Local View: This is the death of journalism
I love that after I write a column, liberals scream for me to be banned from writing. Evidently, the champions of free speech only defend free speech they agree with.
I used to believe that the purpose of print and television journalism was to inform the people and report the facts. Other forms of programming were meant to entertain. Under the leadership of liberal producers and network executives, it would appear that mass media have now become an extension of political parties, or at least one party.
A recent skit televised on the NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” meant to poke fun at network news coverage, implied that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s husband might have engaged in incest with their daughter.
This is humor? Imagine instead they had done the skit but had used former President Bill Clinton. Would that have been humorous? Not bloody likely! They would have fired the producer and canceled or at least suspended the show amid the firestorm of protest from every liberal pundit on the planet. This is the norm for most network stations, but most notably the National Barack Channel (NBC) and it’s cable offshoot MSNBC.
Because Sarah Palin has scared the liberals to death and become their main target, let’s examine a few more media attempts at character assassination.
Immediately following John McCain’s naming her as his running mate, the question was posed of whether she would have time to be vice president while being a mother of five children.
Did anyone ask Obama if he would have time to be president being the father of two children? Is a father not as important to his children as a mother? Is this sexism from the very political party that supposedly is the champion of the feminist movement? And there was not a whisper of condemnation from the media.
The claim from the Democrats that Palin lacked the experience to be vice president was quickly dropped when they realized she had more experience as a government executive than any of the candidates from either party. Of course, Obama claims to have executive experience from running his campaign. Hey, I can balance my checkbook. Can I be president?
Then followed the media-manufactured “Troopergate” scandal. Let me tell you, if I am the governor of a state and my state-trooper ex-brother-in-law assaulted my nephew with a Taser and threatened my family, and the head of that trooper’s department refused to fire him, I would fire that department head.
Then compare the interview given by Sarah Palin to the one given by Barack Obama to ABC News anchor Charles Gibson. The tone of questions asked of Palin were definitely more of an interrogation than those asked of Obama.
The ABC daytime show “The View” hosted Obama, and it seemed the questions were those you would have asked a good longtime friend rather than a candidate for president. “I hear you are related to Tom Cruise?” Laughs all around. Contrast that with the tone of questioning of John McCain. The hosts yelled at him, interrupted his questions and grilled him repeatedly about his VP choice. We should contract the cast of “The View” to interrogate detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Of course, they might beg to be waterboarded instead.
Most recently, Obama has turned loose the media wing of his campaign, aka the network news, to try to blame McCain and Republicans for the failure of financial institutions. But the media somehow overlooked the fact that the Bush administration was warned about the problems with these institutions in 2002 and tried to implement strengthened regulatory oversight in 2003. The proposal was defeated along Democratic Party lines. Democrat Rep. Barney Frank said of the thrifts: “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis.”
That’s right, folks. These are the people that are going to give us the “change we can believe in.”
Obama said: “It would be unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall.”
Former Fannie Mae CEO James Johnson substantially underreported his compensation to the tune of some $14 million, and the company under his leadership improperly deferred some $200 million in expenses. Yet the Obama campaign hired Johnson to lead the search for his VP running mate. This guy helped bring about the nation’s current financial crisis, and Obama likes him so much he picked him up for his campaign. I suppose it helps that Johnson raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for the Obama campaign.
And, you know, you never heard a word of this on your nightly news. I suppose informing the American people of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth surrounding all candidates for president is too much to ask for these days. I guess journalism died this year.
Roger Conrad is a Marine Corps veteran who has served a tour of duty in Iraq and works for the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
I used to believe that the purpose of print and television journalism was to inform the people and report the facts. Other forms of programming were meant to entertain. Under the leadership of liberal producers and network executives, it would appear that mass media have now become an extension of political parties, or at least one party.
A recent skit televised on the NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” meant to poke fun at network news coverage, implied that Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin’s husband might have engaged in incest with their daughter.
This is humor? Imagine instead they had done the skit but had used former President Bill Clinton. Would that have been humorous? Not bloody likely! They would have fired the producer and canceled or at least suspended the show amid the firestorm of protest from every liberal pundit on the planet. This is the norm for most network stations, but most notably the National Barack Channel (NBC) and it’s cable offshoot MSNBC.
Because Sarah Palin has scared the liberals to death and become their main target, let’s examine a few more media attempts at character assassination.
Immediately following John McCain’s naming her as his running mate, the question was posed of whether she would have time to be vice president while being a mother of five children.
Did anyone ask Obama if he would have time to be president being the father of two children? Is a father not as important to his children as a mother? Is this sexism from the very political party that supposedly is the champion of the feminist movement? And there was not a whisper of condemnation from the media.
The claim from the Democrats that Palin lacked the experience to be vice president was quickly dropped when they realized she had more experience as a government executive than any of the candidates from either party. Of course, Obama claims to have executive experience from running his campaign. Hey, I can balance my checkbook. Can I be president?
Then followed the media-manufactured “Troopergate” scandal. Let me tell you, if I am the governor of a state and my state-trooper ex-brother-in-law assaulted my nephew with a Taser and threatened my family, and the head of that trooper’s department refused to fire him, I would fire that department head.
Then compare the interview given by Sarah Palin to the one given by Barack Obama to ABC News anchor Charles Gibson. The tone of questions asked of Palin were definitely more of an interrogation than those asked of Obama.
The ABC daytime show “The View” hosted Obama, and it seemed the questions were those you would have asked a good longtime friend rather than a candidate for president. “I hear you are related to Tom Cruise?” Laughs all around. Contrast that with the tone of questioning of John McCain. The hosts yelled at him, interrupted his questions and grilled him repeatedly about his VP choice. We should contract the cast of “The View” to interrogate detainees at Guantanamo Bay. Of course, they might beg to be waterboarded instead.
Most recently, Obama has turned loose the media wing of his campaign, aka the network news, to try to blame McCain and Republicans for the failure of financial institutions. But the media somehow overlooked the fact that the Bush administration was warned about the problems with these institutions in 2002 and tried to implement strengthened regulatory oversight in 2003. The proposal was defeated along Democratic Party lines. Democrat Rep. Barney Frank said of the thrifts: “These two entities — Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac — are not facing any kind of financial crisis.”
That’s right, folks. These are the people that are going to give us the “change we can believe in.”
Obama said: “It would be unacceptable for executives of these institutions to earn a windfall.”
Former Fannie Mae CEO James Johnson substantially underreported his compensation to the tune of some $14 million, and the company under his leadership improperly deferred some $200 million in expenses. Yet the Obama campaign hired Johnson to lead the search for his VP running mate. This guy helped bring about the nation’s current financial crisis, and Obama likes him so much he picked him up for his campaign. I suppose it helps that Johnson raised between $200,000 and $500,000 for the Obama campaign.
And, you know, you never heard a word of this on your nightly news. I suppose informing the American people of the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth surrounding all candidates for president is too much to ask for these days. I guess journalism died this year.
Roger Conrad is a Marine Corps veteran who has served a tour of duty in Iraq and works for the Nebraska Department of Corrections.
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