Why Wasn’t There More Coverage Of Tea Parties?
By Justin Gardner | Related entries in Bad Decisions, Media, VideoThat’s what Fox News is dishonestly “wondering” these days, and I think we all know why: because protests are news, but not of so much importance that you spend entire weeks covering them. Remember how much coverage the immigration rallies got last year? About a day’s worth. And that’s how organization’s covered the Tea Parties.
Also, the idea that an entire “news” organization was pushing these events as if they were their own creates an environment where the protests were instantly discredited. I argued this a few days ago, and I know Fox realizes exactly what they were doing. So this “Gee, Fox was the only one to cover these,” nonsense is yet another Machiavellian marketing tactic to make conservatives feel victimized.
In fact, here’s Fox playing the victim itself…
I’m serious, this type of clearly dishonest commentary is appalling from a news organization. But, by the same token, so were all the jokes that MSNBC were cracking about teabagging. They could have stayed above the fray, but they decide to mix it up with Fox and now they’ve been dirtied up too.
Folks, we’re seeing our cable “news” channels quickly going down the toilet into the tabloidization model that Rupert Murdoch pioneered. Only CNN is providing news shows without some readily apparent bias anymore and their ratings are tanking. Is this really where we want it to go? Is the market deciding that as long as it’s entertaining and has a little news in it, that’s what constitutes news?
Coming from a background in journalism, this trend shakes me to the core. And there’s literally nothing I can see that’s going to stop it from getting worse.
This entry was posted on Friday, April 17th, 2009 and is filed under Bad Decisions, Media, Video. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
April 17th, 2009 at 12:19 pm
Summary:
Q: Why was coverage of the tea parties virtually non-existent in many major newspapers, and mainstream local news outlets?
A: Because Fox is stupid!
300k+ people show up on one day, people who’ve largely never done a protest of any sort at all, people who are not associated with any particular political campaign, union, or pre-existing interest group, and you’re thinking this does not merit significant coverage?
I am detecting some real personal animosity from you for the grassroots organizers that went out of their way to try and have a bunch of formally non-partisan rallies against debt and bailouts. I seriously can’t imagine why.
You might think they weren’t grassroots activists, or that these rallies were just GOP affairs, in which case your animosity would make sense. In that case, though, you would also be wrong.
April 17th, 2009 at 1:22 pm
All the attention on FoxNews’ complicity with the “tea parties” seems to me to obscure another relevant question. Why is it that left-leaning blogs consistently bash the “tea party” movement as a collection of wackos and dullards but consistently lionized the anti-war protesters as “speaking truth to power”? Can we afford just a LITTLE time to call out the left on its hypocrisy? Or must the narrative remain 100% “1000 reasons conservatives suck” even months after conservatives have lost almost all political power????
April 17th, 2009 at 6:09 pm
Its just cable news. It is what it is – a forum for editorial/opinion and analysis. Matthews, Maddow & Olbermann do their thing, Beck, O’Reilly, and Cavuto do theirs. Whats the big deal?
April 18th, 2009 at 12:53 am
“Only CNN is providing news shows without some readily apparent bias anymore” BWHAHAHA, maybe if you consider he said she said stenography as unbiased. Frankly, if one is going to cable new for actual information, chances are they are idiots. Last I checked all three cable networks were clocking at a lie, factual misstatement, or gross journalistic negligence (e.g. sweeping generalizations) every five minutes. I am not usually one for violence, but I seriously would burn down every CNN, MSNBC, and FOX building if I could be a 100% sure no one would get hurt. I would even take the jail sentence and happily do so knowing I have made the world a better place. This isn’t to say that the rest of our media landscape is significantly better, but the cable networks are especially bad and have no redeeming value whatsoever.
April 18th, 2009 at 1:26 am
Jason,
First off, the narrative isn’t “1000 reasons conservatives suck,” but I am questioning Fox News’ continued promotion of these events because now they’re tainted by partisan media and lose authenticity as a result. Just go back and look at my posts about Ron Paul from last year. I was genuinely excited by that movement and I urged Paulites to drop the craziness. I even called upon Paul himself to go 3rd party and challenge the establishment. Neither happened and so it all fizzled.
Second, blogs aren’t Fox News. As a cable news network, they have a much more powerful platform to broadcast their message, and, as such, they have a responsibility to not be partisan because they’re using the public’s airwaves. Blogs don’t have that responsibility. Love it or hate it, that’s the reality.
To Jimmy,
If it were just the editorial folks, I may be with you, but Fox News made a concerted effort in all of their channels to promote the Tea Parties. I haven’t seen that same effort from MSNBC yet, but I wouldn’t be surprised if they did it when a liberal cause came up. Trust me, I’m no fan of their nonsense either. This whole trend towards partisan news really sickens me, but I see no workable solution on the horizon.
April 19th, 2009 at 4:03 pm
Sorry but comparing MSNBC to Fox rings hollow to me. When the identifying factor of an MSNBC viewer is that their opinions are wholly without factual basis as the majority of people who thought (and probably still do) that Iraq attacked us on 9/11, we can talk. Networks have to be licensed as operating for the public good.
In Fox’s case, the fact that most people who thought that Iraq attacked us were Fox viewers should have been a reason to dismiss their licenses. It’s the equivalent of a hospital saying that germs are a liberal conspiracy and we don’t have our surgeons wash their hands. There are many commentators I disagree with (the idiot from CNN who went after the Tea Party protester would be an example) but there is a willful disregard of facts on that channel that is without parallel by any stretch of the imagination that is on MSNBC. Commentators can have their opinions, thats the idea. That so many of Fox viewers are factually misled is inexcusable. They repeat discredited information as if it is true routinely. Cavuto lied on camera the other day and he still has a job? There is IMO no comparison and to my eyes it is the moral equivalency argument that Conservatives usually decry as bogus. Your comparing apples and rotten eggs.