this is sooooo good. Even if the pbs guy is a little goofy, his questions are good.

First of all, when I speak of the news media here, I’m referring specifically to mainstream (corporate and politically owned media). I’m referring to cable television news, the mainstream press, and yes, even
NPR.

When there is a debate in the news, each station will moderate a conversation between two people who supposedly represent each side of a given issue. One person takes the “conservative” viewpoint and one takes the “liberal” viewpoint. The trouble is, the conservative position is usually far to the right, while the so-called liberal side is, in fact, closer to the center. This helps to create more of a resolve at the end of the debate. The truth is, the far left is not represented anywhere in mainstream news.

Here is my explanation. Think of the people who represent the most extreme right point of view, the conservative of the conservatives. People like Rush Limbaugh, Pat Robertson, or Jerry Falwell come to mind for me. Now, think of the people that represent the other side of the spectrum. I’m not referring simply to democrats or self-described spineless liberals; I’m talking about the far left. The question is, do they have the same access to mainstream media as the far right?

Bill O’Reilly says “The Daily Kos is the absolute worse, routinely printing defamation and hatred at a level never before seen in the United States.” Juan Williams, a Fox News Analyst claims “Daily Kos has become — has come to some way be the voice of the far left in the country.”

Markos Moulitsas Zúniga is founder and publisher of Daily Kos, the largest progressive community blog in the United States. Named “the single most successful entrepreneur of the progressive movement.” While I respect his work and his accomplishments on and off the Internet, he does not represent the far left in this country. Further, popular “liberal” bloggers like him are not popular because of their stance on political, social, and environmental issues, rather they are popular because of what they have to say about the other side. Besides, the only time I’ve ever seen him on television is on the O’Reilly Factor.

MSNBC has recently countered Fox’s obnoxious punditry with Keith Olbermann and Chris Matthews. The station just dropped them because they are “too liberal.” Being liberal has become synonymous with Bush-bashing and being a democrat. And democrats are not the far left of this country. With a 30% approval rating, it’s pretty damn safe to be a Bush-basher.

As long as bitter, spineless, all criticism/no substance “journalists” like Olbermann and Matthews are painted as “too liberal,” the far left will never be represented in the media. In this way, those fragmented quotes from the far left that do make it into the media are considered crazy and “out of step with Americans” and the insanity of the far right is more accepted.

It is the corporate owned media that is out of step. If racist, sexist, senile assholes like Pat Robertson get a prime-time television show, who is on television from the left to counter it? Olbermann? Give me a break! If pill-popping, far-right (who is also racist and sexist) radio voices like Rush Limbaugh are broadcasted coast to coast, who will counter it on the left? Terri Gross? Once again, give me a break! As long as people like Olbermann and Gross are represented as “too liberal,” Sarah Palin can go on television and tell us that constructing a gas and oil pipeline through the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge is “God’s will” and nobody seems to bat an eye. Nevermind the fact that when members of other religions refer to “God’s will,” our media calls them “terrorists” and “fundamentalists.”

The next time you turn on the television, look for interviews with RNC protestors who were arrested. Look for animal rights activists. Look not for people who want to drill sparingly in Alaska or offshore here and there, but those who think we should stop drilling all together. Look for words like patriarchy, institutional racism, exploitation of third world communities, theft of resources, and corporate responsibility. Look for anyone critiquing our foreign policy without being accused of “hating America.” Look for any talk of dismantling fundamentally unsustainable systems and I guarantee you won’t find it. One of the central rules of propaganda is if you want a group of people to think of an issue in a particular way, your premises need to reflect the opposite of reality. So when the corporate-owned media describes itself as “too liberal,” this is done to make radically conservative points of view appear more credible. More of this in the video below.