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What would the right-wingers do without the mainstream media
I’ve come to the defense of the “mainstream media” on more than one occasion in this space. After all, I’m part of it. But beyond that, I think the mainstream media do a pretty good job of telling people in this country what they need to know to make informed decisions.
But it has become an article of faith among the right-wing blogosphere and shout radio that the MSM is very much the root cause of all that is wrong with the country.
My friend Rick Wagner, who writes a column for us and has a blog of his own, certainly is a member of that side of the political spectrum.
So I found it not surprising, if a little illogical, that this morning on his blog, he wrote that the MSM gives a “pass” to the liberals by doing little or nothing about the fact that out-of-state interests, of the liberal persuasion, are targeting conservative candidates, in this case Republican U.S. Senate candidate Bob Schaffer. He then links to where he read the story. And lo and behold if it wasn’t … the mainstream media. That story came out of the Rocky Mountain News.
I e-mailed Rick and pointed that out. I also told him there have been two big stories about Bob Schaffer in recent weeks. The first was the story about the candidate’s ties to disgraced and now-jailed Washington insider Jack Abramoff, and the second was the one he cited. Both of those stories originated in the mainstream media, the Abramoff story in The Denver Post and the out-of-state financing in the Rocky Mountain News.
Indeed, that’s where virtually of the the blogosphere and shout radio’s raw material originates. They do very little if any original reporting of their own. They rely on the good ol’ mainstream media to do all of that for them — and then say the MSM doesn’t do its job.
Go figure.
Comments
By Bill M.
April 28, 2008 11:51 AM | Link to this
No kidding. And of course, none of those groups such as the Sierra Club or League of Conservation Voters have any members in Colorado, do they? So it must have been because of the advertisement that the Rocky ran a story about their opposition to Schaffer.
By tj
April 29, 2008 8:04 PM | Link to this
Speaking of Rick Wagner… The first thing I teach introductory students about critical thinking/writing is to avoid hyperbole and statements such as “how could anyone…” Clearly, this is something that Rick Wagner has not learned, although he was probably taught it at some point (law school??) His “columns” are just diatribes and personal attacks with very little indication of thoughtful analysis. I’m truly unimpressed with the Sentinel for printing his claptrap in the first place. In fact, it may be one of the least impressive things that the Sentinel has done since I’ve been reading it.