The mysterious, yet ubiquitous term 'MSM' is...

[Writer]

[Dogmudgeon]

1. Just like the DLC

Whose agenda I strongly take issue with. But given the chic paranoia I see here, I have to wonder who is the most oppressive.

--d!

[Writer]

3. There's a term that's floated around some scholarly journals called "cynical chic."

A means for some people to deal with the sensation that they have little control over the institutions affecting their lives.

[defendandprotect]

5. Corporate control of Democratic party and DLC is ....

not in the open here -- but it exists!!

[RandomThoughts]

2. This is an interesting comment.

a way of stereotyping an entire industry of individuals because they won't do what I want them to do.


People think of things as groups, but it usually is not saying they are all the same, but some way of averaging behavior.


For instance, there are many people in MSM that do real reporting. And most seem to be good people, sure some are faking it making disingenuous arguments based on the concept that people are stupid. But many take a certain amount of satisfaction in the title journalist, and want to do that job.


When people generalize about MSM, they are mostly finding common things in many of the output from the mainstream media. Those commonalities include some narrative, and some things they will not talk about.

If journalist are allowed to speak what they think, and also if there is not a hiring that only tries to keep one group of people, with one set of ideas in front of the camera, then you should get diverse ideas.


But there is another way to get those effects, more competitions in the market place. With more smaller news outlets, and less consolidation, it is much harder for those connections of ideology to run a single meme as if it is real.


For instance, the run up to the Iraq war, had all the journalist tapped by the same ideological group to give the same message even if not true. If they were more independent and transparent, then one central source of ideology would not control the entire MSM, as it did in the run up to war in Iraq.

Much of that is removal of fear of job loss for being honest and doing good journalism, some of it is breaking the connections between backroom monopolies that like to form opinions to be put on people.


Basically the more units, the more competition, and the harder it is to corral them into an authoritative hierarchy, even if that hierarchy is an ideological pressure.




But the most important thing about that quote is this response.

If someone only did what I wanted them to do, they would not be doing what I want them to do. Honestly they should do what they think and feel is best, not what some other person wants them to do because some other person thinks it is better.


Here is what I think, Any person can be tricked or make mistakes, and if a single person is making the decisions for many people, it is much easier to trick or deceive a society. If many people think and feel, then for that society to be deceived or tricked, many people have to be gotten to. People thinking, and feeling. And thinking and feeling about why they think and feel as they do, is a safe guard for society.

That does not mean you can't get ideas and learn from people, just that you have to think about what they might say, and see if it fits what you think and feel. If it doesn't then you don't just follow, if it does then you do with your own responsibility, not thinking that you can say you were just following some order. And if you are not sure, you think and discuss the issue, till you find where you think it is best to stand.

There does have to be leaders and followers, but the best leaders are followed because they are also thought to be right, not for blind loyalty, and the best followers, agree with the leaders after they have thought about what the leader said and only if they agree with how it feels.

[defendandprotect]

4. I'm not getting the purpose of this poll...however "MSM" was a term

Nixon used, I believe -- and he was VERY concerned with creating a media

which would work for the right wing -- i.e., right wing propaganda.

There is nothing "main stream" about our media -- it's corporate owned and

heavily influenced by Pentagon and CIA.

As far as MSNBC is concerned, I'm equally puzzled.

The only angle I can figure on it when they moved to the left was that GE is

MIC and they know who butters their bread and I think they understood there was

going to be a huge Democratic vote?

That's as far as I can figure --

But Comcast is trying to buy NBC -- which I would very much be against --

in fact, these big companies should be broken up now!

And FEC rules changed.

Comcast, btw, makes more than $500 million a year on internet pornography!

[Echo In Light]

6. Given how the options are worded I suspect the OP feels the need to defend mainstream 'news'

... while jabbing at those who wisely don't lend the corporate 'news' any substantive sense of legitimacy

[Robb]

7. Attack the messenger, check. On to Godwin! nt

[HughBeaumont]

8. Yep.

Based on past posts - one of those "We can't use the media as an excuse/crutch; there's too much made of speculated bias" people.

Guess someone doesn't watch Faux, CNBC, CNN or ABC much.

[defendandprotect]

12. You're kidding . . .

Knew it was oddly worded and that thought passed my mind, but someone

suggesting we have anything but a right wing corporate press would be too inane!

In fact, my best and often recommendation is that people put the TV in the closet!!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

9. The MSM is a capitalist enterprise Their object is to make money.

It isn't to enlighten or educate or be honest brokers of information.

It's to sell products.

[mitchum]

10. I prefer the term "Literate Lackeys"

[mitchum]

11. "What is a push poll, Alex?"

[Arkana]

13. Let's be honest.

The mainstream media IS a problem, and there is an inherent conservative bias in the vast majority of it. It's one thing to complain about a shadowy, nebulous organization like the DLC which supposedly controls the entire Democratic Party (yet somehow didn't even have enough money to hold their convention last time out), but it's not stupid to blame the media when the media IS to blame for a lot of what happens.