Media Meltdown

April 14, 2003 | Dick Morris

[katana]

This has been a rough war for tyrants and those who try to control the thoughts of their people. In Baghdad - but also in Manhattan, at the headquarters of the Times, NBC, CBS and ABC.

This paragraph is a keeper, but he forgot to mention Atlanta (CNN).

[I still care]

bttt for an excellent article.

[Ragtime Cowgirl]

Maybe it's early, but I can't see a source for this article. Sure would be nice to know that MILLIONS of Americans were reading it this morning. (^;

[George W. Bush]

Mean Daddy, where was this Morris piece published?

---

The result has been a major shift in American media/news habits. While CBS viewership dropped 15 percent from pre-war totals, ABC fell 6 percent and NBC gained an anemic 3 percent, the Fox News Channel audience rose 236 percent while CNN and MSNBC (with smaller audiences) recorded similarly impressive gains. On morning TV, the cable show Fox and Friends actually drew 2.9 million viewers, more than CBS' 2.8 million on its Early Show - the first time a cable news station has beaten a network news program in ratings (but not the last).

Among younger viewers (18-34), CBS Evening News fell 16 percent while Fox News Channel gained fivefold.

ABCNNBCBS alert, Dave! We can't hold a funeral just yet but they're on their deathbed and refusing last rites. These shifts in viewership demographics are going to kill the socialist networks in coming years. They are doomed now, I think, even if they changed to an unbiased format. Too late to turn it around now.

[smith288]

The person who came up with the "embeds" also gets some of the credit.

Torie Clark... The Pentagon spokeswoman with the loud jackets.

[Mo1]

This has been a rough war for tyrants and those who try to control the thoughts of their people. In Baghdad - but also in Manhattan, at the headquarters of the Times, NBC, CBS and ABC.

That about says it all

[twntaipan]

bttt

[randita]

I watched ABC Evening News once during the war. They reported the Baghdad market attack as fact, complete with video footage from Al Jazeera running as background. Now we know the missile that fell in that market was an errant Iraqi one.

Why bother watching ABC News when you can watch Al Jazeera and get the original report?

[Grampa Dave]

I agree that ABCNNBCBS, and most of the major left wing fishwraps suffered a severe and maybe mortal blow with their left wing mantra coverage of this war.

They used the DNC Mantras of Hate GW instead of reporting what was happening. The public will not forget.

These paragraphs from this article are a great summary. While Morris is not a guy that one would want as a neighbor, he knows how to read polls and public sentiment. So he nails it with these paragraphs:

"The result has been a major shift in American media/news habits. While CBS viewership dropped 15 percent from pre-war totals, ABC fell 6 percent and NBC gained an anemic 3 percent, the Fox News Channel audience rose 236 percent while CNN and MSNBC (with smaller audiences) recorded similarly impressive gains.

"On morning TV, the cable show Fox and Friends actually drew 2.9 million viewers, more than CBS' 2.8 million on its Early Show - the first time a cable news station has beaten a network news program in ratings (but not the last).

"Among younger viewers (18-34), CBS Evening News fell 16 percent while Fox News Channel gained fivefold.

"But the biggest loser was The New York Times, formerly the newspaper of record, but now reduced - in full public view - to a newspaper of the political opposition. Its readers got to see, in plain view, the paper's pessimism and bias against the Bush administration.

"This has been a rough war for tyrants and those who try to control the thoughts of their people. In Baghdad - but also in Manhattan, at the headquarters of the Times, NBC, CBS and ABC.

[conservatism_IS_compassion]

Mainstream media . . . targets the lazy and the ignorant.

That's just what I was thinking about the PNN (Poltroon "news" network) revelation by Mr. Jordan. CNN is a half-truth reporting operation, and only the lazy and ignorant assume that truth is spoon-fed to you, free.

It is well to keep in mind the Red-Blue map of America, which shows the concentration of Democratic voters exactly where you would expect to see the least educated or the overeducated. The Democratic Party is the party not only of the poor but of the overpriveledged.

The Republican Party's mission is to protect the middle class against political assault from both. Jack Kemp, in his vp debate with Al Gore in 1996, signally failed in that mission.

[George W. Bush]

I certainly agree with you on Morris' general character. I often find his analysis flawed.

But he always brings the hard numbers and tries to identify the key trends so he's worth a read just for that. This is why Clinton, the Poll President, valued Morris' skills.

[VadeRetro]

Toesucker Morris gets one right once in a while. This is one of those times.

[gswilder]

The tide was already turning before the war. The rise of conservative talk, and the internet are the key factors. September 11th is another critical factor. It is helping to separate the "wheat from the chaff" both from a media and political perspective.

The embedded reporters are an absolute stroke on genuis from the administration. First, it made us feel much more a part of the war. That is why the approval ratings have gone through the roof. To see a war happening first hand, is something that touchs you in ways that cannot be explained. The images from this one will be lasting. Secondly, it will create a bond between the media and the military for a generation to come. They got to know the troops, saw what they can do, and in many cases were saved from death from these same troops. A lot of these embedded reporters will become anchors over the next 5 years, and their influence will grow to other parts of the business.

And I cannot emphasize enough how the internet has changed our lives forever. Even though I had the TV on to get real time video, I got most of my news from the internet. The best example was the night of the Lynch POW rescue. As you remember, it took over an hour for Centcom to come out and make their announcement. My wife and I were eating dinner and watching TV. Wondering what the good news was going to be. After a while, I told my wife, I could find out what it was going to be. Walked over to the computer and in 5 seconds, I told her we had rescured a POW named Jessica Lynch. Just amazing what news you can get so quickly here...

[My Favorite Headache]

Toe Sucker Bump!

[Wphile]

Thanks for the ping. I think he wrote this before the story of CNN covering up Sadaam's atrocities so it could keep a Baghdad bureau broke on Friday. That has me totally fried. The NYT and CNN belong together in terms of bias toward this administration and can no longer be trusted as "news" sources.

[chilepepper]

Dick Morris is completely off target, and the "target" is so massive so I can't see how he missed it:

He makes an interesting list --

Civil War == Photography,
WWII == Radio,
Vietnam == Television,
GWI == CNN 24/7 News.

The next member of the series is, of course,

GWII == Internet.

The reason the major media news outlets "lost credibility" is also obvious, people could cross check their information on the internet with the major media.

I don't know about you folks, but I picked up my news from EVERYWHERE (Debka, the Russian "Intelligence" translations, FreeRepublic of course, as well as the Chilean TV & newspapers, Orlin Grabbe (!), BBC, Foxnews, and *even* CNN!

I purposely chose a wide a variey of news sources, from highly biased on each side, to rumor, to foreign -- then I made up my own mind based on as much information as I could get...

[Zacs Mom]

Memo to the NBC, CBS, ABC and ALL members of the 
"fourth branch of government" ~ "GUARDIANS" of the publics right to know:



 

"My power vanishes into thin air the instant that my fellow citizens, who are straight and honest, 
cease to believe that I represent them and fight for what is straight and honest. 
That is all the strength that I have." 

Theodore Roosevelt

[Zon]

The tide was already turning before the war.

Yep. I briefly wrote about it in an article posted on FR back in early August 1998.

An Inside Look At Clinton's
Ulterior Motive and The Real Reason
Why He Won't Resign Has Congress
Terrified of Holding Televised
Impeachment Hearings

Had the Senate not so grossly neglected its responsibility it would have been reality TV on par with the recent embedded reporters and FOX News reality TV coverage of the war.

Reality versus illusions.

Liberal media is in fact and effect far more trapped by group-think mentality than the general public. They have set themselves up for eventual and certain collapse. All cult-like groups do it to themselves due to creating illusions of power and prestige wherein they soon after come to believe the illusions they created are real.

This type of authority group-think mentality is prevalent in congress, the judicial branch and executive/alphabet agencies. They too have set themselves up to believe the illusions they've created are real.

Republicans good, Democrats bad. Or is it the other way around.

Politicians and bureaucrats are not known for their honesty, integrity or character. They routinely compromise those positive traits as means to ends. But the ends can never justify the means.

Over the last 140 years the government has been made up of fifty percent Republicans and fifty percent Democrats. Democrats have won voters by proclaiming their policies would solve all sorts of problems if only they were fully implemented. Further proclaiming that it's the Republicans that keep holding them back and cause them to compromise full implementation. On the other side of the aisle, Republicans proclaim an ongoing battle to stop Democrats from implementing what amounts to socialist policies.

Republicans good, Democrats bad. It's good cop, bad cop.

The effects of government are half created by Republicans and half created by Democrats. It's like how Mr. Brown used to jokingly ask the neighborhood kids: "which do you want, a fat lip or a busted eye brow?"

Way back then I didn't understand how politics works to control the people. But politicians and bureaucrats can only control the people so long as people believe and act as thought politics is the solution.

Politics is the problem, not the solution.

Don't know what to do? Who to support? Who most benefits you, your family and society?

Introduction

Voting for the lesser of evils always begets evil. How can so many people thinking they're right be so wrong?

Before you'll even entertain the thought of voting for a politician demand that they address Issue 101. Demand that of media outlets too.

Issue 101

How is it that people and society in general have prospered and increased their well being for decades yet the politicians and bureaucrats say we must have another 3,000 laws and regulations each year on top of the 100,000+ laws already on the books... That without them people and society face "disaster". People and society have done quite well without next year's 3,000 new federal laws and regulations. Why all of a sudden can people and society not continue to do quite well without them? The fact is, they'd be better off without 99% of them.

So who really benefits from 3,000 new laws and regulations each year? -- not to mention state laws and regulations. Politicians and bureaucrats. They create boogieman problems and with a complicit media towing their boogieman problems cast a net of false fear and unwarranted despair in people.

Quite literally, they create problems where none exist. They're sick in that they chose to frighten people and foist false despair on them and do that to collect their unearned paychecks. Their job security is predicated on deceiving as many people as possible.

It cost more than just two trillion dollars a year to fund government abuse. That abuse hinders people's development, especially children being indoctrinated rather than educated, harms the economy and causes boom and bust cycles in markets.

Flushing that money down the toilet -- save for military defense spending -- would be better for individuals, their families and society. That's a different way of saying, can't we just pay congress to stay home and not leave their houses. Surely we'd be better off. Politicians and bureaucrats are sick and need your help.

Fully integrated honesty is key. That we have the government we have, that has gone so far off course from the government the founders created, is a product of irrationality and dishonesty. Changing the laws via the system is almost completely useless. Politicians create dozens of unconstitutional laws before even considering repealing just one unconstitutional law. That is not a system -- it's a quagmire of deception, irrationality, fraud and abuse.

Politics is not the solution -- politics is the problem.

Who are the parasites?
Who are the producers?
Ostracizing the parasitical value destroyers
Praise the value producers

Step one for helping politicians and bureaucrats:
Get your head out of their sandbox.

Step two: Demand that they address Issue 101.

Step three: Ostracize government officials that fail to honestly address Issue 101.

Step four: Champion the science and business communities -- often under relentless attack by the government -- that create jobs, necessities, luxuries and ever greater advancements that support human life, family and society.