How do we make the media accountable?

[LiberalAndProud]

Franken had a segment today on Hannity's "reporting" and debunking the missing explosives story. Hannity was lying lying lying. If I depended on talk radio for my world outlook, I would be woefully misinformed.

And evidently, again according to Franken, many Bush-loyalists are woefully misinformed. He quoted percentages of * supporters who believe that we went to war because Saddam had WMD, he did indeed have WMD, and if he didn't, the war was not justified.

When talk-show pundits "report" the news and outright lie about the "facts", how can they be held accountable?

I am not talking about "spin". I think spin is acceptable as long as the bias is admitted and acknowledged. Lies spoken as reports are not acceptable. How should mis-reporters be accountable?

Is reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine the only alternative?Propaganda is too powerful ... there is no way Bush should be this close to winning again.

I believe and hope and pray that he will not win, but if he does, I truly believe the liars on talk radio should be held accountable.

[Carolab]

1. They should be FINED

for every prove lie they tell and every lie of omission as well.

[m berst]

6. there is a better solution

Hey Carol :-)

The danger in your proposal is that if a bunch of wacky ideologues got control of the FCC (like they do right now) they could use any legislation for fining broadcasters as a tool to suppress opinions they didn't like.

Before media de-regulation there was a lot more competition, and TV stations were required to give equal time to opposing views, and to provide programming time for community service. Major markets had 2,3 or 4 competing papers. All of this worked to balance the news, encourage investigative journalism, and to keep the public better informed.

[UL_Approved]

2. Get to the root of the problem

We have got to get education out to the masses, and it starts with using real journalism on behalf of major news networks. After all, if ABC/CBS/NBC, etc. were on the ball, none of this crap would matter. They are the ones who need to step up to the plate. Any censorship leads to more censorship, but knowledge leads to more knowledge. Remember to present facts, not suppress them, even if they aren't real.

[Carla in Ca]

3. Cable news is a sham as well

I have been griping about this for months!


MEDIA FRAUD: Mainstream Media Routinely Lumps Candidates together to avoid Highlighting Kerry
Go to Google News, Ask Jeeves, or Yahoo and you will see a pattern so obvious that one wonders just how stupid and clueless the media thinks Americans are! Every other political article headline reads variations on: "Bush, Kerry Trade Barbs," "Bush, Kerry Exchange Insults," etc. The scam? Lump Kerry in with Bush rather than give him real "equal time" coverage, while Bush automatically, as prez, gets plenty of "free" solo coverage ("Bush imports flu vaccines," etc.). This CNN article is typical - note how it leads in with Bush's slam of Kerry, then follows with Kerry, worded to make it seem as if it were KERRY, not Bush on the defensive ("Kerry countered with...etc."). This scam is a variation on what we call the "six of one, half dozen of the other" propaganda ploy - which tries to make Bush look better by implying everything in the two campaigns is somehow "equivalent.

[Peanut Gallery]

17. Along those same lines

Local radio this morning featured two journalists, one traveling with each campaign. Ann Compton did her usual shameless, fawning PR report for Bush's campaign. Several minutes later another journalist (can't remember her name) reported on the Kerry campaign, except that she didn't really talk about Kerry, she talked about Bruce Springsteen in Madison with Kerry, stating that the 80,000-plus crowd turned out for the singer and not the candidate. In addition, most of the questions the talk show host asked were about Springsteen - which songs he played etc. They used up almost the entire segment for it. Equal time? Riiiight.

[Carla in Ca]

18. That's right, Ravenswood

And the repug spin when * loses is "Blame the liberal media"! Huh?

[Abelman]

4. I don't know

But we must find a way. Maybe we should form a committee.

[JSJ]

5. i'm for following them around w/ cattle prods and fluffers...

...they lie, they get the prod- they do right and they get some positive reinforcement. Once conditioned to do only right, the positive reinforcement is done away with, while the prod will always be kept within eyeshot of their beedy little squinters.

[LiberalAndProud]

8. A very Pavlovian solution. Have you had good results?

[JSJ]

9. somewhat- bill schnieder has been a repeated backslider - time to up the..

...the amperage.

[LiberalAndProud]

10. How many cattle prods will Rush wear out?

[JSJ]

12. internally?- or externally?

[LiberalAndProud]

13. Whichever works fastest.

[Heidi]

7. How do we make the media accountable?

Don't read their products, don't buy their products, don't click on their websites, or check out their personals or classifieds, and don't buy products sold or produced by their advertisers.

Angry letters, insults and suggestions for change won't do the trick. To make a difference, gotta hit 'em where it hurts: right smack-dab in the revenue stream.

And the reverse is true when the media does its job. Buy their products, click on their websites, support their advertisers, etc.

[ThePhilosopher04]

11. Mass protest their sponsors...

and hit them in the pocket book.

[depakid]

14. License renewals

shorten the time from 6 years back to two. Strengthen the public interest requirements, including the various elements of the fairness doctrine. Stations that choose to air shows that demonstrably lie- and give no rebuttal will but forced to account when their license comes up every two years.

This will give progressives a chance to challenge their use of the PUBLIC airwaves in a meaningful way, and give other more responsible and local companies an opportunity to secure a monopoly license and serve their communities with diverse programming... which had been the intent of the law for over 60 years before the Republicans under Reagan destroyed it.

[Kahuna]

15. Hold congressional hearings. Play videos of their lies and ask them..

to explain.

[cprise]

16. except for berst, none of these sugg. so far make much sense

You can't force something as subjective as fairness (or balance) on the marketplace of ideas using magical words on the lawbooks. Not in a way that is compatible with democracy and openness.

What America can do is engender those qualities in its media. I believe that we need to restructure the media to minimize conflict of interest that causes networks to act as a mouthpiece for the very wealthy and their industries. One way is to break them up according to stringent ownership guidelines that prevent them from even approaching monopoly status in any regional or national market; the more players there are competing locally, the more they will compete for popularity amoung people who are essentially their neighbors; these smaller media corps would become more middle class. Another way is to create a true, independant public broadcasting network similar in nature and scope to the BBC; they have a populist slant because their money comes directly from each TV owner (not from political budgeting and not from rich commercial donors).