The Audacity of Corruption

boomerang

Lifer
Jun 19, 2000
18,890
642
126
http://www.aim.org/video/pat-caddell-the-audacity-of-corruption/

I think we’re at the most dangerous time in our political history in terms of the balance of power in the role that the media plays in whether or not we maintain a free democracy or not. You know, when I first started in politics – and for a long time before that – everyone on both sides, Democrats and Republicans, despised the press commonly, because they were SOBs to everybody. Which is exactly what they should be. They were unrelenting. Whatever the biases were, they were essentially equal-opportunity people. That changed in 1980. There’s a lot of reasons for it.

Mr. Caddell calls it like he sees it. Don't expect to hear good things spoken about your favorite candidate, your favorite party. Without an unbiased press, we are doomed in my opinion. This goes beyond party loyalty, beyond party affiliation, beyond "your team".
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
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Mr. Caddell calls it like he sees it.

Not in my opinion. There may be problems with the media, but I'm not too inclined to listen to complaints about their accuracy and fairness from a guy who regularly appears on Sean Hannity's three-hour propaganda-fest.
 

lotus503

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2005
6,502
1
76
Not in my opinion. There may be problems with the media, but I'm not too inclined to listen to complaints about their accuracy and fairness from a guy who regularly appears on Sean Hannity's three-hour propaganda-fest.

yeah the guys rails that valerie plame had a secret service detail.
I guess when Cheney and scooter decided to out her she was just supposed to die.
 

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
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A timely speech about the abject failure of the media to the American people.

*EDIT* i'd already watched the video, amazing that the 2 Democrat liberals never watched it, but commented about it.
 
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Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
6,762
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*EDIT* i'd already watched the video, amazing that the 2 Democrat liberals never watched it, but commented about it.

I'm not a Democrat or a liberal, and I've listened to and seen enough of Pat Caddell to know that I'm not particularly interested in his opinions on this subject.

Anyone who is a regular fixture on Fox "News" Channel and conservative talk radio cannot be taken seriously as an objective commenter on the state of the media.
 

lotus503

Diamond Member
Feb 12, 2005
6,502
1
76
A timely speech about the abject failure of the media to the American people.

*EDIT* i'd already watched the video, amazing that the 2 Democrat liberals never watched it, but commented about it.

I'm not a democrat or a liberal, you are just so far to the right of common sense you can't spot the middle anymore.
 

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
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I'm not a democrat or a liberal, you are just so far to the right of common sense you can't spot the middle anymore.

If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, shits like a duck, swims like a duck and smells like a duck, I'm going to call it like I see, hear and smell it and call it a duck.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,335
6,043
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If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, shits like a duck, swims like a duck and smells like a duck, I'm going to call it like I see, hear and smell it and call it a duck.

No that's just confirmational bias. You regularly display all of the typical altered reality irrationality and bias of a conservative propaganda victim. The press doesn't buy into your brainwashed way of thinking so they are the ones who are biased. What can you bring to the table that proves you are objective. You know the scientists are out to get you too, right?
 

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
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No that's just confirmational bias. You regularly display all of the typical altered reality irrationality and bias of a conservative propaganda victim. The press doesn't buy into your brainwashed way of thinking so they are the ones who are biased. What can you bring to the table that proves you are objective. You know the scientists are out to get you too, right?

Now Moonie you wouldn't want me to be untruthful would you? I have to call them like I see them in order to be honest with myself and others.
I'm not going to tell the emperor that his new clothes look spiffy when he's walking around buck naked.
 

Baptismbyfire

Senior member
Oct 7, 2010
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What do you expect when media of all sorts (including radio) is being owned by a handful of corporations, and when the public despises written media (including books) of all sorts, and prefers soundbites and instant gratification brought to you by bombardment of images?

I mean just compare "how far" CNN has come from ten years ago. The epitome of despair.
 

EXman

Lifer
Jul 12, 2001
20,079
15
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I'm not a Democrat or a liberal, and I've listened to and seen enough of Pat Caddell to know that I'm not particularly interested in his opinions on this subject.

Anyone who is a regular fixture on Fox "News" Channel and conservative talk radio cannot be taken seriously as an objective commenter on the state of the media.

Your first comment sounds negated by your second comment. People on Fox are no more biased than an any other channel. At least they put a Lib on panels where many on the other side don't attempt to even here the other side. Watching MSNBC their rotating talking heads are just as silly as Fox. People in and around media commenting on media is silly in general isn't it? Most Media outlets are ratings whores and not anything more than fit for entertainment. Just look at the Killing of our Ambassador. What a farce.
 

Smoblikat

Diamond Member
Nov 19, 2011
5,184
107
106
I'm not a Democrat or a liberal, and I've listened to and seen enough of Pat Caddell to know that I'm not particularly interested in his opinions on this subject.

Anyone who is a regular fixture on Fox "News" Channel and conservative talk radio cannot be taken seriously as an objective commenter on the state of the media.

Not with that mentality. If you are deluded enough the sky can be purple too. Fox is one of the least biased channels out there, EVERY other news channel is liberal and they show it. Fox is the only conservative one so naturally its easy to see a giant ass elephant in the crowd of donkeys.
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
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Actually, the evidence shows rather clearly that when it comes to media bias, Republicans are in a world of their own:

-Democrats trust everything- except Fox News. NBC does the best with them at +50 (67/17), followed by PBS and CNN at +49 (66/17 and 65/16 respectively), ABC at +38 (57/19), CBS at +35 (58/23), MSNBC at +33 (56/23), and even Comedy Central at +4 (36/32). Fox News comes in at -36 (25/61).


-Republicans meanwhile don't trust anything except Fox News. PBS comes the closest to breaking even among non-Fox outlets, although not very close, at -30 (26/56). It's followed by CNN at -49 (18/67), MSNBC at -51 (18/69), NBC at -52 (17/69), CBS at -54 (17/71), ABC at -56 (14/70), and Comedy Central at -59 (12/71). But Fox News comes in at a stellar 73/17.


Independents are with the Democrats. They trust everything except Fox News.
Note the bolding, which is mine.

Fox News is a propaganda outlet created to let conservatives hear what they want to hear. Other outlets may lean to the left, but Fox News Channel is extremely tilted to the right, and doesn't even make an effort to be objective about anything. (Note that this does not apply to Fox News Radio.)
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
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http://www.aim.org/video/pat-caddell-the-audacity-of-corruption/



Mr. Caddell calls it like he sees it. Don't expect to hear good things spoken about your favorite candidate, your favorite party. Without an unbiased press, we are doomed in my opinion. This goes beyond party loyalty, beyond party affiliation, beyond "your team".

It really doesn't. In fact, the claims of media bias are made specifically because doing so is politically helpful for Republicans. Because here's the thing. While I'd agree that the media has a lot of "biases" and other problems (false "balance" among the worst) and areas for improvement, the Republican claim is that the media is nearly 100% biased for liberal ideas. Ignoring the fact that they refer to this story way more often than they actually support it, even Republicans themselves should be suspicious of how self-serving such a claim really is. Especially because, given the alternative media many Republicans seem to prefer, they clearly aren't concerned about actually making news less biased or better in general.

If you want a free press issue that should unite us across party lines, try this on for size. Republicans are waging a relentless war against the news media for the wrong reason and largely trying to replace them with opinionated sources of news that don't even pretend to have any journalistic principles. Instead of ending up with better news, we'll end up with no news at all.
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
6,762
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If you want a free press issue that should unite us across party lines, try this on for size. Republicans are waging a relentless war against the news media for the wrong reason and largely trying to replace them with opinionated sources of news that don't even pretend to have any journalistic principles. Instead of ending up with better news, we'll end up with no news at all.

They really don't care about any of that. They just want to hear what they want to hear.

Fox News Channel is the television equivalent of RedState or DailyKos, and Republicans like it that way just fine.
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
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I would also say that there's a half decent argument for the idea that the media is actually CONSERVATIVELY biased in many cases, although maybe not intentionally. The media has got it into their collective heads that what they really need is "balance" in their coverage. Which means that covering a factual story often involves asking someone who knows what they are talking about and asking some alternative (full of crap) source. And since a lot of those alternative sources support some conservative alternative reality, the "liberal" news ends up giving them way more credibility than they deserve without actually giving their audience accurate information. The old joke is, if the Democrats said the moon is made of rock and Republicans said it's made of cheese, CNN would report "Democrats, Republicans clash on lunar makeup".
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
17,515
0
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They really don't care about any of that. They just want to hear what they want to hear.

Fox News Channel is the television equivalent of RedState or DailyKos, and Republicans like it that way just fine.

Given the strident "news quality above party" tone of the op, it seemed a point worth bringing up. I generally agree though. Any claims of being concerned with bias sound like a bunch of excuses when you consider the other alternative "news" sources that have popped up.

I think a really interesting fact that keeps cropping up in these discussions is that journalists (at least at the lower levels) do personally lean to the left the majority of the time. While I don't buy the argument that this means their WORK must be liberally biased, it does raise an interesting question...why aren't conservatives interested in journalism? I suppose it could be a big conspiracy to keep them out, but the simpler explanation would seem to be that way more liberals go into journalism in the first place. Given the importance of their work in a free society, isn't it interesting that it seems to be a mainly liberal pursuit?
 

Charles Kozierok

Elite Member
May 14, 2012
6,762
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Well, you're talking about a profession that requires college education, and is supposed to be oriented around researching and explaining reality. Contrast that to a party where a large percentage views college as shameful, and facts as something to be ignored or twisted to suit an agenda, and it's not really that surprising.

It's really just another version of evolution versus creationism.
 

Moonbeam

Elite Member
Nov 24, 1999
72,335
6,043
126
Fox news is the Nazi party propaganda machine transposed in modern America and the aims are the same, to demonize and destroy liberalism concentrated probably nowhere else more profoundly than in Jewish philosophy and thinking. And poor poor liberals, like always, they don't see the threat. Never again, my ass. Bless the fanatic Germans. After 50 million dead they had the brains to ban psychotic free speech and the Nazi party. Maybe after the next world war the American Neocon Nazi machine starts, and a few hundred million Americans dead, we will have acquired as much sense.
 

monovillage

Diamond Member
Jul 3, 2008
8,444
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57517656-503544/poll-distrust-in-media-hits-new-high/

(CBS News) U.S. distrust of the mass media is at an all-time high, according to a new poll from Gallup, which indicates that six in ten Americans have little or no trust in mass media to report the news fully, accurately, and fairly.

The survey, conducted from Sept. 6-9, shows that faith in the media is down in recent years, with 40 percent of Americans saying they have a great deal of or some faith in the media to comprehensively and fairly report the news, and 60 percent expressing the opposite perspective.

According to Gallup, the public has become increasingly negative about the media in election years over time.

So even while they're paying more attention to political news this year than they otherwise might, Americans are less likely percent to be paying very close attention to that news than in previous election years. Currently, 39 percent of Americans say they are very closely following political news, down 4 points from September 2008.

Republicans are the least likely to trust the mass media, with only 26 percent expressing any degree of faith that it is fairly reporting the news. Thirty-one percent of independents expressed similar trust, as did 58 percent of Democrats.

Even so, at 48 percent, Republicans are more likely than independents (33 percent) and Democrats (39 percent) to be following the national political news "very closely."

According to Gallup, the decline in interest about national political news may reflect both the general trend and "the level of interest in the presidential election specifically," as it was conducted immediately following both presidential elections.

When you see those sorts of numbers there is obviously a problem, denying it isn't going to make it go away.
 

Rainsford

Lifer
Apr 25, 2001
17,515
0
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http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-503544_162-57517656-503544/poll-distrust-in-media-hits-new-high/



When you see those sorts of numbers there is obviously a problem, denying it isn't going to make it go away.

You sure sold me on that... Isn't it likely the reason a lot of people mistrust the media (which actually isn't the same as saying it's liberally biased, but whatever) because Republicans run around constantly claiming the media is terrible, and biased, and it called them names? Proving your constant complaining about media bias is justified by citing the fact that a lot of people believe your complaints is a circular argument.

And like I said, I DO think there is a lot wrong with the news media, which can certainly lead to mistrust. I just think the Republican argument that the problem is liberal media bias is a ridiculous and totally self-serving one.