Gene Lyons absolutely nails the seemingly insane FoxNEWS defense brigade that has materialized in the larger MSM (in response to the Obama administration’s shocking charge that FoxNEWS is little more than the communications arm of the far-right, fringe element of the GOP):
the reality is that celebrity journalists rarely, if ever, get hurt for abusing Democrats. Mistreat a name-brand Republican, however, and …
Well, remember “60 Minutes’” Dan Rather?
Democrats complain; Republicans get even.
Hence “mainstream” political journalists, who cower like beaten dogs for fear of ending up on Fox boss (and Nixon alumnus) Roger Ailes’ own enemies list, haven’t had to fear the Obama White House. Last week’s collective cringe makes it abundantly clear how badly they’d like to keep it that way.
It really is as simple as that. In response to a hopelessly biased hit-piece Democrats may lodge a polite complaint, Republicans harvest your job(s), then move on to destroy your reputation, then move on to your children’s activities, then try to turn you out of your house, then force you to kill and eat your dog. Dan Rather is but one example of the phenomenon, but a powerful one. Lost in the Rather nonsense was the fact that not one of the principles in the affair denied the content of the (possibly forged) memo. Some doubted its authenticity, in terms of it being the actual memo; none doubted that “such a memo” existed.
But, more to the point, the media at large has so internalized the myth of the Liberal Media that they immediately retire to the fainting couch at the slightest whiff of a complaint. They fancy themselves as social liberals, you see. They have a gay friend. Whatever. However, in reality, these celebrity journalists are quite the fiscal conservatives. They own several houses and make multi-million dollar salaries. They make all the right noises, mind you; Tim Russert was just a good-old-boy from Buffalo, as he endlessly reminded us, at least while not summering on Nantucket.
Media Matters and others have begun, begun, to turn the tide here. What was missing for the better part of a decade was any sense of “screaming” from the left. These folks still bristle at the “coarse” language of the internets and just don’t get any technology that happened post-TV: so it’s going to take a while. But, sooner or later and no matter what, this lost generation of self-absorbed Reaganite millionaires in control of our discourse will die or retire. One can only hope that whatever follows serves the industry and the nation in a better, more balanced way.
(via jimray)
Lemkin 