Saturday, January 17, 2009

Unbiased Media?

Most everyone heard the news a week or so ago when Ann Culter was "banned for life" from NBC. Yes, she gets a lot of people really riled up, but let's step back for one second...I'm not saying that she isn't crazy, extreme, and at times hard to listen to, but I'm also not saying that she is full of sh*t, either. She has some very important points...and being extreme has earned her the celebrity status she now enjoys.

What bothers me the most is the fact that an NBC insider was quoted as saying, "We are just not interested in anyone so highly critical of President-elect Obama, right now," explaining that "it's such a downer. It's just not the time, and it's not what our audience wants, either." So...news is subjective to what people want to hear, is that what this NBC insider is suggesting? Apparently so.

You are probably thinking...wait, I thought that this was NBC news that we were talking about? And yes, you are right. "News", as I have learned, is a matter of opinion. Not a matter of fact. And, I challenge anyone who believes that unbiased media exists. It is nothing more than an oxymoron.

1 comment:

Dennis said...

Perfect Example:
http://newsbusters.org/blogs/rich-noyes/2009/01/14/ap-slammed-bush-s-extravagant-inaugural-05-now-it-s-spend-baby-spend
Four years ago, the Associated Press and others in the press suggested it was in poor taste for Republicans to spend $40 million on President Bush’s inauguration. AP writer Will Lester calculated the impact that kind of money would have on armoring Humvees in Iraq, helping victims of the tsunami, or paying down the deficit. Lester thought the party should be cancelled: “The questions have come from Bush supporters and opponents: Do we need to spend this money on what seems so extravagant?”

Fast forward to 2009. The nation is still at war (two wars, in fact), and now also faces the prospect of a severe recession and federal budget deficits topping $1 trillion as far as the eye can see. With Barack Obama’s inauguration estimated to cost $45 million (not counting the millions more that government will have to pay for security), is the Associated Press once again tsk-tsking the high dollar cost?