Hey, Let's Bash the Media! It's Fun, and Distracting!

The focus of my career for the past twenty years has been either as a media person (newspaper reporter), or someone who interfaces with the media daily. As such, I have the opportunity to read many papers every day, large and small. Yes, because it's 2008, I read most of them online, but they are papers I wouldn't otherwise be able to subscribe to. I love reading newspapers. I admire the people who write and edit them. They are, to me, a sacrosanct bunch.

And oh, so disrespected. Like lawyers, people hate reporters, until they need one to tell their story. Then they reach out to them, and suddenly love that good ol' First Amendment that lets regular people with a gripe convey that gripe to the general population, without fear of retribution, criminal or otherwise. Reporters strive to make sense of the world around us, and while they're not always successful, they do a pretty good job. Remember, these are folks who start from scratch each day. 

But this election, like the previous two presidential elections, have had an unusual focus -- candidates from both sides, and their cohorts, are really tearing into the media, making the people who cover them the problem. The leaders in this endeavor happen to be on the right, because the myth of the liberal media elite plays well in places where folks can't get ahold of the Washington Post or the New York Times. But added to that roster is now all three major news networks (with the exception of Fox, of course, for obvious reasons), and just the media in general, as an entity. 

This is certainly nothing new -- people complain about their small-town papers all the time when they see something in it they don't agree with. It's part and parcel of the system of news. And that's ok.

But it's far more serious when our leaders use media-bashing as the basis of their appeal to voters. Think about this: they're using the media to bash the media. The irony is fun, sure. But since it happens over and over and over, people begin to absorb this bashing as truth. Lots of Americans now think there is such a thing as a liberal media elite. And that's absolute nonsense. If there were such a thing, this liberal elite media would not have capitulated to a White House intent on going to war in Iraq. They would not have permitted "embedded" reporters to cover a war. They would not have agreed to not showing the grim and gruesome side to the conflict. They would not have given the Bush Administration such a free ride, which ended after Hurricane Katrina exposed so obviously the results of incompetence, cronyism, and racism. 

No, the media is buffeted by winds of change, just like everyone else. And now there is a lot at stake, we have a very significant election at hand, and some interesting candidates to cover. The people of the press, and television, have decided to stake out some independence again, and they are asking questions. Now, it's not the media's fault if one of the candidates cannot answer softball questions. Believe me, if Sarah Palin was asked some "gotcha" questions, she would be engulfed in flames. Asking her for an example of Supreme Court decisions she disagrees with is the softest of softball questions. It's not intended to do anything but enlighten the populace as to her views about conservative issues, because she could very well be called upon to appoint a justice or two in her lifetime. The fact that she can't come up with any is not the media's fault. There is no conspiracy to bring her down. Any more than there is a conspiracy to bring down Obama, or McCain. These folks live or die by the answers they give and the statements they make. It's the job they took on themselves. Don't blame the media for providing the stage from which they make their observations and give their speeches.

You want the media around, even though you may get angry with it. You need the media, if you want your democracy to be functioning. Otherwise, you'd best be prepared to show up at each and every public hearing at the local, county, state and federal level, so you know what's going on. 

At least then you could put the blame where it belongs -- on the shoulders of those who make decisions that affect you.