What Left-Wing Media?

July 10, 2012

Someone recently told me that by pointing out all the things Fox, Limbaugh, Beck, and others like them do and say and by showing how the contradict themselves, I’m actually feeding into the problem of a biased media. The media, this person said, was extremely liberal and I was ignoring the skewed reports and lies of the left, thereby getting nowhere.

I’m calling bullshit.

Let’s get one thing straight first. The idea of the “liberal media” is just plain wrong. Ask yourself this. How much favorable press has Obama gotten in the last few years? I mean, really good press. How did the press cover the drone strikes? Has Obama really gotten to slide on policy blunders or has he been hammered? What about the Occupy protests? That one’s closer to fifty-fifty, but they didn’t get the kind of fanfare you’d expect from a truly liberal, BIASED media.

Onim P125: Katrina-Conspiracy by ~PerfectBlue97 on deviantART

The truth is that everyone has a bias. The whole deal with Fox News, their “Fair and Balanced” slogan, is a joke and a lie. The idea of a perfectly balanced story hinges on the idea that both sides of the story are equal. Creationism and science are not on equal footing. Radical right-wing groups don’t have the same kind of point as groups like the Southern Poverty Center or the ACLU. Fox’s years of lying and misleading and giving a voice to the most radical conservative and regressive elements in this country in the name of money are NOT equal to whatever bias the left may have perpetrated.

Think of it this way. Fox has a long history of sexism and misogyny. Limbaugh routinely goes on the air and speaks of women like one would speak of a yapping dog. The Left comes out and says that Romney’s wife doesn’t understand the plight of the middle class because she’s raising children while married to a multimillionaire… and suddenly the left attacked for supposedly attacking a mother.

Political Showdown by ~Jedi-Art-Trick on deviantART

Things are NOT equal. Yes, the left has its demagogues. As much as I enjoyed listening to Olbermann, for example, he’s not exactly level-headed sometimes… But I dare you to find anything Olbermann has said that is as inflammatory or misleading as anything in the average one-hour block on Fox.

The idea of a liberal media is a myth. The Left is constantly pointing out all the lies of the Right. The Right, one the other hand, can only whine that they’re being called out for being wrong and take this to mean everyone is to blame.

“Fair and Balanced” is a myth. Liberal media is a myth. I go after these clowns because they’re doing real damage to this country. They promoted the Tea Party. They’re influencing policy. Large sections of the population listen and believe them.

Can you say an Olbermann rant or a Maddow segment has done the same thing?

And now, while you ponder these things, please enjoy the ONLY adaptation of his work Alan Moore has gone on record as saying he not only approves, but enjoys.