Media Oversight: Archives for July 2005

Media Oversight

Commentary on the media's role - or lack of interest - to report stories of importance.

07/28/2005

"Fire Rove" Slogan Campaign

In the latest media moment of embarrassment, several newspapers across the country decided not to publish the comic strip Doonesbury, because it contained language that some editors felt would be viewed as "vulgar or confusing" by their readers.

The line in question is George W Bush's nickname for Karl Rove - "Turd Blossom" - not far off as I can see the similarities between the name and the man.

Editors of the newspapers, at least one of which is located in Kansas (no surprise there) felt that despite the media giving Rove's nickname much fanfare, readers of the dailies still woudn't catch on, might take offense, and so opted not to run the strip.

It really is interesting that language deemed acceptable for use by our Commander in Chief - a self-proclaimed Christian, family man, and individual of sound moral judgement - is found unacceptable by some of the same conservative papers whose editors worked to get him elected.

In light of this revelation, I was amused to have received a note from MoveOn.org calling for members to create and submit slogans for an upcoming "Fire Rove" campaign. The winning slogan, decided through votes cast by MoveOn members, will go on to be featured in the campaign.

My suggested slogan? Short and sweet:

"Flush that Turd Blossom"

David

Posted by Dave at 07/28/2005 3:51:27pm
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07/22/2005

My Letter to the Editor

In response to a new email from MoveOn.org, I submitted a Letter to the Editor to the following local, regional, and national newspapers:

The Oregonian
Portland Tribune
Willamette Week
The Columbian
The Register-Guard
Statesman Journal
The Skanner
Portland Mercury
USA Today
The Wall Street Journal
The New York Times
Los Angeles Times
Washington Post

While I doubt it will be published, it should help add to the growing number of editorials being submitted:

To the Editor:

I new it would happen. Karl Rove has all but disappeared from the headlines.

Current events seem to have confused the media to the point that the Karl Rove story has become a "Section D" story. There needs to be a full accounting to the American people about what happened in this CIA leak case. Certainly, Supreme Court nominations are very important. And you can't predict when terrorists are going to try and plant new bombs in London. But the fact remains that our media has almost stopped reporting on the Rove story.

The media is supposed to dig, dig, dig, until they get the facts, not chase after whatever fresh bone is thrown their way. President Bush should keep his promise and fire Karl Rove. And the media should keep its promise to truthfully and fairly report the news. We know that Karl Rove revealed the identity of an undercover CIA agent to reporters Matt Cooper of TIME and columnist Robert Novak. Rove either broke the law or was grossly negligent with national secrets yet he still works in the White House.

The point is, outing an undercover CIA agent hurts our national security, and it troubles me greatly that our newspapers and news stations aren't devoting the emphasis to this story that they should be. Karl Rove and other leakers in the White House outed a CIA agent in order to discredit a critic of the Bush Iraq policy, and it is time for the American people to be told the whole truth.

David Anderson
7137 SW 178th Place
Beaverton, OR 97007

Posted by Dave at 07/22/2005 12:56:19pm
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07/21/2005

Rove story fading fast

I told you it would happen. Then again, you knew it would, too.

Karl Rove has all but disappeared from the headlines. John Roberts' Supreme Court nomination, along with the latest "failed" attempts at London bombings, have thrown several more sacks of oat into the middle of the media feeding frenzy herd.

At least we'll have several days of respite from missing teenagers in Aruba, shark bites on the Florida coast, or the (duh) constant onslaught of hurricanes. Of course this year is the worst hurricane season on record, you idiots. As soon as you connect your science editors' reports on global warming with your weatherman, you'll understand why.

Sorry. This entry was not intended to become another bullshit rant about all the aspects of the media that piss me off, even if I have more than enough to complain about. The main point is that, as with every major story pointing out this administration's devious ways, there's always been a succesful distractionary tactic to sway the media away from the issue of the moment.

Oh, sure, Supreme Court nominations are really important. And you can't predict when terrorists are going to try and plant new bombs in London. But the fact remains that, whenever the W administration has an opportunity to distract and mislead, they do it.

The media is supposed to dig, dig, dig, until they get the facts. The White House press pool was enraged by the Rove story -- and yet, they're just getting stonewalled by McClellan. They may try to continue reporting on the story, but without any new facts, it becomes a dead lead, and they all know that other stories, fueled by fresh facts and information, will always take center stage back at their office. If not by reporters, then the editors will make the call and push the Rove story aside. Without fresh content, a media outfit cannot compete. And thanks to the free enterprise system of business, it all boils down to competing for quantity of content over quality of content.

To that end, the media has become much less of an objective process of discovery and reporting, and much more like a mindless news machine. If there's always fresh content flowing into the machine, logic states the newest stuff will fill up the front pages of the newspaper or web site, pushing aside the stories that are going cold. For the mostpart, you don't even need editorial bias for that to take place.

Like an unrefined Internet search engine that constantly crawls the Web for content, but doesn't know how to discern quality pages from keyword-flooded spam sites, our media is becoming a victim to its information-devouring ways. It is a machine that cannot be stopped. It must keep moving, for the sake of keeping new information flowing out to its readers and constituents. And our administration, like any corporation or other entity with something to hide, is well aware of how to play the game, feed the machine, and keep it all rolling one more day.

As we've seen with the Rove story, if there are sufficient means to distract, mislead, lie, and most importantly, confuse the public, through "easier digested" (clear-cut/simpler) stories of good vs. evil, of terrorists and shark attacks, missing teens and pop stars -- then the media machine will gladly accept it all, eat it, spit it out, and push aside the stories that really matter.

Posted by Dave at 07/21/2005 12:00:03pm
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07/19/2005

Media Attention Diverted by Supreme Court Nomination

Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later. Up until about 10am this morning, the media was all over the Rove-Plame story. More and more, pounding and pounding away, not letting McClellan or W find any shelter...

But, following a surprise announcement that Bush will tonight announce his nomination for Sandra Day O'Connors replacement to the Supreme Court, the media hasn't uttered a peep about Rove.

JohnKerry.com (remember him? Glad to see he finally started "fighting for us", even if it did take him a few extra months) just sent me an email with an open letter describing W's changing tactics. Sure, I signed it. Just another sheet to add to the White House shredder, I guess. I added the following comments to my signature:

So much for restoring ethics to the White House. Do you know I've been fired for far less offenses than what your treasonous little "turd blossom" did? Thanks for reassuring me that no matter how unethical I've ever been, I can pat myself on the back knowing I will never come close to the yellow-bellied level you have achieved.

I wonder if anyone really cares, anymore? The Supreme Court nomination? A column on MSNBC says it best:

Proportion of attention the Washington press corps paid to Karl Rove versus the Supreme Court yesterday: about 85%-15%. Proportion of attention the Washington press corps seems likely to pay to Karl Rove versus the Court today, at least at this writing: 50%-50%.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/3626796/

Time will tell, but this is just par for the course in my mind, and shows the media really is a herd of mindless sheep being led around by an open sack of grain. Hey! Sprinkle some of those oats on my bowl of cereal, will ya??

Posted by Dave at 07/19/2005 11:05:07am
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07/11/2005

Media Almost Silent on Rove

A story first published by the AP yesterday, in which Karl Rove's lawyer issued a statement regarding Rove's comments to two reporters prior to Valerie Plame being outed as a covert CIA agent, still hasn't been acknowledged by the media today, 18 hours later.

Perhaps the media is just being cautious on this one. At a press conference this morning, reporters became increasingly frustrated when Press Secretary Scott McClellan acted very nervous and refused to comment at all on the topic.

The AP felt it had adequate information to at least publish a high-level article on the matter. Newsweek and MSNBC both published excerpts. Yahoo! News featured it as front-page material. But the other major players: CNN, ABC News, CBS News, Fox News? Site-wide searches conducted on each of those sites found not a trace of the story, not even a reprint of the AP article.

Hopefully, the reporters are no doubt digging up as much data as they can, and plan on publishing lengthy pieces throughout the coming week. It could be they are waiting for all the current issues (hurricane, London bombing, etc.) to quiet down. But it's doubtful. When 'breaking news' happens, it happens, and the media is supposed to report it.

A crime prosecutable by charges of treason is important to you, isn't it? It's certainly important to me. Why, then, is the media being so quiet on the Rove story?

David

Posted by Dave at 07/11/2005 10:57:36am
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07/10/2005

CNN along for the ride in London

Today, CNN had an "On The Story" live feature with commentators in the U.S. and London, in front of a studio audience. They took questions from the audience, and said they would also read some emails from viewers at home. They were speaking with two reporters in London, speaking about terrorism, what can be done, how to prepare, the efficacy of various nations' terrorist threat level, etc.

Not all of the broadcast was a waste of an hour. Partway through, as Christiane Amanpour was explaining how "the Britons responded... as Britons", some guy jumped in from behind, right on camera, and started shaking his finger, screaming things like:

"This happened because of the Iraq war, an illegal war, we knew this would happen, this is all the cause of that war!"

He went on and on, finally was pulled aside. Amanpour smiled and added he was "probably drunk and angry, as are most Londoners now"... No.... you think?? Of course he's angry. But you didn't address anything he said.

Anyway, they continued on, interviewing some terrorist "expert" (funny considering she doesn't look like she'd ever held a gun in her life) who went on to explain how local law enforcement and homeland security this and that was prepping for a possible attack here, what we can do, etc. etc., and how they just were limiting heightened alerts to "the nation's mass transit system".

Just the mass transit system. Hmm. Buses. Taxis. Airplanes. Trains. Boats. Subways. Just those. Okay, thanks for narrowing it a bit.

This got me thinking. It dawned to my wife and I something that most people would overlook about all of these recent attacks, though it makes complete sense to the two of us, as we have travelled extensively through Europe: the nature of the attacks may seem to have been carefully planned, but what was attacked should have come as no great surprise. In fact, the more I think about it, the terrorists have been pretty lazy. They're simply going for the biggest bang for their buck (pardon that analogy).

I opened up Thunderbird and sent in this email to CNN:

If you look at the pattern of attacks, they are being focused on the most-used form of transportation for each country/location.

In the U.S., it was airplanes.
In Madrid, it was trains.
In London, it was the tube.

The current warning systems are far too generic. "Mass transit" includes any form of transportation. But if you look at the emerging pattern, it seems local officials in each country should consider that terrorist strikes are going to be carried out to result in the greatest number of deaths (and greatest upsurge in fear of local residents) -- and that can be accomplished simply by targeting the most "popular" or used forms of mass transit in each locale.

Well, I'm sure anyone with common sense would read that and say "DUH", but then again, none of the reporters did. No one in the audience did. All they had the idiot notion to do was ask if Britons responded "like the Spanish by voting in a new government, or like the Americans who rallied to war". Oh. My. God. Is that the best CNN can do? Interview a blind, deaf, W'04 nationalistic sheep??

Al Qaeda has claimed they will continue the attacks until governments gets the message - that we need to pull out of the Middle East and leave their land alone. But without even the media -- the supposed well-informed individuals among us -- getting it, or even recognizing basic patterns in the attacks... what hope do we have that any of this information is going to actually result in our leaders responding effectively to the growing threat?

- David

Posted by Dave at 07/10/2005 1:22:41am
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07/08/2005

Welcome to Media Overlook!

Hi everyone,

This is the first of no doubt many entries to come detailing the way local media tends to overlook stories of real substance and value, and instead just focus on the quick and easy. The following story is of direct interest and importance to me as this literally happened in my front yard.

Earlier this week, a local contractor broke a gas main in our cul de sac. They didn't tell anyone, and they acted as if we should all just shut up and let it slide. The contractors in question acted out of arrogance, had some of the worst mouths I've ever heard on this street, and could care less for the safety of local homeowners.

I tried following up with several media outlets in the Portland area, including KOIN 6 news, but I received a rather insincere response. This morning, I stumbled upon a brief story they had posted to their web site detailing how a Eugene family happened to be in London at the time the terrorist attacks happened. Evidently, that seemingly random event, that Oregonians were in London, was more newsworthy than the fact a local subcontractor was hired to do dangerous work in are neighborhoods, without any knowledge of how to do it, and put local families in danger. The following is my feedback to KOIN 6.

You guys are unbelievable.

I sent in a news tip that a contractor for Verizon broke a gas main in our front yard, didn't notify any residents (some of whom got sick -- including pets who vomited repeatedly). The contractor has since been fired for multiple federal violations. And yet, your newsroom editor said "hmm, we'll see if we can send someone out to report on the story". Never happened.

At the same time, you think it's more newsworthy to report on the fact that a "local" family from Eugene happened to miss out on the London attacks:

http://www.koin.com/news.asp?ID=3405

Big whooping deal! There are 10,000,000 people living in London. I'm sure there were hundreds of Oregon/Washington residents over there on summer vacation on that day.

I used to travel to the UK all the time. I've been in those same squares and tube stops myself.

You're grasping for straws. And it's really, really sad. Because while you're trying to provide "news" that you think is of interest to your local readers, they would be far better served to know of local fraud and potentially hazardous work being done by untrained contractors who are putting their concern for profit motive ahead of the safety of local residents.

Fox News (facists that they are) got the scoop on this story, by the way. But I'm glad to see your priorities, like the contractors, rests in making an easy buck instead of doing your jobs.

I really hate having to provide oversight for media overlook. But this is one case where I can't let it slide, and neither should you. I encourage your comments on this. In the absence of local media doing its job, we'll have to do it for them, and remind them of that fact.

Thanks for reading,

David

Posted by Dave at 07/08/2005 12:11:33pm
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