The voters are being played for suckers by the media

[IndianaGreen]

Remember when Ted Koppel asked Kucinich why he wouldn't end his "vanity" campaign so that the media could concentrate on the media-determined "horse-race"? Remember how the networks pulled their embeds from Dennis, Carol, and Al's campaigns?

We now have the same media peppering candidates with "will you be a VP on so-and-so's ticket" questions. Why do you think that is the case?

The voters are being played for suckers by the media. The media is telling us who the leading candidates are, based on polls that are largely based on the exposure candidates get in the media, and now they are telling us what the Democratic ticket ought to be.

Screw the media!

This is our primary process, not theirs!

What are we going to do when the media starts telling the Democratic nominee how to campaign against Bush?

Remember how the media badgered Gore for being "too mean" on Bush in 2000?

[rucky]

1. Just Don't Watch

soon one of the networks is going to come up with a groundbreaking way to boost ratings: produce unbiased & in-depth stories based on research and fact.

gotta have a dream.

[Rose Siding]

4. I don't think it will work to just not watch

There aren't enough who know what's happening to make a mark on the ratings.

E-mail, letters and calls- both complimentary and critical- ALWAYS reasonable and polite to avoid just being dismissed- are the best tools. God knows there are enough facts to dispute and enough suggestions to make.

[mopinko]

2. and made a big deal out of his "lies"

which were either true, or things that he, himself, did not even say.

[MaineDem]

3. I totally agree with you

If every voter could attend an in-person meeting with the candidates we wouldn't need reporters at all. Sadly, that's not possible.

I've been in the company of some of the candidates lately and it's a lot better hearing them deliver their words directly than to hear the "pundits" explain (and that's not the right word) what was said.

I don't know how to fix this. People need to research themselves and find a candidate to their liking instead of being steered to one or another candidate by the media.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

5. I think now is the time to counter this

Especially when the media lies about a candidate or pulls reporters from their campaign. What we need to do is to all write protest emails, phone, etc, and let the media outlets know that we don't like what they are doing and that we demand fairness. If we get enough people doing this every time the media whores lie, they will have to take notice-look what happened with the virtual march on Washington last year. Up to that time, CNN wasn't reporting ANYTHING about the massive anti-war protests. And then VMOW happened, and they had to.

[revcarol]

7. First off, you can sign the petition to ABC

@ http://www.kucinich.us
Click on "Sign the Petition" on the right, if you agree, sign it.

If Koppel and ABC get smacked down, this will send a message to all the networks.
If someone will post the addys of all networks, it would help, because a personal letter from THOUSANDS, like the 36,000 we have on DU, will carry a lot of weight.

We have got to stop the media from just treating our election LIKE A HORSE RACE...and coming around the first turn is XXX, but the jockeys are trying to box XXX in...SICKO

[TeeYiYi]

14. Just did it. Thanks revcarol. .....n/t

TYY

[MidwestMomma]

6. Remember how we pitied the Soviets cause they didn't have a free press?

The media's bias and empowering of all who want to do wrong to this country sickens me. On the really bad days, I feel they are nothing more than a propaganda tool of the government.

I feel so powerless against the lies and manipulations produced for consumption of the masses. And the masses take their daily dose with not a clue that the information they are being fed has been filleted and cooked prior to the presentation.

I used to be amazed when I would hear somebody regurgitating an incorrect media talking point and when I would point out the truth be met with 'You're kidding me....but I heard it on the news'

How the hell do you fight this?

For many of us here on the board, we fight this by trying to keep abreast of what is factual and what is not. But how do we get that message out to the rest of the world? It is so frustrating and demoralizing.

You are correct that media is screwing with our primary process and I'm tired of it too. And what really pisses me off is that their audience is mostly people that will vote in the general election so what the hell are they up to? Is it just part of their ongoing effort to portray our Party as weak and ineffectual? Or is it their ongoing effort to further weaken us so we are ineffectual? I don't know.

Thanks for a thought-provoking post. I like it when people make me think!

[blm]

8. You mean the way they're badgering about being too mean to Dean?

Yeah...funny how the media applies the teflon and that decides when it will be stripped off and for WHOSE benefit.

[IndianaGreen]

9. Aren't you getting a bit obsessive about this Dean thingy?

Go back and read the thread that I posted, which deals about media manipulation, and stop seeing Dean everywhere you look.

I won't let you hijack this thread with your persistent disturbing preoccupation with Dean.

[blm]

13. I just like to point out what I KNOW you know

but will never address.

Sorry, IG, but your post is EXACTLY what I have been saying for many months. The MEDIA has been controlling our primary and DEAN is EXACTLY who they chose to use to attack the others and divide the Dem party.

No hijack. Illumination.

2+2 DOES equal 4.

[Scott Lee]

15. Um, you have completely deconstructed IG's post.

Let me help.

You see, his post wasn't about Howard DEAN - it was about the press in general, and a very astute assessment I might add, about how we tend to give the corpo press too much importance in the election.

Now see if you can, blm, pull yourself away from vicious hatred of Howard Dean long enough to address the true substance behind IG's post thread. I'd like to hear your views.

[blm]

16. Tough. Many of us see that the media manipulation goes hand in hand

with all the teflon applied to Dean.

Don't post and say that the media is manipulating our primary process and not expect those of us who have pointed to that manipulation all year to ignore HOW we watched it go down and noted it many times to the jeers of those who support Dean who insulted us by calling us whiners and conspiracy theorists.

[IndianaGreen]

17. So here we are, now what do we do about it?

One solution is to take the Presidential debates away from the DNC and RNC altogether, and to return them to a neutral forum such as the League of Women Voters.

What about that?

[LiberalBushFan]

19. thank you for clearing things up

We both know they're clearly pushing Kucinich and Braun. Duh.

[LiberalBushFan]

18. no, not at all

you ruined IGs post. You can't say they're controlling the primary to give us Dean. What IG was trying to say is that the media is just pushing things slightly in a direction toward those candidates with four-letter last names beginning with D, and perhaps ending in N, why must you focus on Dean?

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

10. They are trying to kill Edwards for one

Edwards is a populist and - can you believe it - a "trial lawyer" - the ultimate bane of corporations and the Wall Street Journal. Since he's a southeren and quite "electable" they need to shut him up. At the last debate he started talking about "special interests" so he must be taken down ASAP.

[IndianaGreen]

11. We don't see Edwards at all on TV

He has been nearly as invisible as Dennis, Carol and Al.

On the other hand, Lieberman gets lots of media play, especially when he goes on Faux to bash Dean and liberals (strange considering that Dean is not a liberal but a centrist).

The best coverage was when they held those Q&As between the candidates and Iowa voters. One or two candidates on the stage, answering questions without the idiotic one-minute time limit.

I mean, think about how much we have been shortchanged by the debates! Issues such as how to deal with terrorism are very complex because they impact our civil liberties as well as our international relations with friends and foes. I can't see how an answer to a complex question can be reduced to a one-minute answer.

The media is doing this to force candidates to speak in sound bites. Guess what? Issues are not sound bites! Otherwise the national discourse gets reduced to this drivel:

Q: Iraq?
A: Safer

Q: Osama?
A: Bad

Q: Medicare?
A: Fixed

Q: NAFTA?
A: Maybe

Is this what we want? Are we going to let the media dictate the content of the campaign as well!

We might as well let them pick the Democratic nominee! We may find ourselves with some Hollywood personality as the nominee because that is what drives TV ratings!

[WhoCountsTheVotes]

12. no more Corporate Media Actors involved in the debates?

It's a start. Would you let Ronald Reagan moderate the Democratic Party debates? No? Then why would we let another Actor, who works for the Corporate Media, say, Ted Kopell of ABC, moderate the debates?

And shame on the CBC Institute for getting in bed with FOX News too - look what a disaster that was! Come on, people, this should be obvious!