Anyone with the capability for independent thought has recognized the media has a liberal bias. However, what is rarely asked is what is there to be done about it? I have asked several Republicans in the Maryland area this same question, and I was surprised at the lack of an intelligent, comprehensive response. Most have simply replied, “What else is there to do?” Others make vague statements about talk radio, but on the end, the GOP SIMPLY HAS NO PLANS TO DEAL WITH THE MEDIA BIAS THAT WORKS DIRECTLY AGAINST THEM.
Think about it, this makes as much sense as saying “well, I always get mugged down this street, and this is the way it always has been, so it will always probably be this way, so why try to change it.” What the GOP fails to realize is that the media, just as much as the Democrats, is their opponent in the next election. What the GOP also fails to realize is that every time they talk to the media, they legitimize the MSM and their bias.
Many in the GOP might be afraid to confront the MSM and call their biases out, as they are afraid of more negative reporting. This I find amusing, as the reporting is already so negatively slanted to Republicans more negativity will hardly matter. What I propose is that the GOP, as a National Party, expands what the Governor of MD Bob Ehrlich started; de-legitimize the media by refusing to deal with media organizations that refuse to report the story fairly.
Simply, there is no fairness in the media. True, talk radio might be dominated by conservatives, (which is why liberal jerks are trying to control it and thus silence Conservatives.) But it is the print media, the most biased, is not public domain, thus the Fairness Doctrine will never apply to them. Unlike the liberals, I do not want to expand the law to control anybody. On the contrary, I want to use the power and principles of choice and capitalism to force the MSM to do something they do not want to do, namely, be fair.
In a nutshell, one politician matters not. But if the GOP as a whole refuses to do business with organizations that do not provide equal coverage for both sides of the issue and boycott those that do not, three things might happen. First, the media will respond by attacking and attempting to de-legitimize their accusers. Second, the media might respond to the traditions of fair and impartial journalism or (third) they might become even more biased. This will actually play into the GOP’s hands. Almost all polls point to an erosion of the public’s (both liberal and conservative) belief in the fairness of the MSM, and this policy will only increase their de-legitimization. This policy should be public and will only be effective if it is a national policy. This will increase the power of the new media, which is less hostile to conservative values. Following this logic, the GOP should embrace talk radio, cable, certain moderate papers, and the blogs as a way to get their message out without having to deal with an organization that does not have their best interests at heart. Either way the media responds, the GOP eventually wins. (By the way, it will also benefit the GOP to return to conservatives principles instead of acting more like Democrats as too many in the General Opposition Party presently do, but that is another article.)
The question I ask the GOP is this: Why continue to legitimize an institution that is doing everything in their power to defeat you? Until you recognize that the media is as much of an opponent as the Democrats, you, the GOP, will continue to fight every fight uphill. It is your choice.
Blogs at Orbys.net
I obviously agree with you on the substantial bias in the MSM against the GOP, and it would be interesting to see in practice the national strategy you propose. My personal opinion is that, if it were ever implemented, it would be a sort of de facto implementation, and not an “announced” strategy. One might make the case that that is happening today.
How much, though, is the MSM bias actually hurting the GOP? And, isn’t a national strategy to “de-legitimize” the MSM the same thing that the far left wants to do with Fox News?
Anyway, good post and quite a good idea. Personally, I don’t view or read much of the MSM outlets and, those which I do, I do for purely comedic reasons…
I partly blame FoxNews.
I mean they are better in many ways than most of the other major outlets wrt to bias.
But their execution sucks. And at least recently they aren’t much better than the Republicans in that they let the rest of the MSM dictate the big stories and they simply give a more right perspective on them. They are reactionary to the MSM’s stories and initiate few of their own.
As we witnessed with the Imus debacle it is the advertisers who call the shots regarding media behavior. Once they are spooked by adverse publicity things change in a hurry.
I do not know who the worst corporate offenders are in terms of funding the most biased MSM outlets. And I should know. A top ten list publicized by conservative blogs would cause a ripple of concern. If ten, twenty or thirty percent of your customers suddenly become unhappy there would be a reaction. Of course, the same thing could happen on the other side of political spectrum. And if it was successful we would definitely see it happening quickly. The results would be chaotic and that could lead to change. But how could anything be worse than it is now?
Television is the biggest threat to our democracy to emerge in the past sixty years. The morphing of the television screen into a computer monitor may save us yet. Young people seem to enjoy web surfing more than watching the tube.
Boycotting media directly is already happening, I believe, as lib candidates boycott Fox. Let’s see how they do. Maybe they are just preaching to the choir. Will Fox change anything because of this?
Imus managed to get into acute trouble with both conservatives and liberals. Also, he was conveniently available to fill the slot vacated by other white men who “victimize” young, black women. One can imagine how the MSM suddenly realized that their political message was no longer in danger. Imus to the rescue! He’s been doing this stuff for thirty years but all of a sudden it must be stopped?
I am not sure which problem was more responsible for Imuses downfall. Together they left him with no chance except to flee to sat radio and his friends Opie and Anthony. I hope he will do this because free speech, however obnoxious, is at stake.
It is the advertisers that matter most. The spotlight needs to go there for awhile. How is it that they fund the worst aspects of our society with impunity anyway?
I tend to agree that the execution suck from outlets on the right. Maybe it is because the most creative young minds tend to be liberal or something, I have no idea. But look at that 1984 Hillary piece, for example. I have not seen anything like that out of the Republicans. Republicans tend to use logic while the Democrats have been better lately about using imagery and emotional hot buttons. The Republicans need some people who are really talented in marketing and artistic in the presentation skills. They need to produce stuff that is compelling. And they don’t even have to hit on the message at first, they can touch on the underlying values. Take a look at that piece by that 15yo girl over at Rusty’s site. That is the kind of stuff the right needs more of.
Another problem is that you have conglomerates that own several papers that represent many large one-paper towns. Look at the Tribune Company. Los Angeles Times, CHicago Tribune, Baltimore Sun and several more. Times Company owns the Boston Globe, New York Times, and several others. These publishers have an agenda and the people hired to run these papers reflect that agenda. Aside from the Washington Times in DC, I don’t know of too many Republican friendly papers or two paper towns for that matter.
The GOP can put out all the stuff they want, they can’t force the LA Times to tell the people of Los Angeles about it and there really is no alternative. The Orange County Register used to be more friendly to the right but I suspect that is changing due to the death of the Orange County defense industry. I live in the SF Bay and there is nothing close to a paper that is friendly to the right. The GOP can put out all the content they want, but they can’t force the papers to publish it. They can boycott the unfair papers but that simply perpetuates the current problem … because right now the papers are boycotting the GOP anyway. So the GOP boycotting them isn’t going to change anything.
What needs to happen is someone needs to buy some major papers and institute a policy from the top that issues will be reported fairly from both viewpoints and if they aren’t, fire the editors. Right not the left has a stranglehold on the print media. The fact is the paper reflects the agenda of the publisher. Until that changes, there really isn’t much the GOP can do.
Oh, and apparently that video I mentioned isn’t on Rusty’s site but it is on you tube … This is the kind of thing we need more of.