Seattle Times: We’re Activists Using Journalism For Propaganda
Newsbusters:
Top Seattle Times Editor Admits Majority of Newsroom Votes ‘Blue,’ Driven by ‘Activism’
Seattle Times Executive Editor Dave Boardman, who in a Tuesday e-mail to his staff had scolded them for cheering Karl Rove’s resignation (Ken Shepherd’s NewsBusters item), wrote a follow-up e-mail on Wednesday in which he conceded the political display matched the “blue” perspective of the majority in his newsroom where, like most of journalism, reporters are driven by “activism.” Boardman acknowledged:
“If we wore our politics on our sleeves in here, I have no doubt that in this and in most other mainstream newsrooms in America, the majority of those sleeves would be of the same color: blue. Survey after survey over the years have demonstrated that most of the people who go into this business tend to vote Democratic, at least in national elections. That is not particularly surprising, given how people make career decisions and that social service and activism is a primary driver for many journalists.”
It’s reassuring to learn that Boardman chided his staff for the outburst, but as he admitted it accurately reflected the political perspective of most journalists.
Read The Full Story At Newsbusters
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Fuck the MSM. They all make me sick. I wouldn’t trust them as far as I could spit.
Pat: I appreciate you and yours bringing the reality of Iraq to light and don’t know where we would be without you and others like you.
Thank you!
August 16th, 2007 at 7:41 amBut they are not biased….right!!!! (wink…wink!)
Nuttin new here.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:47 amThe key word is “propaganda”. Thanks to the net, and talk radio, more and more people are beginning to understand that.
August 16th, 2007 at 7:54 amNo No No say it isnt so……Please this just cant be it will crush my world view. Oh but wait, I can point to the Seattle Times being owned by an evil CORPORATION and say that makes it biased right. Oh yes thats the ticket. Their advertisers are big COMPANIES too. Ok my worldview is safe.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:07 amIm not shocked by this at all because its so obvious, but its strange to finally hear someone admit it..And yes a persons bias shows no matter how much you try to deny it
August 16th, 2007 at 8:17 am“If we wore our politics on our sleeves in here, I have no doubt that in this and in most other mainstream newsrooms in America, the majority of those sleeves would be of the same color: blue. Survey after survey over the years have demonstrated that most of the people who go into this business tend to vote Democratic, at least in national elections. That is not particularly surprising, given how people make career decisions and that social service and activism is a primary driver for many journalists.””
No shit sherlock. The color on their sleeves is not Blue. It is the same color that is running down their backs: YELLOW.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:31 amThe majority of the assholes who inhabit newsrooms of any sort have gone to the Joseph Goerbels school of journalism. So why would anyone expect anything different from this bunch of shitheads? I certainly don’t, and haven’t for a long, long time.
August 16th, 2007 at 8:53 amWell it’s not like it isn’t ’sanctioned’…..
August 16th, 2007 at 9:23 am“We live in a world where what used to be called propaganda now has a major role to play in shaping public opinion.” - Al Gore
If you watch baseball, I think one thing you see over time is that umpires generally make the right call. Not always, but mostly. Close examination at slow-mo of close calls usually show the umpire to be calling it pretty straight. Because they out of professionalism attempt to be as objective as humanly possible. To be perfectly so is not possible. Humans are imperfect and flawed. But there have been times where the talent of the ump has been amazing.
I do not expect or care what the media’s political position is on a personal level. I only ask they TRY to be objective. Like an umpire. Call it straight, not crooked.
The predominance of liberals in the media has created a sub-culture in which an utter disregard for the norms of their own profession have been jettisoned. It is as if umpires had carte blanche to make gambling bets on their favorite teams and then call the games they were betting on.
Thus we have liberal media elites who are trapped in a haze of sixties/seventies mythos that should have died long ago, cheering on their own stupidity.
They might as well have chanted: “We’re not professionals!”
Or,
“We can’t do our jobs!”
“We’ve very very emotional!”
Further, the fact that the media needs to slant and lie and twist conservative arguments, shows how fearful they are of actual debate. The whole “Deniers” meme on global warming shows just how uncertain and lacking in confidence are those proponents. They need to turn the skeptics into “deniers” as in Holocaust deniers. Thus if you dare to counter their arguments, you are akin to a Nazi. It is a great rhetorical and passive aggressive trick. It is pathetic as an argument though. And they feel the need to use that because they’re not confident their theory holds up to scrutiny and thus must pre-empt debate. Which is gutless.
So they stack the decks, slant the stories, omit and censor what they don’t want to hear and do so daily, in an amazing number of outlets. And then they bash Fox for having the temerity to expose them.
If a reporter wants to be a liberal, be a liberal. Separately of that, be a journalist. Tell the facts. Let the chips fall where they will.
This however, few do any longer. They need to “win” the news cycle rather than report it.
The umpires are crooks. And polls show that a large section of the public sees through it. They need to get out of their Georgetown/Beltway, Upper West Side, Nantucket and Hamptons enclaves and meet some other human beings besides the Media Circle Jerk that now alleges to report facts.
The media does not report news, it pushes an agenda. It is actually ok to have an agenda outside of work but we want our umpires to be honest, if imperfect.
Our “reporters” are no where near to that. And we don’t expect any change in that anytime soon.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:30 amPut another way:
They decide, then report.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:32 amMore evidence of lack of objectivity (I guess they don’t teach that in journalism school anymore):
http://media.newsbusters.org/stories/msnbc-newsroom-booed-bushs-state-union.html?q=blogs/mark-finkelstein/2007/08/16/msnbc-newsroom-booed-bushs-state-union
August 16th, 2007 at 11:04 amThey are the second biggest enemy to this country, only after the muslims.
August 16th, 2007 at 1:27 pmwrongo john goodrow muslims, politicians, then msm
August 16th, 2007 at 2:48 pmI’ve said it a thousand times, so once more won’t hurt:
We are in a battle for “hearts and minds”.
August 16th, 2007 at 10:29 pm…the hearts and minds of AMERICA.