Townhall.com, Where Your Opinion Counts
Talk Radio:   Bill Bennett   Mike Gallagher   Dennis Prager   Michael Medved   Hugh Hewitt   
BREAKING NEWS  LeftArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican   RightArrow - Townhall.com : Conservative, Political, Republican  
Columns, funnies & more in your inbox!
  • Check the boxes and send us your email address to receveive your free newsletter
  • Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
  • Townhall.com’s weekly inside scoop on what’s happening behind the scenes in the world of politics. When news breaks, we report.
  • Signup to receive the latest daily Townhall cartoons
Wednesday, March 04, 2009
Douglas MacKinnon :: Townhall.com Columnist
Liberal Media Unemployment
by Douglas MacKinnon
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
[+] Text [-]
 
Poll
Was the Copenhagen Global Warming Summit Walk-Out a Win for the U.S.?


The abrupt closing of The Rocky Mountain News seems to have finally gotten the attention of many in the newspaper business. Sadly, too late to save what was once a noble profession.

Recently, a friend of mine who is a self-described liberal editor at a major newspaper in the United States, explained to me one of the reasons why the major dailies started their death spiral a number of years ago. “So many of my colleagues put their far-left ideology before the bottom line and the financial health of the very newspaper that pays them. In still what is basically a 50/50 nation politically, they have gleefully delivered insults onto the front porches of conservatives and centrists and were thrilled when those from the center or center-right would call to cancel their subscriptions to the paper.”

Every day, we see, hear and read of liberal newspapers like The New York Times, The Los Angeles Times. The Seattle Post-Intelligencer, and The Philadelphia Inquirer teetering on the brink of extinction. How should conservatives or centrists feel about these far-left editors and reporters losing their jobs?

Should we feel pity? Should we coldly point out -- as my liberal editor friend does -- that these editors and reporters, because of their almost open hatred of all things conservative, are themselves responsible for their unemployment and pending financial problems? Leaving aside the growing list of “journalists” joining the Obama administration, as their less fortunate far-left colleagues hit the unemployment line in tough economic times, should we remind them that they were and are partially responsible for the economic crisis which is preventing them from finding a new job?

The economy, much like the political process, is driven in part by perception. These liberal editors and reporters certainly understood that. For much of the last three years, they did everything in their power to talk down the American economy in a blatant attempt to ensure the election of a democrat in the 2008 presidential election. From one end of the nation to the other, liberal newspapers and television networks would unleash their Chicken Littles to proclaim that the sky was falling and only Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama could save us. When the economy imploded in mid-September of 2008, they piled on even more to help push Obama over the finish line.

Whoops. Fast forward a few months and it’s clear they orchestrated their propaganda campaign a bit too well. I just spoke with a liberal Member of Congress and an investment banker about the role the media is playing (and denying) in driving down our economy. Both said that the non-stop negative news is having a direct, lasting, and detrimental effect on the economy and that it has to stop.

Why would these liberal reporters and editors continue to tear down the American economy when they successfully helped to elect Barack Obama? My liberal editor friend says they still can’t help themselves. Rather than lay any blame on Democrat leaders in the House and Senate -- following the “no blame for Democrats” example set by President Obama -- these far-left editors prefer to vilify the “evil” banks and “wealthy” corporate leaders. As they daily or even hourly attack these “evil institutions” and leaders, is anyone surprised at the effect these irresponsible rants have on the bottom-line of these banks, companies, the market, and our very confidence in the system?

These newspapers are going out of business because they believe in manufactured and biased “news” but not honesty. If they did believe in honesty, they would admit that not only does the leadership at their paper have to be liberal, but also the movie reviewers, the fashion reporters, the sports reporters, and those who report on “Global Warming.” In a nation and world where Pulitzer and Nobel Prize committees are controlled by the far-left, where the vast majority of college professors are liberal, where the entertainment industry is far-left, and where “Historians,” have long since stopped hiding their far-left beliefs, is any of this a shock? Is it any wonder that readers and the majority of the American people have tired of the countless liberal indoctrination sheets masquerading as newspapers? The breaking point has been reached.

While my liberal editor friend says the Internet and the economic meltdown are greatly accelerating the demise of these papers, he still believes it started with the biased and unethical behavior of far-left editors, reporters, and columnists. Unprincipled behavior that caused conservatives and centrists by the millions to cancel their newspaper and magazine subscriptions over the course of the last two decades.

Why do I think “Historians” will never see it that way?

Share:
Vote on It:
Average Vote:
 
About The Author

Douglas MacKinnon is a former White House and Pentagon official and author of the forthcoming novel, The Apocalypse Directive.

Be the first to read Douglas MacKinnon's column. Sign up today and receive Townhall.com delivered each morning to your inbox.

Cancelled Time Magazine
I am 58 years old and have read Time for 40 of those years. My husband was in the military for 22 years, and we both are moderate conservatives raised in the West. Over the last several years, I have watched Time morph into a liberal rag that bears no resemblence to the once informative magazine I read for many years. I must admit that I am happy to hear about the demise of newspapers and the loss of jobs that goes with them. Their anti business stance and glorification of all things social make me very scared and sad for our country.

It's not just liberal bias
I got sick of the Charlotte Observer's left-wing bias years ago and turned to the internet. But that highlights a bigger problem for the print media: the business model has changed. eBay, Craig's list, Townhall.com, et al, are putting the newspapers out of business. I can get the info I want and need faster and more directly without having some left-wing editor filter the news.

There is a larger message here...
... liberalism FAILS. It fails when it is in control of the media, and it will fail when it is in control of the political and economic system.

There is no excuse for the kind of stupidity that liberalism reflects, because there is PLENTY of history to prove it, over and over again. But too many liberals think they are ABOVE history.

As these newspapers and other liberal media go, so will go the economy. And, as with the editors, those who controlled the economy and ran it into the ground will NOT take responsibility for their failure, and will say, "But, we didn't mean for this to happen."

That excuse will not fly anymore.

No Pity
I have no pity for these guys. They did it to themselves. Now, let them go out into the real world and find an honest job so they can discover what it really means to work for a living. Maybe the experience will help them realize how foolish they have been. Probably not. They will just blame Bush.

Welcome to Utopia?
You reep what you sow. Are we happy now in our self-created utopian paradise Lib. writers/editors?

ann in il @ 12:13 wrote
"Their anti business stance and glorification of all things social make me very scared and sad for our country."

Irony of a business which takes an anti-business stance--and then wails when its own business is down the loo; as Bob stated @ 12:36, they shot themselves in the head.

my two cents
Read 'Atlas Shrugged'

Written more than 50 years ago it is getting scarier and scarier

Vengance is God
After all the attacks of Christians and the cover-up of the attacks of Christians by politcal leaders, religious leaders, and the national association of human rights workers it is great to witness the reward of the wicked. Conservatives are not perfect nor do we try to be unlike those in the Obamanation. Print and electronic alike are losing viewers and scribers alike. The promotion of deviancy by their elitist employees: alcoholics,prostitutes drug addicts, pedophiles,and some even had police protection. The media are now seeking equal rights, look to me they are receiving it right now. All media members should be subject to DNA testing as all civil servants, clergy and social workers.

Obituary for the 4th Estate
Personally I can attest to the truth of Douglas Mackinnon's observations. I used to read the New York Times daily for years and usually purchased the Sunday issue. Several years ago I quit buying or reading it, sickened by the constant liberal bias.

To all conservatives I recommend the Wall Street Journal. It reports straight up on the news and just recently started a sport page. It really could become a national newspaper I believe because of its adherence to the truth and objective reporting.

Terry @ 1:01 pm
I amcurrently reading Atlas Shrugged for the first time. It has taken me a long time to get through it, not because of the length of the book, but because my mind jumps to current events what are similar to the predictions that Ayn Rand wrote of more than 50 years ago. It is eerie how accurate the story is to the current events of today.

Let morons like MacKinnon...
to analyze the lower subcriptions for newspapers and magazines. It's not the "liberal" editors who are responsible for the downfall, rather the times that we live that dictate such a fortune. Newspapers have been adversely affected because of internet, this trend does not leave out "conservative" maganazines like the Weekly Standard, maybe it's not tanking because the masters of the pseudo-conservative side needs a voice that spews nonsense just like MacKinnon's.

Carter
Actually, it is both.

The number of people cancelling their newspaper was a big subject in California several years before the Internet; a common subject on the local nightly news. The paper most often mentioned was the LA Times. The San Diego Union was increasing circulation as the LA Times decreased. Same reason as MacKinnon provides in this article.

I hate to see it happen too. I enjoy newspapers and news magazines. I used to buy 'em even when I was a young seaman making about $100 per month. In later years, I've spent as much as four or five dollars to get an English or Spanish newspaper in a few of the world's hellholes, like West Africa. I now buy newspapers only when I am eating alone away from home. (Still buy foreign newspapers in various ports.)

Take a look at a Time Magazine from the 'forties or 'fifties, if you can find one (I have several I've collected.) The difference in how the news was reported is simply amazing -- No "cute" pictures, no puff pieces, no slanted articles, no partisanship -- just straight news printed in colunms with a few black and white pictures. Not like the "Magazine for the Dull and the Dumb" as Time and Newsweak are now.

intentional dishonesty
Carter you are the perfect demonstration why liberal rags are dying. They too refused to understand that purposely distorting facts, biased reporting, and editorializing news for the benefit of one political party was going to lead to their downfall. You can refuse to see the light but at your own perile. Of course as a liberal you will never know truth, and it is only your obedience to progressivism that will comfort you while you live in the land of the suspension of disbelief.

"Almost open Hatred..." see: Carter
Way to go Carter, your hatred is so thinly veiled, even the morons among us can feel it.

The Liberal Media
When the pieces of what is left of our country are picked up and we analyze what ,why and how it all happened,the liberal media will be near the top of the villians.

They are almost all liberals. They vote about 95% liberal in any election. They are shills for the DNC and the 'Party'. That party now,is more socialist,than Democrat.

They have protected by omission or outright lying any negative thing that happens to a Democrat. They downplay it or fail to even mention it. This is by design.

They do the opposite for the other side. Everything is a scandal. 24/7. The smallest negative is blown all out of proportion.

The harm they have done by hiding the truth from the public is unmeasurable. Millions of good people who get their news for the mainstream media have no idea what the truth is today. They have depended on these subversives for their news. Shameful.

Tip of the iceberg
So, the mainstream media has put ideology ahead of business. Yet, 50% of people are probably liberal, so shouldn't there still be a substantial market for these opinions? In my experience, liberals aren't particularly well-informed or knowledgable, so it may be that the mainstream media is catering to a market that doesn't read.

Dear Carter. Sir
You're just another liberal in blinders. MacKinnon reports it just like his liberal contact sees it;

We have a 50-50 nation; media outlets can't serve one side exclusively without alienating the opposing side.

For many years, media pundits such as Rather, Lerher, Jennings, Woodruff et al routinely alienated half the country lambasting Reagan, Bush, Gingrich, Religious elements of our daily lives; and they kept their jobs.

But resentment had become our daily bread. The ad revenue of newspapers was the first thing to indicate all wasn't well in America. A lot of it changed over to TV and radio; and there they have another backlash, especially with the war in Iraq. Anyone with brains on the Right knew the talking heads were active in misleading the public; it was no other news except the "Quagmire"--

Of course the left was content; they expected to destroy Bush. Only, the ones eventually hurting were MSNBC, CNN, et al-- for their flagrant partisan bias. Rather, Aaron Brown, others, lost their nice jobs.

Advertisers are still in that arena; but they've told the hard copy media to forget about selling them any more advertising. With internet and TV filling in; the fishwraps have NO CHOICE, start reporting truthful news, or quit publishing. Now a number of those liars are out of business. They cut their own throats.

Carter
You are a breath of fresh air-NOT! I guess I must be one of those "pseudo-conservatives" that you are ranting about. Unfortunately, I have the misfortune of living is Mass. and am surrounded by government school educated idiots like yourself. Your pronouncement of the Weekly Standard being propped up begs one to ask the question-if conservatives prop up their print media, why don't the liberturds prop up theirs?
I think the answer lies in the fact that there are so many left leaning rags in this country that you would need a stickittous bill to keep them afloat-they sure can't depend on their readership to do it. Just a thought, but if the news was presented in a fair manner, without any bias or opinions-you know, tell it like it is-maybe readers wouldn't be running for the exits so to speak.
I know, that doesn't fit with your ideas about the news-but maybe there might just be something to it.

The sheeple believes.....
as their masters in the pseudo-conservative world like Hannity, Limbaugh, Inghram delivers their sermons through talk-radio. When are you morons going to understand that policies that they are advocating work well for CEOs, Military Industrial Complex etc, and leaves the rest to the gutter. You can keep blaming the minonrities and other poor people for this entire mess created by the trickle-down economics implemented by Reagan, but the truth is we are all being robbed while they let us fight about gay-marriage, abortion etc. It doesn't matter hundreds of billions of dollars have been swindled by the Military Industrail Complex through the Iraq war, but ofcourse it's the Community Reinvestment Act as is being suggested to completely diverty attention from the criminal economic policies implemented Reagan.

It could not happen to a better
group of people. I myself am looking forward to the failure of many newspapers across the country. And I enjoy the thought of these "reporters" going out in the world to get a real job. Every newspaper that shuts down improves the country.

But I'm sure there will be government subsidies so that Dear Leader has a propaganda vehicle.

Poetic justice.

I have long since lost track of how many people have over the years tried to warn us... how really self-destructive the far left is.

And they, of course... keep denying it.

And the fact that they actually can't seem to "help themseles" is only too frightening... and should serve notice to all of main-stream America.

Personally, I now boycott ANY liberal or anti-American product or servive. And that is sweet. And increasingly, so do many of our friends.

Also, check out Michelle Malkin's column today about "Going Galt"... simply all-star material.

Finally - from the Good Book, "You reap what you sow."

Indeed... and how.


All of you who are..........
happy that these Newspapers need to understand that they provide other protective layers to the society, even if you don't agree with other political reporting. If your water resources are being polluted by a company who cares about profits more than harming lives including your children's, it's done by your "liberal" reporter. Again, like I said the "leaders" of the pseudo-conservative brand have convinced you that if somebody says something critical about any business while it puts profits before people's lives, then they have to be "anti-business" or "anti-capitalistic". But, one day when your house gets flooded or when your children get cancer because a local plant is poisioning them with lead or when you have medical insurance and you think you are covered, only to get news that you are going to be charged with $250,000 medical bill then maybe just maybe you will get it.

Carter
Can you give me a definition of trickle-down economics and what your alternative would be?

all the news that is the news
The beauty of a free market is , as these newspapers fail, the ones that choose to survive will realize that they'll have to start reporting unbiased news again. There's still a place for newspapers, but they'll have to clean up their act.

Friends and contributors,
It became apparent to me after Carter failed with any answer; that he posts here as Carter,

But he's Jack Cafferty. I can tell by his invective. Nobody Cafferty hates is his fellow American. He's only a moron. That's the defining trait of all tax and spend, abortion-peddling, Obama groupies on media sites. Like Cafferty, they look upon us as mindless, stupid and unwashed. Never Americans, as they are!

Carter
SEZ CARTER: "If your water resources are being polluted by a company who cares about profits more than harming lives including your children's, it's done by your "liberal" reporter." ...etc., etc. etc.

SEZ ME:
What makes you think that clean water, good jobs, health care, etc. are liberal concerns only? Conservatives care about all of those issues, and more. It's not the issues that are wrong, it's your liberal, goverment-centered solutions that are wrong.

The reason you think conservatives don't care about these important issues is because you've been reading--and believing--all those liberal reporters.

Liberal Media
Liberal Democrats have a right to make excuses for the left-wing media. I would do the same if I were a liberal.

Why not? They would be playing my song ! They carry water for liberals every day 24/7. They are shills for liberals.

Don't expect conservatives to shed a tear for the demise of the liberal media. It couldn't happen to more deserving people. Na-na-na-na-na-na- na-na...hey-hey-hey goodbye....

Carter
When the Mainstream Media failed to report improvements that happened in Iraq throughout 2008 that did it for me. January 2008,we heard Obama and Reid claim Iraq was lost then little was reported through the election. Why? Because we were winning proving McCain and Bush right that the serge had worked.

If the death of the media leads to unreported corruption of the powerful it is their own fault.


kbT, you beat me to the punch...
Liberal sheep like Carter believe that anybody who is rich must be a greedy tycoon out to exploit everybody else. One wonders why they don't chastise or even recognise that most of the elitist liberal leaders are the ones going down that path. Look at liberals from the Kennedy family to Pelosi and Reid to Hollywood elites to media elites of all types to other socialist leaning wealthy like Soros and Huffington to David Rockefeller. These guys don't pay their taxes, (apparently many of them anyway) and they can afford to simply not work and have no tax liability, anyway. The average rank and file liberal is either stoned or in denial. They can't all be so ignorant.

Congratulations, Carter!
You used the term, "Military Industrial Complex."

I have not seen that term used since my liberal college days in the late 60s. We railed against Johnson and Nixon and the mighty "Military Industrial Complex."

Note: Carter, there is no such thing as the "Military Industrial Complex." We were wrong then, and you are wrong now.

Dear Carter,
I am a classic example of what's happened to newspapers. I grew up reading newspapers, delivered the morning news as did my brother and other friends. Our family took both morning and evening papers and I read both.

When I got older, the papers merged, quality deteriorated and I wrote letter after letter about media and newspaper bias in the news sections.

Finally, I canceled my subscription and told them why. But I did not stop there. I told everyone I knew to cancel theirs as well, every chance I got. I told advertisers I knew to bag out on papers for advertising.

Then on internet sites, I communicated this view that "you vote with your money" to those who would listen.

When the paper calls me asking to subscribe, I tell them exactly why I don't take the paper. But they don't listen.

I'm doing what liberal friends told me about TV when I griped about salacious programming - "If you don't like it, turn it off"!

So you see that the adversarial relationship they have created is a situation of their own doing. At the fountof the problem comes from the liberal J schools which teach young minds not to report the news, but to "make a difference". The implication being not that they are the protectors of the bad old Constitution but rather warriors for the Marxist or secular utopia they wish to create.

In it's place, I take Townhall Magazine, The Limbaugh Letter and Modern Reformation.

Times change.


I won't rejoice at the news
As much as I hate the liberal bias of the media (Yes, Dr Douglas, there IS a liberal bias in the media!), I also hate the direction we are headed.

As newspapers die out, and as TV network news bureaus close, we are left, in many cases, getting our news from the Internet and entertainment shows.

I have had students tell me a news item, totally convinced of its accuracy. They have read it on a blog. They have no idea how reputable the blog writer is, or even if the blog writer is qualified. It it's on a legitimate-looking site, it must be accurate.

Another "source" of news for many is even more insidious. TV entertainment shows have become a source of information. A 24-year-old woman recently told me a news item. When I questioned it, she assured me it was correct because she heard it on "The Daily Show."

So be it
The market works to vet out inferior ideas. God Bless natural selection.

Liberal Media Unemployment
All I can say is "Don't forget to shut off the lights when you leave", good bye and I hope you enjoy unemployment.

when you get right down to it...
There just isn't that much news to report in a 24/7 news world. So reporters do in depth pieces. This is where the bias really becomes a problem. Unbiased research turns into hit pieces on conservatives and glorification pieces on liberals. They have moved into the grey area between realtime news and opinion/editorialization. And the internet is problematic for getting "news". It can be difficult to verify "facts" presented on websites. Editors used to verify stories before they went public. Apparently that doesn't happen much anymore, so all news has become buyer beware. Old habits and beliefs die hard for long time news consumers.

Michael Jordan got it
When asked why he refused to take sides, Jordan replied that 'Republicans buy shoes too'. I too, cancelled my local newspaper subscription. I removed MSNBC from my channel line up. Maybe Chris Matthews and his tingling leg will be next on the unemployment line.

FeedFwd
You are exactly correct.

As a child, the national nightly news was 15 minutes long. There was not time for opinion.

Also, one writer above made the point about journalism schools and the changing idea of what a "reporter" does.

Today, watch any segment of the network nightly news. Nearly every "reporter" makes a fairly accurate accounting of what happened, but always finishes the segment with a comment. That last line is normally the one that slants the entire report.

Nobody's fault but their own!
Couldn't happen to a better group of people!

You reap what you sow.

You keep perpetuating a lie (Lib propaganda) and it will come back to bite you.

Just another small example that Liberalism doesn't work.....anywhere!!!

Liberal Media Unemployment?
MAY IT BE!!!!!!


-Ray
NRA Life Member
Soli Deo Gloria!!

Ain't Karma a cast iron byatch?
It is and I'm LOVING IT!!!!! Excuse me while I do the happy dance.

-Ray
NRA Life Member
Soli Deo Gloria!!

What goes around...
... comes around. As a bibliophile, a person who learned to read partly on the old Chicago Daily News and the Chicago Tribune, I love newspapers, and find the internet a poor substitute despite its many advantages over conventional print news.

Through all of the ceaseless attacks on George Bush, through the hundreds of front-page features on Abu Ghraib long after it had ceased being newsworthy, the willful ignorance of the evil of our enemies, we kept our subscription going. However, the last Presidential election cycle was the last straw. It is unforgiveable for the press to inject itself into the political process, given its vital role as a watchdog of our institutions. No one was wprse than the Chicago Tribune, which all but hung out an Obama campaign sign, and failed in its most basic duties to dig deep into the background of both candidates, not simply the one on the political right. Equally disgusting was the vile manner in which the MSM attacked Sarah Palin - a thoroughly decent and accomplished woman.

We finally couldn't take it anymore, and cancelled our subscription, one we'd held since the 1970s.

Of course, all of us know what will happen... when the old-line press hits bottom financially, they too will seek government bailout money. Count on it.

Ads
I subscribe to two daily papers that cost me over $1000 a year and consider them well worth the money. However, if I ever cancel, it will be because >50% of the papers are now ads. One of them even tried moving the weather to an inside page so they could put ads on the prominent back page but there was such an outcry that they had to back down.

Question
To all of you who have stopped reading newspapers because you find them left-biased: when you cancelled your subscription or stopped picking up the paper at a newsstand, did you substitute a paper with a right bias, like the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post? Or do you just find reading difficult or tedious, or perhaps not have the money for a paper, and use "liberalism" as an excuse? WSJ and Tony Blakely are guaranteed to say something you will agree with. So, have you subscribed to conservative papers? If you haven't, then something else is going on here other than your objection to liberal bias.

Good News!
At least we have one thing to celebrate as our economy is dying. The propagandists who helped to kill it are going down!

What really bugs me
is that in spite of the fact liberal bias and liberal policies are for the most part responsible for the skyrocketing misery index of late, when it next comes time to vote, the same liberal idiots will pull the handle for the very people that will further guarantee the demise of their standard of living. go figure.

lilly
I know I shouldn't, because I just gave out the February award the other day; you leave me no choice.

You wrote: "did you substitute a paper with a right bias, like the Wall Street Journal or the Washington Post?"

The Washington Post?

For that comment, even though it is early in the month, I am giving you the award for the most stupid comment made on Townhall for the month of March.

Schadenfreude for me, lol!
Hoist on their own petard - deservedly so!

But fair mention to the internet taking away a huge chunk of Classified Ad revenue - ebay, craigslist, et. all.

The problem is every news outlet
still leads whatever is on the front page of the NYSlimes every minute and hour of the day, and it is SOOO hard to get a center or right pol. pt. of view except in the Wall St. Journal or FOX or places like TH blogs, but blogs are not news.

Even CBS NEWS, now in 4th place, behind FOX that doesn't have 1/2 CBS' outlets, has had consultants suggest a better balanced production, the CBS execs. aren't interested. That's because they believe anyone who doesn't think like them is a stupid idiot.

Maybe Reps. should buy a national cable station, as O did in PA where he ran all O all the time. He outspent McCain 8 (EIGHT) times in media buys (it actually only got him 1% more than Bush in 2004, but it was enough for the election).

No matter how much is on the net, not everyone has a computer, is computer oriented, or wants to seek out a cons. message.

We have to deliver it ourselves.

We have to register people ourselves and not let ACORN and Rock the Vote control the entire registration process. In the *stimulus,* the Big O has a A $$BILLION$$ for ACORN stuffed in that krap.

As far as only libs. reporting pollution
or *muckraking* stories, the original conservation movement, of course, started with CONSERVATIVES--Teddy Roosevelt was a prime mover, setting aside Yosemite and appointing his friend John Muir to assess natural wonders for gov't protection in the early 20th C.

No one cares more about animal conservation and wilderness protection than the actual people who live and work there. The problem with today's *environmentalism* is it is some 19th C. romantic movement h*llbent on *preserving* the world in a frozen 1850, when there was no electricity, no combustion engine, and miserable medicine and nutrition--the better to knock off humans, who use up *Mother Gia.*

renny, Rush could raise enough cap
to buy some kind of cable/tv network.

You got it Doug
Journalists have been held in low opinion by Americans for decades, lower than anybody until Congress did a twofer and became all lawyers except for a token doctor. Newspapers/mags are dishonest in another way, environmentally. Nobody wastes more paper/trees than the print media. It's awful. So are the people, these are not nice people and we would be better off paying them to do nothing than paying them to sabatage everyting the US tries to do in the world. I will admit there have been a few ugly Americans but our country/govmt has been pretty good on the world stage, so why the heat?

lilly - 6:35 p.m.

lilly, I suspect you meant the Washington TIMES, not POST, in your 6:35 p.m. reply to this thread.

With that clarification, you ask an interesting question. My answer is that shortly after the 2004 election I cancelled my out-of-state NYT subscription and replaced it with the WSJ. I simply lost faith that the NYT was being straight with me. I do not have the same concerns with the reporting offered in the WSJ.

Is this because I've drifted rightward in my political leanings, and thus view the "news" through a more centrist lens? Perhaps.

But it's at least equally a function of the NYT totally losing its bearings. What a shame. I truly will regret if the NYT folds (because it cannot make its payments to the Mexican loan shark). But if it happens, the loss will have been mostly self-inflicted.


Tea Party--TV/Media Party
I applaud the Tea Party idea, but I would like to add that with the original tea party people stopped drinking tea to hurt the funds flowing to the government. Instead of giving up this innocent warm beverage, I would recommend boycotting, NBC, CBS, ABC, HBO, MSNBC, CNN and Hollywood movies.

Over SIXTY MILLION voted AGAINST Obama. In order to get elected, he had a great deal of help from CBS, NBC, ABC, Hollywood, HBO, CNBC, MSNBC & CNN , et al.
They are also responsible for allowing and perpetuating the lies about the meaning of conservative values and political positions, and they stand idly by and/or participate in the vicious character assassinations against anyone that dares to question their authority or political ideology. IT IS TIME TO STRIKE BACK.

I have already taken action to save money for the upcoming tax increases and economic crisis. I have cancelled HBO and my premium channels, and I have not watched anything on any of the offending networks for quite some time. I will also boycott any new movies coming out of Hollywood, including my favorite actor, Tom Hanks.

IMAGINE, if everyone did the same! Obama would soon be off the “A” list, and would be back in Chicago very soon with Blago and the Crew.

They can't help it...
Liberals learn how to lie from a very young age, it's all they know.

Their parent's were outcasts and hippies on any number of drugs. As children they never learned about morality and openly shunned wisdom.

They grow up embelishing themselves like Olberman does to try to curry the favor of others. All the Lib's who post here ALWAYS tout their "wordly and vast" experiance yet get the most minor of details completely wrong.

Liberals adamately refuse to do ANY research in favor of repeating tired and juvinile uniformed rant's.

They continute to blindly follow other know liars like Odumbo and his crew of thugs and marxists. No matter how blatant and obvious the lie is they will defend it because they always can blame someone else.

For a liberal it's never about reality as it actually exists but the fantasy and dream they wish it could be.

The majority of the media is populated by these armies of cluless and totally stupid people.

liberals strive for failure, they want hardship and difficulty so they can complain and cry about it.

I just wish they would go someplace else and quit ruining my country...


Unemployment
for liberal rags is just the tip of an ironic iceberg. With the economy tanking, it is those at the bottom of the economic ladder who see their jobs drying up. Construction jobs, restaurant jobs, motel/hotel jobs and other similar employment for unskilled and uneducated are hit hardest. These are the people who let greed and envy control their choice to soak the rich. Now they are beginning to find that poor people don't give one another jobs. Nobody seems to care that illegal aliens are serious competition for what is left. The shallow stupidity shown in the last election does not inspire confidence that these fools will learn anything from the crunch.

Quality of life in the cities is dropping. Almost a hundred people killed in the Rodney riots in LA. This has quite naturally served to make rioting seem less attractive, but it was a while ago and we have a whole new generation of inner city unemployed. Sooner or later the lid will blow again, and this one will be a Dusey.

biased and unethical behavior ?
What a mild description. What in fact we are seeing is the seizure of power by the extreme left, using an orchestrated effort to control the minds of the American populace by denying them access to truthful information and prohibiting open debate of crucial issues in the public venue.

Truth has been the first casualty as it always is in any war and therein lies the issue. War is being made upon us and our country and it's traditions and values in deference to the religion of Marxist theology. All this while we look at the ceiling, pretending not to see the, by now, obvious.

Apply this to the entire economy...
I love this part "In still what is basically a 50/50 nation politically, they have gleefully delivered insults onto the front porches of conservatives and centrists and were thrilled when those from the center or center-right would call to cancel their subscriptions to the paper.”

Now apply it to the entire business community in the United States. For years the left has gleefully attacked business in every sense of the word but now that they have won who will produce wealth, Washington politicians?

Maybe hot air escaping the capitol dome will power the country?

What happened to newspapers is happening to everything.

In power now ...
In the wake of the 60's they ...

Took over the media
The schools
The Universities
The Democrat Party
Many churches

They also strengthened their positions in Hollywood and the Unions ....

Now, they are in charge... true believers in the worst sense, dangerous and totally committed to implementing (forcing?) their beliefs on all.

Dumb down
I read the US News and World Report back in the 1970s, when it was conservative. Then Zuckerman came in, and it became a liberal magazine. Guess what? I stopped subscribing in the mid 1980s.

Furthermore, articles are being simplified in order to appeal to the masses of poorly educated public school students. There is less insight. I want intelligent and long articles, but when that doesn't transpire, I quit my subscription.

the arkansas democrat-gazette
is probably not as arrogantly liberal as the worst of the liberal rags, but the liberal bias is palpable, even though they endorsed the rino in '08. i canceled my subscription in '08 because of the consistent pro illegal immigration bias. to me their worst offense was their repeatedly making fun of proponents of enforcing the immigration laws. the really cute ploy of placing "illegal immigrants" in italics and adding an inappropriate exclamation mark did it for me. since the ark dem-gazette promotes the illegal immigrant! problem, no more dem-gaz for me. a message for the dem-gazette: get an illegal immigrant! to buy your rag. this particular ex-subscriber did not like the insults.

Media Airheads
There are very few logical thinkers in the Media today. Their shallowness is 'breathtaking', a new favorite adjective of theirs, along with bold, audacious, etc.(new Obama adjectives) Fools! It must be our education system that has buried common sense with a torrent of Orwellian words.
This WAS a great nation! Too bad the Airheads have ruined it.

College Journalists
bragar
Pennsylvania

I do a lot of video work at universities across the country. Very often when we interview journalism students they say they want to become journalists because they want to make a "difference!" I say if they want to impact our country politically, they should major in political science and get on the staff of a politician they support. If they want to be a "journalist"-they should first be OBJECTIVE. A notion NOT currently taught in our colleges.

Media Bias
Ken
Saint Charles, IL

The media won this election, not Obama. That is the scariest issue I believe.

I have solved the problem of being exposed to this liberal bias in the media. I have not subscribed to a news paper in over 10 years.
I do not watch the network television or cable programs that cannot give a fair and balanced report of the news. Grant it every program has a bias slant one way or the other however when it is blatent like MSNBC, CNN, CNBC, NBC, ABC, CBS & PBS, I just don't watch.

Media Failure
I hope more newspapers fail and then we start to see more of the TV supposed news reporters go by the wayside. It is time for us to get back to true reporting. I have read story after story in the news papers that fails to give the truth. Each time I turn on one of these liberal TV stations I cringe as I hear something being quoted complete wrong and out of context. This election coverage I believe has doomed the MSM. People are not as stupid as they think and these guys will lose more and more followers as long as they keep up this quest to make the news rather than report it.

Let'em all fold!
I would love nothing better than to see the NY & LA Times fold, along with the other liberal rags out there. It would serve them well. I cancelled my subcription to the LA Slimes years ago due to their dishonest and slanted reporting. Obviously they don't know how to report news anymore with out the liberal slant.
Goodbye and good riddance! Have fun in the unemployment lines you dopes!

Conservatives have always had a remedy
The remedy is simple and comes in two parts.

First, do not watch, subscribe, or advertise in those media outlets you find slanted, and say so.

Secondly, patronize the ones you do find acceptable.

This remedy may be exactly what is happening now, no matter what others say.

NEWS IN TURKEY
Harrison Condit
East Greenwich, RI

In April my wife and I were treated to a two week stay in Turkey. An organization named BAKIAD took us around the country and introduced us to business leaders, educators, students, as well as TV and Newspaper people.

Among others, we met with the editor of Turkey's number one newspaper - Zaman. The top editor proudly told us that their paper had experienced about a 20% increase in readership in the past two years. He commented that this was obviously not the case with the New York Times, The LA Times, The Chicago Sun, etc.

I asked him to what he attributed their success. He replied that among other things (as he held up the latest issue), "On this side of the paper we print the facts of a story. On the other side we print our commentary. We don't mix the two and apparently the American papers have not figured this out."

The was a person in our group (one of the hate America first people) who asked, "Do you consult Al Jazeera for news?" He replied, "Yes we do, but we look at all sources from around the world before we make a decision on matters of news." This shut the lady right down.

It was clear that a people will still read a newspaper, if the paper in question maintains its integrity. So readers just want reliable facts, while other that have come to trust the newspaper will just read the commentary and still others will read both.

Maybe someone with the passion and the resources should start a newspaper in this country that mirror Zaman's editorial style and create a national newspaper that people would desire and come to trust.




Mainstream vs. "Far Left"
MacKinnon ignores a far more obvious reason why newspapers are folding: print publications are increasingly anachronistic in a digital world and it's hard to get people to pay for digital news when so much is available for free. Can he make a case that conservative newspapers in this country are experiencing better financial health than their more liberal counterparts? I doubt it.

Furthermore, MacKinnon falls into the typical conservative pattern of labeling as "far left" things he doesn't like and probably doesn't understand. Certainly most newspaper editors, like most Americans, are at a dlifferent place on the political spectrum than he is, but for the most part, American newspapers are doing what they have done for generations---reflecting conventional wisdom and mainstream cultural tastes. Because conservatives are not adept at making paradigm shifts, conventional wisdom and mainstream tastes seem uncomfortable, if not downright outrageous.

And perhaps in some cases they really are. Not all new ideas are good ideas. Conservatives can perform a valuable role in holding them up to scrutiny. But slapping the "far left" or "socialist" label on everything they don't like just assures that most of us will laugh at how out-of-touch they are.

Mainstream media
"These liberal editors and reporters certainly understood that. For much of the last three years, they did everything in their power to talk down the American economy in a blatant attempt to ensure the election of a democrat in the 2008 presidential election."

This point as been ignored, but not by us,

http://stopthepresses2.blogspot.com/search/label/Economy

Bias behind the scenes?
Some years ago a pro-life group that I belonged to wanted to place an advertisement in one of our local papers. I called to inquire and spoke to a saleswoman. At first she was nice and professional, but when she learned about the contents of the potential ad, she not only became rude but actually hostile! I was shocked at her behavior and asked who her supervisor was, at which point she hung up on me.

We never placed the ad due to lack of funds, and after the experience, I never bought this paper again.

Natural Selection
Very few wheelwrights are left, as a profession that is. With the passing of the wagon, the need diminished. With the need for effective propaganda undiminished, watch for the Administration to "help" failing newspapers. Pravda and Izvestia come to mind as an example.
For truthful reporting and information, many still want that, so there is a market. Savvy investors and entreprenurs will tap into that market. The tax burden, however, may kill most start-ups. Look to "online" newspapers who may partner with Craigs list and others.

What MacKinnon Won't Tell You
Newspapers have had declining subscriptions and readership for many years. Not just "liberal" papers, but papers across the entire political spectrum. The conservative Chicago Tribune, the middle-of-the-road USA Today, the very conservative Arizona Republic (despite tremendous population growth in the Phoenix area), the conservative Tulsa World (despite similar strong population growth)--the list goes on. So all of you who are jumping on the "yeah, people hate liberal bias in the press" bandwagon are showing your politics in place of where you thinking and analysis should be.

In place of printed news, we Americans now show a growing interest in consuming electronic news and analysis. If it was true that "Americans hate liberal bias" then it would seem that conservative electronic media would be growing faster than middle-of-the-road or liberal, but that's not the case. So many of you know what you don't like more than you know what's really going on.

Finally, how can it be filled with liberal bias if it's the "mainstream media"??

Bruce
The Chicago Trib used to be conservative. They aren't any more, which is probably why they are having problems. They endorsed Obama, and I believe Blago. They are becoming more and more like the Chicago Sun-Times which is very liberal

I do not consider USA Today middle of the road. It is not as far left as some papers, but it is definately left sided.

The term mainstream media is a holdover from the old days. It means what used to be everyday sources, like newspapers, and free tv. Sort of how some peole still call refrigerators ice boxes.

Where will the jobs be?
As newspapers decline, where will all the idealistic college grads go? When they are out in the "real World" and not in the ivory towers of a university, they will discover that real jobs are provided by real individuals, who took a chance, not the state. Their socialistic minded profs, with job protection, don't prepare the students for life outside the towers. Magazines and newpapers are dying on the vine. Good luck to all idealistic grads.

Oh Bruce!
So many of you know so much more than you really do!

The article was based on the opinion of a self-identified liberal editor!

MacKinnon is a liar
It's amazing to me how stupid the typical conservative columnist takes the typical conservative reader for.

It really. It's amazing. All these conservative columnists just happen to have "liberal friends" in big institutions who they can anonymously refer to as "a self-described liberal friend of mine".

LoL. You're so full of s-hit MacKinnon. I immediately knew you were lying when you claimed that your "liberal friend" was complaining about "they stick their far left ideology". That's a typical Republican talking point. It's nothing a liberal would be saying.

You're simply a pathethic liar who feels the need to pretend to quote shadow liberals so you can claim that "see, liberals agree with me to".

No we don't. You're simply an idiot.

The CONSERVATIVE New York Sun is gone
The New York Sun went out of print last year. It was a Republican paper. Where's your excuse there?

Maybe the simple answer is that the internet is crushing the print media and it has little to do with ideology?

Oh wait, it would require common sense to realize that. I'm on the wrong website to be using common sense.

RE: Dan
Oh Dan! That must make it true! The author claimed to be quoting a liberal to back up his argument, even though everything this "liberal" had to say sounds exactly like something that would come out of any of Mackinnon's other columns.

It must be true then! I'm sure this liberal really exists and MacKinnon didn't just make him up to make his argument sound better!

We All Know More Than Don
So, the article is based on the opinion of a "self-identified liberal editor."

So? My response was based on facts, events that actually occured, trends that aren't liberal or conservative but just are. Those things all refute the article's claims.

So, we (those of us who care about reality more than politics) do know more than MacKinnon, and more than his "self-identified liberal editor" friend, and more than you.

I prefer newspapers
When I get the chance, I prefer to get my stories from newspapers. The television news generally only gives headlines. There is no in-depth coverage. But too many of the newspaper stories any more are slanted. I tend to read them - and then check internet and other sources if I can to verify or at least hope to get the real story.

If ALL news media would go back to printing the whole truth and only the truth, I think they would do much better than trying to slant the stories to fit their own beliefs. Journalists should again learn that news is who, what, when, where, why, and how - ONLY.

Like 45 Caliber
I prefer getting my news from the newspaper. I just enjoy the process of reading the page more than reading off a screen. I also feel that the process of getting it into print ensures a bit more care than getting it onto the screen.

Journalistic organizations of all political stripes have at one time or another done studies of "media bias" and have shown that people who self-identify as liberal think a story they are given to read is slanted to favor a conservative view, and people who self-identify as conservative think that same story is slanted to favor a liberal view. When shown the same story and told it comes from a conservative publication, people who identify as being conservative tend to agree with it and think it's fair and balanced. As you might imagine, when shown the same story and told it comes from a liberal publication, they think it's liberal.

The same thing happens with factual stories about members of political parties--stories that address good news/good outcomes for conservative political figures are seen as fair and balanced by those who identify as conservative, while stories that talk about bad news/bad outcomes about conservative political figures are seen as having liberal bias.

The lesson from all these studies is that the issue of "media bias" is far more in the eyes of the person reading the story than it is in the essence of how the story was reported/written. As a world of evidence shows, evidence far more believable than Mr. MacKinnon's "friend", the newspaper business is declining for reasons that have nothing to do with the hollow claims of "liberal bias."
Sign Up to Post Your CommentsSign Up to Post Your Comments
If you are already registered, click here to login. Otherwise, please take a few seconds to register with Townhall.com. Once you sign up, you’ll be able to post your comments immediately, use the action center, get podcasts, and more!
Note: Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required.
Salutation:
First Name:
*
Last Name:
*
Email:
*
Nickname:
*
Note: Nick name will be shown when you post comments.
Address 1:
*
Address 2:
City:
*
State:
*
Zip:
*
Phone:
      
Your daily must-read of conservative columns, cartoons and news. Coulter, Sowell, Krauthammer and more.
(Bi-Weekly) We highlight the best opportunities from our partners for surveys, action items and more.