Say it isn't so...
Posted on 09/11/2004 7:26:18 PM PDT by Pukin Dog
Edited on 09/11/2004 9:23:55 PM PDT by Admin Moderator. [history]
Open Letter to the Main Stream Media: We are not amateurs and we are going to kick your butts.
We have watched you for years try to tell us how to think, what to think, who to vote for and what to believe based solely on your own agenda. In past years, you have come to think of yourselves as the fourth branch of government, the movers and shapers of opinion and the arbiters of truth.
In case you have not been watching, America is sick and tired of you. We are turning away from you in record numbers. Your audience and readership is declining faster than you can say the word 'bias', and instead of recognizing the trend, you have only become further entrenched and determined to force society to play by your rules.
Technology has allowed us to ignore you, and in many cases, replace you altogether. I grew up watching Walter Cronkite every night, not yet aware of his agenda, his bias and his overwhelming desire to turn the nation against its leaders unless they agreed with him. I saw him replaced by the most dishonest, agenda-driven anchorman this nation has ever produced. That Dan Rather is one of you should be enough to make you feel dirty.
You believe yourselves to be solely qualified to pontificate on the day-to-day events going on around the world as if journalism school gives you a special insight into the truth. When I was in college, people went to J-school only if they flunked out of business school and did not want to become teachers.
Well guess what?
The world is on to you.
Persons with knowledge and experience are not only ignoring you, but replacing you as sources of information. These sources, which don't need anything but their personal experiences and skills when sharing information with the public; persons who have spent more time learning and doing than you ever will, are generally more accurate and informative than you know how to be.
The Internet and Blogosphere would scare you, if you were smart enough or honest enough to know better.
People with practical knowledge and experience discussing current and historical events with more ability than you, are sharing more factual and in-depth information, and at a rate which you could never compete. We are relegating many of you to overpaid gossip mongers, while you don't want to acknowledge that we are eating your lunch.
You take polls, trying to convince us of what people are thinking as you have always done, but now, knowledgeable people are analyzing your methodology, your weighing and sampling and pointing out if your polls are to be believed. You can no longer expect what you say to be taken for gospel, because we are no longer amateurs about information. Someone, somewhere on a little web site is going to smoke you out, report your biases, and make you less believable than you once were. Count on it.
You can tell us that Swift Boat Veterans for truth are liars, and NOBODY is going to believe you just because you say it. Have you checked the Non Fiction Best Sellers lists lately? But even then, we know enough now to notice when book sales are based on giveaways, fund-raisers, pre-orders and the like, to notice when you want to push sales of your favorite liberal author when their book sheds no light, tells no truth, shares no facts, but only advances what you want us all to think about you and yours. We are not buying it anymore.
I'm writing this, because I know you are watching. Just as you watched last week when one of us 'amateurs' beat you at your own game. It happens here all the time. Free Republic is not a group of 'amateurs' or nutcases, as you like to think of us. This board is a slice of America, filled with people from all walks of life, whose cumulative knowledge dwarfs that of you and your 'hired experts'. I was offended to read your reaction to people here and at the Blogs who shared what started here regarding your fraudulent flunky Dan Rather, and his attempt to pass off what was clearly a forged document as legitimate news.
You attempted to deride us, not take us seriously, dismiss us as partisans (which is apparently only a bad thing if one is conservative) and generally ignore the wealth of information we passed along to the public about one of yours trying to pull the wool over our eyes. We nailed Dan Rather, not you, and you can't stand it.
Last week, you tried to suggest that Republicans booed Bill Clinton after Bush wished him well. We caught you. We got in your face and made you take it back, because you lied. Don't you hate that? We Internet-based losers made you back down, when you felt totally free to mislead the nation about the behavior of some you don't agree with.
It is only going to get worse for you.
You can no longer tell us anything, and expect to be believed without question. You can no longer mix your agendas into your 'news' and expect to get away with it. We may not catch you every time, but eventually we will, and then many of you are going to have to get real jobs. And when you do, you are going to need more than the ability to mislead, lie, slander and ignore people who don't agree with you. In the future, expect for Blogs like Instapundit and others to be on you like a fly on stink when you attempt to mislead us.
Yesterday, you attempted to paint the young LT. Bush as a poor pilot, because he attempted multiple landings a few times while flying a training jet. Stories like this are the reason why Network News has lost half of its audience over the last 10 years. Could not one of you pampered info-princes figure out that a military pilot WANTS to practice landings as much has he/she possibly can? I guess not, when you are blinded by ideology to the degree that any information you receive can only be interpreted in the negative.
You want to call Bush AWOL, but you don't want to talk about his hundreds of flying hours in a jet that has killed lesser aviators, you only want to discuss what furthers your agenda, because you know that when Democrats win, YOU are in charge. You don't want to talk about our President's Master's Degree from Harvard while at the same time Al Gore could not hack Divinity school.
Don't you wish you could regulate us? We know you spend your nights praying to the gods of the Fairness Doctrine, hoping to silence us. Sorry, but we are here, and we are not going anywhere. Too bad we can't say the same for you. It is you who is being silenced as your audience is paying more attention to us, and tuning you OUT. Fox News is in 50 million fewer homes, but they managed to beat you silly during the Republican Convention. How did that happen? US; that's how. Because of us, the Internet, the Blogosphere, Talk Radio and others, the nation no longer see you as the gatekeepers of information.
Take a lesson MSM, though it hurts, try a little fairness. Give balance a shot, and stop being a mouthpiece for the liberal agenda. Pretend if you must, that Conservatives are not Neanderthals long enough to get through a news segment. I know it must hurt to not be able to prove your superiority to us in all that you do and say, but try it.
Finally, just embrace the horror, folks. You might actually learn something from us merry bands of 'amateur' journalists. You see, we don't have an audience to please. We don't have to sell ad-space, or get face-lifts to keep our jobs. That leaves us free to share information on the subjects we might know a little something about without angering our liberal masters. On Free Republic, you can at times find as many threads angry at Republicans as you can Democrats. We don't have to hire experts, if we don't know something, we can ask a fellow FReeper or use Google, much faster than you can pay someone to tell you what you want to hear.
On Free Republic alone, there are experts in many fields. We have writers, poets, engineers, aviators, artists, journalists, (they keep that on the down-low), lawyers, historians, teachers, politicians, current and former members of all branches of the military; all who actually know what they are talking about without having a script (or DNC talking points) shoved in their face.
The choice is yours, MSM. You can join us in working to share information with a hungry audience, or you can be replaced. We don't need Nielson, just a web site and an idea. Instead of insulting the remainder of your dwindling viewers, readers and listeners, why don't you just agree to cut the crap, stop the parroting of the NY Times long enough to do your own work, and finally decide to become REAL journalists again.
I'm not saying we are journalists; we have jobs and careers beyond 'he-said-she-said'. We do like to share what we know, and we don't even get it right every time. However, the truth is in the numbers. We have them and they are growing, while yours are shrinking more rapidly every day. If you don't change your ways and soon, you are going to become irrelevant before this decade is over. Many of you already are. We only tune in to 'Petah' Jennings to watch him bravely strain to keep his composure whenever he has to report a Democrat election defeat. On a good night Chris Matthews total viewership barely equals the number of viewers on the Oxygen network.
The trends are in our favor. If you don't wise up, we will kick your agenda-driven ass.
I'm Pukin Dog.
Wearing pajamas with big fuzzy slippers?? .. *L*
Coming in late. Good post.
Slippers? Who accused of us of wearing slippers!
ROFL --- Pink fuzzy slippers..
Could have been worse....He could have been out of them.
Great rant!
You may get a kick out of the letter my friend sent to the Illinois Leader after I copied her on the thread Jim Robinson started yesterday (linked below).
CBS News FReeped <--- (actual headline)
Illinois Leader ^ | Friday, September 10, 2004 | by Arlen Williams
Posted on 09/10/2004 11:57:19 PM PDT by Jim Robinson
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1212966/posts
NEW YORK -- Yesterday, Goliath CBS News was delivered a smooth stone to the forehead by a FReeper. ... [snip]
My friend's excerpted response:
To: letters@illinoisleader.com
Re: CBS News FReeped
.... The last presidential campaign revealed the trend when FreeRepublic surfaced and the famous SoreLoserman was created by one of the talented Freepers (Registered is his handle, I think). Their grassroots organizing and "Freeping" was invaluable. The GOP was accused of funding them, etc., but that is not true. To the best of my knowledge, it wasn't true then, it's not true now. They seem to pride themselves at not having a price...for anyone.
This time around, we "us'es" are getting the bit between our teeth. We're taking our presidential campaign back. We're tired of this stupid Kerry and all his supporters running amok with the truth and then crying "Foul!" when the Vietnam veterans launched an attack of their own.
This time, we're "Reporting for duty, sir!" The vets have been treated miserably by much of the media...but they've emerged heroes in the eyes of us plain folk (their best-selling book tells you THAT). They've said that they wouldn't care which party Kerry belonged to, they'd come forward with the truth.
THIS is what's important to me (and I'm not a Freeper, incidentally, only a "friend of a Freeper"): that the real America is fed up with being lied to by the media. We are creating our own media and we will prevail!
Those guys at FreeRepublic who noticed and then followed through on this are heroes! This whole thing is going to go down in history and be studied when we take back our universities from the silly, sixties-"error" commies who are teaching there.
September 11th is a perfect time for us to be recognizing this situation. The Democrats missed an opportunity to come forward as statesmen. They could have joined in the protection of their country and come to the fore talking about the necessity for bi-partisan leadership. They could have told the American people that they'd get back to politics-as-usual when the danger was over. They could have shaken hands with President Bush and called a moratorium on malice...for the sake of our country.
But...nooooo...they chose and choose to sit on the side lines and criticize the game. Then they dare to send in a player like Kerry. What a joke he is!
So be it.
Game's over for them!
Sincerely,
Name and town
Say it isn't so...
"Truly, with the exception of a few people who are in their 70's, I don't know anyone who gets their news from Old Media. They are so yesterday."
Heh! I guess I just got in under the wire. I turned 70 last week, and I haven't gotten my news from the old media for the last eight years.
Also, I cancelled my subscriptions to every periodical that bashed President Bush. Why finance the enemy?
Bookmarking.
The actual quote was.. Just a bunch of really pissed off guys & gals in their bathrobes with graduate degrees behind thousands of keyboards checking every single f'n word we say, picking us apart piece by piece at their computers".
My uncle, a WW 2 Navy submarine vet, is still around also. He's very passionate in support for the Republican Party. His background is Pittsburgh working class and small businessman, and both he and his wife detest Kerry and the sleazy Democrats.
Fantastic just fantastic!
Good Dog!
Dog...you did good!!!!!!!
Out of the park...you knocked it out of the park!
I've got a horrible cold and must go lie down now.
Regards, FReepers.
The thing is, I don't think Old Media even cares anymore. They work for the DNC and think any equal time clause is met by the internet and talk radio.
Sandy "No-I'm-Not-Happy-to-See-You-Those-Are-Documents-in-My-Pants" Berger
TV interests -
CBS (including 16 CBS owned local TV stations and 4 satellite stations)
MTV
UPN (including 18 UPN affiliated local TV stations)
Showtime
The Movie Channel
Nickelodeon
VH1
Comedy Central
Country Music Television
Nick at Nite
TV Land
MTV2
BET
The Jazz Channel
Sundance
FLIX
Other major media interests -
Paramount Studios
Simon & Schuster Publishers
Blockbuster
Infinity Broadcasting (185 radio stations, Westwood One cable, billboards)
King World Productions (Jeopardy, Wheel of Fortune, Oprah, Dr. Phil)
United Cinemas International (119 theaters with 1137 screens from Argentina to Japan)
http://www.viacom.com/thefacts.tin
Wonderful!!!! Bravo!!!! Hope this gets some interesting responses. Sponsors are probably the way we can hurt them the most.
As mad as I am at CBS with Blather, I must admit, they have a couple of the best adult thinking shows on TV. I love CSI and Without a Trace. I caught the first episode of CSI and have been totally hooked from the beginning.
I am really sad that ABC has seen fit to drop NYPD Blue after this season. BIG MISTAKE, IMO. Wish Fox would pick up that show for the future.
I was really just angry about the way that the media is playing the Bush 'landings' story.
^^^^^^
I haven't heard that particular slam yet, but in general, during this campaign I have been really astounded at the total disconnect of the MSM with knowledge of American military matters, traditions or people. I knew that they have disdain for the military, but I only recently have realized that they are ignorant in things pertaining to the military, such as a pilot wanting to get time in on 'touch + gos'
We have been a 'little' slow in calling them on their stupid reporting, because we assumed that their knowledge of matters pertaining to our fighting forces was reasonable. Now that we know that they are moronically ignorant, we need to call them as soon as we see a stupid statement in print, or on TV, or hear it on the hourly ABC/CBS/CNN newscast, .
I enjoy calling newsdirectors to inform them of errors, because I am too old to let the lies go unchallenged.
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