If Dems take over, will the media follow?

[CoffeeCat]

I'm trying to figure out the mainstream media. Obviously, they're currently
catering to BushCo--in spades.

The press pool barely challenges this administration and most news outlets joyfully
read the daily Rovian talking points. In addition, most stories seem slanted to
give us the version (and hide the things they want hidden) that BushCo wants us to see.

I'm wondering. Let's say that the Dems win big in 06, and that they win the Presidency
in 08.

Will the media then kow tow to the Dems?

Does the media tend to capitulate to the party in power (to gain access, to get scoops, etc.)?

Or will the media always further the Republican/neocon agenda--regardless of what political party
has the power?

[bluestateguy]

1. Then it will once again become "patriotic" to question our leaders again

Just watch.

[LeftCoast]

6. I have absolutely no doubt

The only good thing is that with the growth of the internet, they can't control the message nearly as well as they could.

[INdemo]

27. Well the problem is though,that could end soon

If the Senators dont pass net neutrality legislation.

[Subdivisions]

13. You hit the

nail on the head on that one.

The types of actions we'd like to see "journalists" take with regard to the crimes committed by the current pukes will be part and parcel once we retake our country from those sick with power and a Democrat is President.

[Eric J in MN]

2. When Bill Clinton was in office, it was Monica...Monica...

and when the Democrats controlled the Senate a few years ago, we had a pro-Bush media.

[jerry611]

18. Media considered that a farce

The only reason the Democrats had control was because of Jim Jeffords. So the media did not consider it a legitimate majority.

Whatever your opinion...that's how the media looked at it...

[babylonsister]

3. Great question. Get ready for a brutal few months before Nov. nt

[Sinti]

4. They sure didn't before * happened - I doubt they would after

if there is an after.

I'd be really happy to be proved wrong on this :shrug:

[The Straight Story]

5. The media whores will follow who is in power, so yes

That is not to say some won't ask the hard questions (they damn well better) but I think they will want to find favor with a new crew and will shift their bias as need to get said access.

[never_get_over_it]

24. Were you asleep during the Clinton Presidency

of course they will not follow - it is in their corporate interest to support the party that most serves the corporation....

[Selatius]

7. NO

Corporate news media will remain loyal to the bottom line. They will always favor the status quo over the changes the Democrat always pushes. The corporatists in the board room have their own allegiances, and it's not to you.

[Kurovski]

8. The media will continue to follow the wishes of the Corporate

right-wingers that own them.

Bring back the Fairness Doctrine.

[rocktivity]

9. Nothing that even the THREAT of hearings on "media reform" wouldn't fix

especially if they were made public.

I mean, IS it a good idea for a news network to be owned by a defense contractor? And shouldn't C-span be moved to broadcast TV so that you don't need cable to see it?

:evilgrin:
rocknation

[Raydawg1234]

10. The "Old" media maybe. MSM is the way of the past, you have to see that.

We don't need the middle man anymore. Instant communication, is the future. I think we will see lots of change in the next few years. Cable news/networks are not going to look anything like they have in the past.

As the MSM loses all credibility, they will relegate themselves as irrelevant.

This is why Net Neutrality is so important. The Neo-Cons see this and they are trying to take it away from us. Don't assume they are stupid, they know this.

[jobycom]

11. Nope. "Corporate Media" means "Republican Media."

Understand that the corporate owners of CNN, MSNBC, CBS, etc, make more money in tax cuts when Republicans come to power than they could ever make off their news channels. Therefore, they have turned the news channels into advertising departments for the Republican Party. Think of the way they covered Clinton and Gore, while they were in power. Look at what they are doing to Hillary Clinton now. Their goal is to hype the bad about Dems and the "good" about Repubs until someone pulls the plug. The USSR had state-run Pravda, we have money-driven Corporate Media. Same thing, just different taskmasters.

And yes, there are honest reporters who want to report the news, and who now and then are even allowed to, as we saw during Katrina, but when the rubber meets the road the big bosses who decide what gets aired and what just isn't important make sure the Repubs come out on top.

Watch what happens the next couple months. Oil prices will plummet. Israel will momentarily honor a cease-fire. Good news will be everywhere out of Iraq. The Dems will move further to the extreme left after having been seized by the extremists. Except Hillary, she will move further to the right, or else she will get labeled "slippery," or "slick," or "flip-flopper," like her husband. (she's the one the Repubs are afraid of, so the attacks have started already).

The media knows who pays its bills. They will keep their bosses happy. And their bosses are the same people who own the Republican Party. The only way we'll win is if people are so miserable they just can't believe the media anymore.

[ShockediSay]

20. Notice today no news show touched the hundreds of Lebanese civilian

killings (the worst kind of terrorism, imo)or even the much fewer Israeli civilian deaths, but all flocked to the the terrorist attack that did NOT occur or take any lives?

More disproportionate, excessive coverage imo.

kick & r this thread

[jobycom]

21. I've also noticed that no one outside of the area knows about New Orleans

and just how little rebuilding is being done. I tell people there are large sections of the city abandoned still, and they seem stunned. You'd think it would be front-page news, all the time, but no. That would reflect badly on Bush and the way things are being run.

[Richard Steele]

12. No, the media was PURCHASED by the GOP awhile back.

Bill Clinton had some of the highest approval ratings ever seen,
and the media SAVAGED him at every turn.
No wild accusation was too crazy or unsubstantiated to make
the news, as long as it made the Big Dog look bad.

No, the MSM is definitely not just kissing up to whoever is in
the White House. They have an obvious agenda, and 'reporting the truth'
isn't on the to-do list.
They are the propaganda wing of our nation's financial
elite, just as the GOP is the POLITICAL wing.

[blues90]

14. As far as I am concerned

All of the media and including all of the so called dems who allowed this to go on should be fired , loose every cent they made allowing lies to flow out and did nothing but help this crime continue and all should end up in some prison camp for the rest of their natural lives .

You or I would never get a second chance so screw all of them . Let them shovel horse waste for a dollar a day .

[Subdivisions]

15. NOPE

They will simply refocus their energies on bringing a Democratic President down rather than the cheerleading they've done for the past 6 years.

[seabeyond]

16. were they kind to clinton in the 90's. no hte media will not follow

they will just have more opportunity to go after democrats if they become the ones in power.

[Joe Bacon]

17. No, and this is what Democrats need to do to restore Media Integrity!

They lied for the Nazi Party when Clinton was in office. The cover up for Bush no matter what.

Democrats should support these proposals:

1) Unconditional Net Neutrality

2) Reinstatement of the Fairness Doctrine

3) Re-imposition of media ownership limitations. No company can own more than ONE media property in a market or a total of 5 media properties nationwide, PERIOD. Media properties defined as: Newspapers, Cable systems, Outdoor advertising, Broadcasting Networks, Web Pages, TV Staions, Radio Stations, Motion Picture Theaters, Motion picture studios, Entertainment Production companies.

4) Adoption of a "Three Strikes Rule", If a reporter lies three times, they are banned for life. Freedom of speech does NOT include the freedom to lie.

5) Make media properties liable for the programs they carry. If Rush lies on Radio Station X, Radio Station X should be fined accordingly for allowing Rush to spread his lies. If Cable system Y carries lies from Fox News, they should be held by the same rules. If TV Station Z carries lies from John Stossel, they should also be held accountable. Three Strikes, the media property should lose its license.

6) Impose a 20% tax on the gross earnings of ALL media companies. Use that tax to finance REAL NON-PARTISAN Public Broadcasting.

[AZBlue]

19. Is there any blue block of shareholders in any corporations?

Not much will change. Media's still going to be owned by the Reps. We need to buy it to make that happen. Or become major sharholders. Does any organization exist that has that goal - to make majority shareholders in any corporation(s) all Liberals?

If not, how would one do that????.......

[JohMunich99]

22. Depends on the kind of realtionship the Dems can build with the media

For a great example of building realtionships with the media, check out Robert Caro's book "Power Broker". It's a book Robert Moses, a man who had an insane amount of power in New York City and New York state from about 1930-1970. He built up a machine that handled the media so well its masterful to read about. The people who finally took him down were low level reporters (much like Woodward and Bernstein from the Washington Post and Watergate) who weren't receving the same kind of 'treatment' that the other main press reporters were, hadn't seen Moses in his better days, and were hungry (again like Woodward and Bernstein).

I think Bush has built up a similiar realtionship with the media. He and his people know how to work it.

If the Dems can start working the media better and get some things done, then yeah, the media might start leaning Dem.

[ConsAreLiars]

23. "The media" only follow those who own them.

If Corporate Amerika decides that basking Clinton when Dems have the presidency, they will do that. If they decide that Chimpy and the PNACers are useless scammers whose promises of expanding corporate power were not fuilfilled, they will trash them. They are automatons which only seek greater power and control, and they will fill their media channels with whatever serves their bottom lines.

[cyclezealot]

25. The media is a special interest

Look at the fact, our international media rarely invests in international news desks. Good reporting is too expensive. They cut costs significantly there. They are not interested in the news. Most news is generated by international news wires. Advertising is their only interest.
They are a conglomerate owned by special interests, their goal is to control media outlets so they can eliminate competition. Same old American story of big fish eating out the small fish.
So will they treat the Democrats fairly. Reason they are owned by likes of Rudolph Murdock, big money in tv ads or cable ownership, etc. NBC is owned by those who who make our defense toys.
They will respect the Democrats only so far as Democrats respect monopolies.

[zbdent]

26. If the Dems regain control, you can bet your ass that the corporate media

will definitely attack everything that the Dems do ...

Each and every soldier killed in Iraq will count as the Dems' failure to contain terrorism ... where W's hands were kept clean by the boot-licking media ...

Repukes try to tie every terrorist attack across the world to Clinton during his 8 years in office as him being "soft on national security" ... but nobody bothers to tie any attack to Bush ...