Posted by
Always To The Right on Tuesday, January 20, 2009 1:27:48 PM
If anyone doubted the bias in the media during this election, the
inauguration appears to have had the singular salutary effect of
proving it. Howard Kurtz
has a good look at the phenomenon up close and personal today from his
Washington vantage point. He’s having trouble distinguishing between
the media and the cheering throngs, because apparently the media are the cheering throngs
At least they’re being honest about it. MS-NBC has been the
All-Obama Network for over a year, with Keith Olbermann and Chris
Matthews vying for Top Media Sycophant honors. Besides, Bill Press has
never given any pretense at being objective; he’s an opinion
journalist, a pundit. The problem isn’t the Bill Presses of the world
— it’s the supposedly objective media, who profess detachment on air and in print, but on Facebook issue updates like this:
- “voted for change”/”change is coming”/”yes we did”/”is thrilled.”
- “is hoping the American people elect to leave behind the dark ages
and step back into the hopeful light. It’s been a long time.”
- “helped turn her state blue.”
- “I live in the United States of America again.”
- “is getting out the vote for Barack Obama.”
Kurtz finishes with this warning:
After broadcasting half-frozen from the Newseum roof,
watching endless television and attending all these media parties (I
know, tough job, somebody has to do it), I can report that there really
is an electric feeling in the city, unlike any I’ve seen before, going
back to Jimmy Carter. But on Wednesday, we’ll still be in a financial
mess and mired in two wars. Nobody expects Obama to solve these
problems overnight. The media will need to aggressively chronicle what
he’s accomplishing and where he’s falling short.
But after the year-long mediagasm, they have little credibility
left. Who’s going to trust them to report honestly and not cheerlead
for The One? The hagiographic journalists who report on his
accomplishments will sound like propagandists for the new
administration, not reporters. And it says something deeper about
media bias that Kurtz detects this “electric feeling” after attending
so many media parties.