Topic: Media
The Ron Paul/Fox News Misinformation Debacle Has Opened A Can Of Worms Full Of Creepy Crawly Things. Ron Paul inadvertantly shines his light, and things are really creepy.by Scott from Oregon
(Libertarian)
Monday, December 31, 2007
I still am not sure who left out what and when and if I am ever gonna find out about the Ron Paul/Fox News misinformation debacle. News comes at us fast, these days, and I am a simple man. I try to read it and think about it and digest it and make it all fit into what I know about the world. I too thought Ron Paul was left out of a Fox News forum- because of the news- and the news of the snubbing made perfect sense. And then it turns out he wasn’t snubbed. And then he was. And then it was not yet true, as the deciders hadn’t decided and the planners were still planning. And then it sort of was true.
My head hurts, and I think I want a beer.
The obvious lessons to be learned here are "don’t jump to conclusions" and "a leopard rarely changes its spots".
People assumed immediately that the information was correct, and jumped the gun in some respects. The reason they jumped the gun was because Fox News had a reputation built up already as an entity that demonstrated bias. The Fox already had the spots, so to speak, so the story seemed exceptionally credible.
So let’s not jump to any more conclusions, folks. And while we are at it, let’s acknowledge that Fox News has spots.
Which brings up lots of creepy crawly stuff that we may as well look at while we’ve got the rock lifted up.
Fox News has been heralded by the Conservatives among us, as the answer to the other "Liberal" media outlets. The Liberal media has had its way for too long, and now Fox is here to balance that out. Those not on board with the Conservative doctrine, especially the Neoconservative doctrine, will notice immediately the supreme bias displayed by Fox news. Those who watch and herald Fox News, will no doubt claim a lesser bias, and proclaim some form of indignant righteousness when the bias is too apparent to dismiss. "They are all doing it, so it is fine by me."
This is nothing apparently new, and the antithesis is also true. Liberal "news" viewers have long tolerated the decidedly anti-neoconservative bias and have been quite likely to shrug it off and rationalize it.
And as the song should go-- "And along comes Ron Paul".
Like so many other institutionalized things here in America, the aging, slight-of-build Congressman from Texas is once again shining a bright light into a dark corner of ourselves (this time, though, I don’t think he is doing it on purpose). The cross-over appeal of the man’s ideas have produced a new ideological block, one that is not aligned in an either/or familiarity, but developing (or I should say reverting- as in reclaiming) almost perpendicular to the two existing political/"news" parties.
What this means is that the entertainment "news" agencies themselves are being exposed dramatically for what they truly are not, and that is impartial news providers.
Ron Paul, and his newly won over band of merry followers, have no place in this established way of doing things. They don’t fit in. The whole notion of the "Revolution" doesn’t fit in. And here is where it gets creepy.
This new movement was once part of nothing. Well actually, it was probably and most notably a silent part of an old "news"/politics paradigm. The vast majority of those attracted to Ron Paul probably had some previous political bias already (forgiving the sins of youth, here). What that means, is that this new indignation of the unfairness of the entertainment "news" outlets, is as new as their familiarity with Ron Paul. Suddenly, the bias that has always glaringly existed is glaringly apparent. The Liberal Ron Paul followers who may have once ignored some of MSNBC’s transgressions toward a neoconservative outlook but seethed at Fox News, and the Conservative new Ron Paul supporters who did the opposite, are both being equally shown the folly of their previous incarnations.
Media bias is a fact of life, as medias are made up of human beings. But blatant and irresponsible bias has become a hallmark of American television entertainment "news" broadcasting and digestion.
So as we hold our collective Ron Paulian breaths and await an answer to "Will he or won’t he?" I suggest we take a look at what we have been tolerating all along.
Ron Paul is chattering over a rocky road, because we as a tacit and complacent consumer of biased "news", have been paving the way.
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2007 Scott from Oregon, all rights reserved.
Published: Monday, December 31, 2007
Last modified: Monday, December 31, 2007
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I called the NH GOP offices and expressed dismay at Pauls exclusion, and offered that if they didn't think 20+ million in fundraising and the biggest grassroots organization didn't make him a front runner, perhaps I needed to convince all my democrat friends to cross party lines in the NH primary to vote for Paul...
(a) I was outraged, but bit my editorial tongue and didn't rip off a thousand emails to everwhere. Because I have noticed recently a BIG increase in "disinformation agents" amongst us in the past week or so.
LRC posted a few things and also backed off and they only posted one, then the next actual "real-live" press release from the official campaign. Imagine that, waiting for information from the horses mouth.
A novel idea.
(b) Yea, what should anyone really expect from FOX or any other statist media? I shudder to think of the things that may actually be in their minds, but are illegal.
Unless that is made up, I will have to assume that they are intentionally only allowing war mongerers to come to their forum in New Hampshire and will air it within days of the NH primary.
As usual, in an attempt to deflect criticism Fox says that they will be holding this AFTER the Iowa caucus, but if they air it on Jan. 6 in NH on a NH station then it will be BEFORE the NH primary.
But can someone confirm that this news story is real? I don't know what to believe.
Good points. This is more or less what Jon Stuart said when he confronted Crossfire earlier this year. No real news or debate going on. Just punditry and polemic. Bad for America
As I wrote at DailyPaul.com, this is a small thing. Yes, it's nasty and unnecessary but one must remember that Rupert Murdoch and the administration are thick as thieves. My gut tells me a phone call was made about "upstart" Paul from someone at the White House - either Rice or Rove - to Murdoch or Ailes. But this too shall pass, and Paul's momentum will continue to grow. It is a long way to September and the Republican National Convention. To get steamed up now because of Fox is to waste time and energy. RP is getting a great deal of sympathy, support and many are dumping Fox stock. What is most heartening is that no matter what the media does, there is "blowback." Oh, before the New Year, I encourage you to kick into Ron Paul's campaign. There is an effort to reach $20 million by midnight, and we are only a million short. Anyhow, stay calm, stay focused, and we will be just fine.
Thank you for the humorous and absolutely correct observations. When the light shines, as Rush Limbaugh likes to joke, the rats run for cover. We're finding out that there are lots of self-serving rats on both sides of the political aisle. The British Crown ignored, ridiculed, and smeared the colonists as they brought their grievances about oppression to bear. Also, there were the "Torries", a quarter to a third of the colonists who chose to be passive about the growing unrest or even to actively support continuation of the English rule status quo. I see a lot in common in much of the major broadcast media, and in this instance Fox News, with the Torries. In fact, there are a lot of similarities in our current debate about liberty versus big government with the conditions of 230 years ago.
My experience, which comes from having worked with the media during single issue campaigns; ones that promise change to a political landscape, is reporters and columnists on the whole, hate change--it runs head on into their temperments.
More often than not, such a disturbance promises to destroy the symbiotic system which keeps their cozy relationships with their political guy/gal, intact. They long for the fax machines to continue whirring with fresh news releases, which of course, make good news copy. Fox News is no different.
A commentor says his gut tells him that Fox acted in response to a call from the White House. Reason tells me that things are the other way around, if that's creepy enough for you. The White House has no interest in seeing Hillary President. Fox, on the other hand, has a clear bias in favor candidates who have no moral or intellectual spine to resist dictations from their higher power, i.e. Fox. Fox has the only thing the establishment candidates want- photo ops. Rudi, for example, will cheerfully sink the Republican Party in exchange for a photo op.
No one in the neo con - liberal spectrum gets power from the consent of an informed public. The power comes from a mis informed public. The misinformer is the king maker and the destroyer of innocent men and their reputations- the destroyer of nations and of liberal democracy. Fox keeps the public obsessed with boogie men like Al Qaida. But the boys at Al Qaida are two bit street hoods compared to a thug like Rupert Murdock. The FCC commisioners who gave Murdock 15 broadcasting licenses in the Fox - Chris-craft merger stopped barely short of fallating Mr. Murdock in the memorandum order they released on 7-5-2001. The current election, brought to you by Fox News is a charade. Behind the scenes, power is transfered to a handful of amoral thugs. This is not media bias. This is fascism- the evil that dare not speak its name.
What ever happens to Ron Paul's candidacy, the curtain has been drawn back and the little cheats who run the world of scare-mongering and war-mongering and extortion and counterfeiting have been seen and comprehended by a very large segment of the population. That can't be undone. We have years of revolution before us. It does not matter what happens this election cycle. The governmnet-licensed news media and government itself are no longer respected or believed. That is very good and very important news.
It's official; Ron Paul will not be invited to debate or forum or whatever FOX is running.
ABC, Fox News cutting low-polling presidential candidates out of debates The Associated Press Published: December 31, 2007
ABC and Fox News Channel are narrowing the field of presidential candidates invited to debates this weekend just before the New Hampshire primary, in Fox's case infuriating supporters of Republican Ron Paul.
The roster of participants for ABC's back-to-back, prime-time Republican and Democratic debates Saturday in New Hampshire will be determined after results of Thursday's Iowa caucus become clear.
Fox, meanwhile, has invited five GOP candidates to a forum with Chris Wallace scheduled for its mobile studio in New Hampshire on Sunday. Rudy Giuliani, Mike Huckabee, John McCain, Mitt Romney and Fred Thompson received invites, leaving Paul and Duncan Hunter on the sidelines.
The network said it had limited space in its studio — a souped-up bus — and that it invited candidates who had received double-digit support in recent polls.
Posted By: Youssif H. Shanshiry
Date: 2007-12-31 19:40:00
It seems to me that all TV networks received orders to supress the Ron Paul message. I observed that none of the ABC, NBC CBS networks even mentioned Ron Paul's name today.
As far as the debates or the forums organized by the GOP and the various networks for their Presidential candidates, I think it is a shame that the Republican Party Bosses allows the charade of excluding Ron Paul or any other candidate from these forums/debates.
Indeed, any candidate who takes part in this attempt to control the American people’s right to freely elect their President betrays their Freedom of choice and reveals their naked attempt to channel the vote outcome in favor of their preferred pro war candidates.
Candidates who accepts to participate if Ron Paul or any other andidate is excluded will prove themselves selfish, unprincipled, opportunistic, undemocratic, unAmerican and unworthy of our trust.
Posted By: Richard Wicks
Date: 2007-12-31 22:01:16
"The governmnet-licensed news media and government itself are no longer respected or believed. That is very good and very important news."
Exactly.
The real battle here is exposing what the media really is to a disbelieving and very well conditioned American public.
It's propaganda.
It's our "news" that has destroyed our Republic. We could never have gotten here with an honest news that gave the public what they wanted - information. Who really cares that Britney Spear's sister is pregnant? Nobody.
Why is the Internet so popular? People are desperately hungry for real information about what is going on. The battle will soon come here, with government regulations to "protect" us from being able to hear what other Americans say and think.
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2007 Scott from Oregon, all rights reserved.