” doesn’t begin to describe the nonsense that came out of Gibson’s mouth. But fear makes you do stupid things, and short of wetting his pants, Gibson proved that.
The Palace Guards are … terrified.
The Palace Guards know full well how the “narrative” works and each of the stories they’ve ignored at crippling expense to their own integrity and relevance represents what terrifies them most … a string that could unravel The Whole Thing.
A single serious tug on the Van Jones’ string can only mean questions and more questions that cannot be answered without great harm to the White House and the Leftist agenda our media so desperately wants to see become law. Who vetted Jones? Who recommended him? Did they know about his past? Did the President know? Were the other Czars vetted (or not) in the same way? What’s to be found in the past of these Czars?
Best case scenario, the story swamps the White House and has them playing defense for a time – and this is an important time for a media eager to see the rest of us lose our health insurance. Worst case scenario (for those more enamored with socialism than government accountability), is that we learn Van Jones wasn’t an outlier and that unaccountable, un-vetted radicalism rules the West Wing…
The Perfect Storm, of course, is the laying of this same template over the NEA and ACORN stories.
So you bet they’re terrified. And who can blame them? If you were an ideologue willing to sell your legacy as a journalist down the river for a first love named Bloated Government you’d be terrified too.
And we should stop referring to them as the “Dinosaur Media.” That misses an important point. The dinosaurs didn’t extinguish themselves. They were victims of meteors or Flintstone-made global warming or something.
This is the Kamikaze Media.
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622 Comments
The MSM now have a suicide pact.
You know what? I'm sick of calling them the MSM as if they really represented the American mainstream. They're on the fringe, and they're choosing to stay there. Can't we take a hint from Rush and start calling them the Drive-By Media instead?
Poor Charlie, had to sheepishly admit he was ignorant of the facts. And we consevatives say in unison "No shit".
Kaikaze Media…………….love it. I have spent the last week in absolute awe. There has been NOTHING in the local paper, San Diego UT. I want to get rid of it but the kids love the comics and the sports page can be a real hoot sometimes. Saw Charlie on the web. How can this not be anything but embarrassing?
By the way….I love the big hollywood, big government and pjtv. I don't always agree but I love the articles and the comments. Just in time!
I think the Acorn Videos have finally proven to the MSM that they are no longer in control of the news. In the past they could smply ignore and put forth sophistry and by the power of the repetition on the big media outlets it would become truth. They were Big Brother and Emmanuel Goldstein both and controlled everything.
Look at Plame. She was outed by a liberal and in the interview Cheney stated he heard some reporter tell him she was CIA. Yet the it's a giant conspiracy meme took hold despite the fact it had as much relevance to the truth as a 911 Truther video on steriods. Along come to upstart kids with a hidden camcorder and Acorn is undone. The group was so lax in its internal controls because they did not have to be cognizant of what they were doing. The MSM had their back. I think we are making headway in breaking their monopoly on the cultural narrative and they don't know how to respond.
Thank you Andrew Breitbart and BH for their part is making this happen.
My exact thoughts. It is sad that Charles Gibson has such little integrity that he would rather look STUPID than say ANYTHING that might harm a liberal sacred cow.
What is sad is that despite the lose in prestige of network news they have more than made up the difference on virtually every form of mass communication and education institutions coupled with a dumbing down of american intelligence.
They are not losing their influence. Actually it is increasing. It is good for 5-10% in any election they focus on.
Hearing Gibson laughing when asked about ACORN being busted aiding and abetting child prostitution was a new low for the suicidal left-wing media. And quite right on how questions lead to more questions and where does the buck end. For example, why did John Conyers cancel the congressional investigation at the behest of the "powers to be". Who are the so-called "powers to be"?
I believe Charlie, I mean if he did not read it in the NY Times how could it possibly have been news?
How about having Sarah Palin sit this pompous ass down and grill him with her glasses at the end of her nose in contempt? These people are a shell of what journalists are supposed to be. They might as well put DNC across one of the corners of their logos.
This is the man who helped tar and feather Sarah Palin when she was caught with the question about the "Bush Doctrine" that most people never knew existed as the Bush Doctrine, and yet here he is publically looking just as caught out if not more so because we all know he has to be lying. No one could be that dense.
Makes me wonder what other "truths" this man has sold over the years. Truths that weren't.
"This is the Kamikaze Media."
I think you mean to say JIHADI SUICIDE BOMBER MEDIA
Listening to Gibson in that clip is like listening to the warden in Shawshank being deliberately obtuse. At least Jon Stewart had the balls to admit they were wrong.
I think that kamikaze is the wrong term – it denotes something dangerous and deadly. The old established media is anything but – it's a joke, an anachronism. That would probably be the best term for them – the Clown Car Media – something not to be taken seriously and an object of derision. That way when you hear Rush talking about the Drive By Media, you know what they'll be driving.
CBS has Katie Kouric as their news anchor. In January, Diane Sawyer takes over from Gibson on ABC.
NBC has got to be damning the fact that Marie Antoinette is dead; she'd round out the trio PERFECTLY!
Clown Car Media…………..LOL! Thanks. I will have to use that one.
John,
I sometimes wonder if you know how many people read your pieces and literally yelp out in satisfaction.
Kamikazi Media, Fringe Media… two very apt names for these utterly unscrupulous flacks.
John,
I sometimes wonder if you know how many people read your pieces and literally yelp out in satisfaction.
Kamikaze Media, Fringe Media… two very apt names for these utterly unscrupulous flacks.
Crazy I can forgive. EVIL, not so much.
What newspapers does Charlie Gibson read?
Can he see Brooklyn from his house?
I call 'em the Old Dead Media. ODM = odium. Get it?
Beck on his show this afternoon called them(ABC, NBC,CNN, NYT, WaPo etc.) the "fringe media". And he just may have a point.
The Bigs, Rush, Beck, Hannity, Medved and the rest ARE the mainstream media, now.
Good one Gary!
This is really news coverage on an childish "If it feels good, do it," gratification level. The stories that feel like a trip to the candy store for the big media, like another negative one on Sarah Palin, those they'll do ad infinitum. The stories that feel like a trip to the dentist, like ACORN or Van Jones, they'll ignore until either their teeth rot and fall out or the pain (i.e. — public embarrassment) of not doing it finally forces them to make a half-harted trip to the source, such as CNN's this afternoon where they were far more interested in offering ACORN a platform to explain their side than actually questioning them about what's on the videos.
This BM, or the Bozo Media, has been attacking the USA since the 60's. They will never give up their isms, as in communism, socialism or stalinism. It is a hard core leftist cabal of known anti-american, christian self proclaimed elitist from the upper west side. Does anyone still read all the plagiarism fit to print in the ny times? You are seeing the enemy in all it's parts. 2010 can't come fast enough.
He wasn't ignorant. He figures it's better for us to think he's ignorant than to think that he's openly biased. Don't be fooled.
hey, dont give the msm a hard time – they cant help if al jazzera has not given them the go ahead to cover their fellow muslim, obama, and his corruption
I've posted this before and I'll post it again because this is even more important to watch and keep our eyes on as never before.
The Communist Takeover Of
America – 45 Declared Goals
"20. Infiltrate the press. Get control of book-review assignments, editorial writing, policy-making positions.
21. Gain control of key positions in radio, TV, and motion pictures."
http://www.boomfox.com/forum/showthread.php?tid=8...
I prefer to call them Obama's Praetorian Guard….
Kudos to John Stewart for having the cojones to cover this thoroughly last night. To quote him in reference to Gibson and the dinoraur media: "Where were you guys? I'm a fake journalist, and even I'M ashamed to be scooped on this one."
Actually I really like the term Palace Guard. That really boils it down. And yes I don't want to get too congratulatory or rest on our collective laurels but the momentum does seem to be shifting in our favor finally.
They may very well be not just crazy but EVIL.
Why can't any of them take the logical step?
I just want to hear Beck or Rush or Sean say, "Guess what, @$$holes — we're the mainstream media now, and you're not."
doesn't this remind you of bahgdad bob, while bombs were going off in the backround, saying what invasion? perhaps when gibson retires, they can see of old bob wants a job?
Excellent post, John.
It really is astounding isn't it, how mainstream journalists continue to boggle the mind with grander and more outrageous claims of objectivity or naivete.
Yeah,I love when they quote 'the powers that be" absolving themselves of any accountability. I say, reveal these powers, who are they, what do they know and when did they know it? Lol. Can't forget how that appeared on TIME or Newsweak's cover about Bush back in the day.
What WAS the body count on Vietnamese day in and day out during that war Mr. Gibson? I have forgotten
I have more respect for the former Soviet propagandists; they at least peddled their lies with the proverbial gun to their heads. Our lapdogs in the media do it voluntarily. The liberals in the media are a disgrace to journalism. Ironically Russian news now is far fairer and critical than the dreck you get on the alphabet channels.
Secular humanism is alive and well in the FAR LEFT MEDIA. I can't wait to watch them all throwing each other under the bus. It's already started, but you'll have to hear about it on cable, and free radio.
If there's one industry I wouldn't mind seeing go bankrupt, it's the "objective" liberal main-stream-media. They need to clean their house and start over. Maybe actually become objective. They've lost their way probably starting with Walter Cronkite on. Such arrogance for people who went to college for four years to learn how to put two sentences together.
I'd like to ask Gibson to define the Obama doctrine. That should keep him busy for awhile.
He can say whatever he wants, but Jon Stewart is still a closet communist.
NEW YORK (Sept. 16, 2009) – ABC News is officially changing its slogan: World News Tonight. Yesterday ABC News anchorman Charlie Gibson announced that he was unaware of two major stories impacting the nation. ABC's Marketing Division had developed the following slogan to used, effectively immediately.
ABC News will now carry the slogan: ABC New: What News Tonight?
Good point. Wasn't there a video of Katie Couric being asked what news she read and she ducked into a store to avoid answering? These people like to administer the beatings, but don't like getting them.
Charles Gibson et.al. are like stewards in a union shop: they "help" their fellow travelers toe the party line.
Mr. Gibson would sniff at the very idea of himself as a grunt-union steward but that's what he is.
And that is what the old-timey media has been…since when? FDR? Kennedy? LBJ?
Characters like Charles Gibson, University Professors, Democrats, Labor Unions, Paid Activists, Federal Bureaucrats: birds of a feather in a foul nest of socialist elitism.
I used to believe Charlie, but the laugh in reaction to the question betrayed the lie. He knew full well what was going on, and he deliberately played stupid. He's a short-timer anyway. Should have asked Sawyer the same question a couple days ago and get her reaction.
"Who vetted Jones? Who recommended him? Did they know about his past? Did the President know? Were the other Czars vetted (or not) in the same way? What’s to be found in the past of these Czars?"
What do you want to know those things for? That was before Hope and Change. You got to get with the times were all Progressives now. Embezzlement and the Traffic of 13 year olds for sex is the Progressive way to do things now.
Hmmm… Charlie, what's your take on the ACORN Doctrine?
Media dam on ACORN videos has been breached
By Thomas Lifson
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/media...
The mockery of Charlie Gibson for being clueless apparently changed some minds. The media embargo on the ACORN tapes has been broken. Today, the New York Times, NPR and Los Angeles Times have informed their readers of the scandal. The Times' spin is almost comic. But far more importantly, Jon Stewart has spoken.
Stewart delivered a hilarious segment, mocking ACORN (and mugging for the camera to great dramatic effect) and the rest of the media. They have now officially become a laughingstock, and the story indelibly framed in the minds of younger Americans, who view Stewart in large numbers.
The entire 6+minute segment is a must-see.
http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2009/09/media...
Lets just call this what it is: Yellow Journalism. This would make Hearst and Pulitzer (which I've always found ironic) proud. Except it's all the same perspective which would be like Pulitzer vs. Pulitzer. "All the news that's fit to print"… that we want you to know.
How about "Collabo Media"?
Ping! Zing! Bump! Amen! Great Post!
The Fringe Media. At Best.
Nope. They're the Yellow Stream Media.
That had to be one of the most stupid moments…
Conyers says it was canceled by the "powers that be". And the decrepit media says to themselves, "Oh, okay."
Our new media would say, "…who are the powers, and what do they know or have over you to make you obey them? And if you don't come up with the answer, we are going to pick and pick at this scab until either you give up the answers, or we will dig it out ourselves and implicate you in the conspiracy…"
That's media I can watch!
I bet they're wishing they'd mastered this ignorance ploy long ago. "Bush won the election? Ha, Ha, I must have missed that. Must have been news on Fox. Let's go back to this fabulous speech by Al Gore…"
You're exactly right; Gibson knew about the story. He actually believed that if HE feigned ignorance, HE could make it an unimportant story.
The arrogant Charlie Gibson thought listeners would think, 'wow, if Gibson doesn't know about this story, then it REALLY ISN'T important.
Sorry Charlie. You thought you'd take one for the team (feigning ignorance), and then this silly little story that 'the team' wanted buried would just go away.
Sorry Charlie, your days of deciding what the news will be are over.
Valerie Jarrett, Obama's right hand women from Chitown vetted Jones and stated that they were watching him when he was in Oakland and were honored to get him to Washington.
I stopped watching the major channels years ago. Charlie Gibson showed his true ugly colors when he interviewed Sarah Palin. I didn't realize until then just how deep the rot goes. Charlie, I hope you sail your way to hell.
Not only what he said, but HOW he said it…
My jaw just dropped…
I think that stung worse than anything out prior…here was a comedian/commentator, doing a "meh" sort of fake news program; and he has a greater grasp of understanding about the nature of the ACORN story than people whose JOBS are to find and expose these things. People who probably make a great deal more money than he does…
Off with her head first, then…
Gibson knows something about it NOW he's been forced (and mocked) into it. Notice his intro before Tapper starts. And kudos to Tapper (blogged it Friday, probably the first non-FOX reporter to even acknowledge it), he may lean left, but as gunny Hartman said "He's got guts, and guts is enough."
http://bit.ly/tAAgZ
How about the collective propaganda wing of the Obama administration. If the shit fits, wear it.
Latte Links (9/16)…
Miscellany on steroids from the last couple of days:
CBS: Obama Admin: Cap And Trade Could Cost Families $1,761 A Year
Steve Laughlin: Republicans and Health Care (a well deserved rebuke)
Motor City Times: When Is Obama Going To Give The “This…
It's pretty bad when even the MSM's court jester is calling them out for not doing their job.
I think Big Hollywood contributor James Hudnall coined a good term: The Zombie Media. Works for me!
I don't think calling them the "Kamikaze" media is appropriate. Although the Kamikaze's dove to their deaths (like the state run media is doing), they did it because they believed they were sacrificing their lives for the honor of Japan. These people have NO HONOR, nor do they honor this country!
I know it doesn't have the "shock value" that the word Kamikaze has, but I think "lemmings" is more appropriate.
Could it be that be a quote from Obama's favorite minister might apply here? Wasn't it something about,"chickens coming home to roost". The "main stream media" went into the tank for Obama when he first announced he was running. Now that they are losing viewers in droves and being asked tough questions they can't very well criticize their favorite son can they.
I'm sorry, the biggest story/scandal of the year? Geesh. I guess one of the unfortunate by-products of having your head of your ass is you don't get out much. So to speak.
On the other hand, I can't blame you for celebrating tiny insignificant victories. Tho' you're probably used to that by now.
[...] Go for it MSM, I know you’re worried about protecting your friends. You won’t know what to do for a few more days. Can’t hold your breath forever! [...]
I think you've hit it on the head. The "news" has been whatever the media has decided it want's it to be for so long that they began to feel like little demigods. But then a funny little thing called the Internet came into play the "news" was no longer so manageable– though they held on for quite a while. And then Youtube put another kink in their control and it's been a downhill slide ever since. Gibson illustrates the desire to hang onto the illusion of control but the facade is crumbling and I'm only too happy to see it.
I really wonder where Tim Russert would come down on much of this? Yes, he was heavily leaning left but he loved getting "the story" and he could be fair when the times called for complete fairness. Today, NBC is an embarrassment!
Interestingly, MSM has a unique opportunity to redeem itself this weekend. BO appearing on all the non-Fox Sunday morning shows. Imagine the replays of "Mr. President, you say your destiny will be determined by this bill. So will you ask Congress to move up the effective date of the legislation to BEFORE the next Presidential election?" Or, "Given your misstatements about the physician re-imbursements for foot amputations, the prevelance of tonsilectomies, or even the AARP support of your plan, can you understand the public's reluctance to accept some of your statements about these plans?"
5 networks, will there be even ONE tough question?
Well, I guess I assume that Stewart is lying. I bet he, and all the other MSM, already knew about ACORN's behavior. I am sure that they are sitting on worse stuff. Stewart was just determined to be the first to jump ship.
While watching the B-cast, a couple of us (independently, I think) found that the phrase "MSM-Pravda" had the ring of truth. (Pun unintentional.)
This is something new under the sun…
It is national: Baltimore, DC, NYC, California
It is sensational: Sex, money, murder!
It is political: Ties to political activism, ties Obama & the Democrats, left-right fire storm
It is important: Imagine all the many lesser crimes (or greater) if these are being abetted so casually!
It has a great plot: Young conservatives use liberal/radical tactics, viral internet messaging, and 60-Minutes style undercover reporting to topple a major liberal organization and scoop the MSM dazzlingly (John Stewart “I’m a fake journalist and I’m embarrassed that this kid scooped me”)
O’Keefe: “This is the future of investigative journalism, this is the future of political activism”
What more is needed here? Front Page News. Shit, in a sane world these two would win a Pulitzer.
O’Keefe: “I took a 20 year old girl paying for her own plane ticket to break this story…[that]…multi media conglomerates failed to, It’s pathetic. Journalism is dead”
It's like what Ace of Spades said on his blog. *WE* are the mainstream media now. They're the kook fringe.
I believe the correct term is "state-controlled" media now.
I can see Charlie in his sail boat, wind blown hair winding his way down a drain….circling unaware that his moment is already past and its to late….dang what a scene…
Good stuff John and I remember you saying you'd never be surprised.
I hate to quibble but doesn' t "incredulous" mean skeptical? I think it's oft being used where "incredible" is meant.
FWIW: I like to stay with aquatic imagery and use "backwater media" to describe the state of traditional news organs.
Excellent point!
The elitist radical left has invested so much in getting BO elected, only to watch the progressives in Congress and the elitist, hateful American apologist organizations who depend on them for funding ALL go down the tubes… that's gotta hurt.
Now, ya'll quiet down now, ya hear? We don't want them to wise up and clean up their act until after the 2010 elections… OK?
Jon Stewart, I don't watch. I watch very little TV broadcasting. From what I have read, though, it appears that Jon Stewart wants to butter his bread. Also read that the WH (aka Gibbs) is distancing from ACORN. One video…they kept denying. Two videos, they don't know to what you may be referring. Three videos, they have to make a bathroom run. Bio break, as it were. Four, and now five??? Can we be just a little smug….just a little righteous, and not go all applause and hugging and love ya, as they johnny come lately to jump on a bandwagon?
Thank you Mr. O'Keefe, Ms. Giles, Mr. Breitbart and last but not least, Mr. Beck for exposing ACORN as a criminal enterprise, even as the powers-that-be tried to/continue to try and silence you.
You are all brave national heroes, who have made America safer by your actions.
Thank you,
El Scorcho
Charlie Gibson – Incompetent asshat, complicit liar, or both? What a louche toolbag!
I think I'll start calling them the FMM as in Formerly Monopolist Media!
[...] LINK: http://bighollywood.breitbart.com/jjmnolte/2009/09/16/mainstream-medias-fueled-by-fear-not-bias/ [...]
RACSIT = RACIST
Long day…
MILLIONS ATTENDED! Conservative Woodstock Rocks the Capital
http://usataxpayer.org/page.asp?Get=dcteaparty
LIBERALS KEEP OUT! The truth hurts!
CONSERVATIVES WELCOME! The truth will set you free!
I find it interesting that Prez Obama is not going on the one network that he actually needs to next appear. He should quit preaching to his choir of sychophants and spend 20-30 minutes with Chris Wallace on Fox Sunday program. No?
Prez Obama is a big boy and he could handle it. Wallace is much fairer than his old man…
Does anyone even remember what the letters A. C. O. R. N. actually represent? Lets see if anyone does. The name of the organization should cast a light on this administration and it's ties to ACORN!
I don't know…historically kamikazes did induce a great deal of fear amongst our soldiers, but in reality they were a gigantic failure for the Japanese. They sent a great deal of their trained pilots on suicide missions that barely made a dent in the American war machine.
She would probably treat him with the courtesy and warmth he didn't show her, but that's just because she's a classy lady.
Well, if that's the case they'll probably force him to commit suicide when he becomes more a liability than an asset, and then offer the presidency to one of the two mental defectives running the house or senate when they find them quivering behind a curtain.
I guess that makes them "parade-ground journalists", while our own bloggers on Breitbart's sites, Fox News and talk radio are the real front-line grunts.
I prefer the the term, "The Ministry of Truth"
Agreed. 50 years from now, I can imagine a grandchild asking me about life before the Internet. I look forward to telling him that, before the Internet, nearly everyone got their news and information from a small group of liberals called the "news media" who felt it was their jobs to determine what was worth telling us. Then, thanks to the Internet and millions of ordinary citizens, we all learned that the news media was more interested in their pushing their agenda than telling us the truth.
I can only hope that my grandchild's next question is: "What's a 'news media'?"
Oops, mixed up Caligula with Nero.
Facts are like kryptonite to the Liberal Media!!
Bud the funny thing is although Charlie intentionally tried to look stupid about knowing nothing of the ACORN story in reality he is stupid. He's just an actor reading a script written by socialists. He's like a cow in the pasture. Not able to break away from a template that pleases his office crowd and small circle of friends that make millions and probably do everything they can to avoid paying "their fair share" of taxes. In short he's a hypocrite.
My Father raised me never to judge a person by the color of their skin, religion and most importantly the size of their wallet. Liberals judge people by the color of their skin, their religion and most importantly the size of their wallets. They hate rich conservatives but love rich liberal leftists. They hate consevative minorities but love liberal minorities. They attack Christians but somehow ignore sins of Muslims. One can only come to the conclusion – THEY ARE CRAZY!
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