Stop calling the media liberal. Those in the media who deny they are liberal, are correct - they are not liberal. I'd actually respect them more if they were. But I can tell you what they are.
They are Democrats. They are an extension of the Democrat party. Not officially but willingly.
The media is not liberal, nor can you say they represent any other political ideology. To link a person to a specific political ideology you need to define the beliefs of that ideology and then demonstrate the person almost uniformly follows that ideology. The media generally does not meet this test.
Yes the media generally supports more government, a general definition of a liberal. But their position is not consistent. To paraphrase John Kerry, they are for more government until they are against more government. On the other hand, the position the media uniformly follows is whatever position the Democrat Party takes. Let's get specific.
Did President Clinton get excoriated by the media for passing Welfare Reform, for passing tougher laws on Crime, and for using the surplus tax revenues to pay down the deficit? Hardly.
Contrast the media reaction to the positions of the Obama Administration (and prior to that the Clinton Administration) on illegal immigration - opposing people crossing the border illegally, trying to prevent it with various means, condemning it in speeches, separating families and putting kids in cages (that was solely the Obama Administration) - versus the media reaction to what the Trump Administration is doing, which is basically the same without the cages.
The clear driver of the media opinion is what the Democrat Party thinks. In the former case, the Party was generally supportive. In the latter case, the Party is rabidly critical. And the media reflected the Party's positions.
Consider the media's position on government surveillance of American citizens. When increased security measures were adopted during the Bush Administration, the media was somewhat opposed because the Democrat party was somewhat opposed. The events of 9/11 prevented the Democrats from taking too strong a position. When Edward Snowden released information about US surveillance during the Obama Administration, the media expressed unhappiness but not too strongly because it was the Obama Administration in office at the time, some media even suggested Snowden be charged with Treason.
However, when members of the Trump Campaign are spied upon, and now we find out wrongly spied upon because requests for warrants to conduct the surveillance were falsified by the FBI, the media is perfectly okay with that because the Democrats are okay with that. True liberals should be outraged at the abuse of the constitutional protections of American Citizens. If the people being investigated were murderers, the ACLU would be petitioning for everyone indicted to be released claiming the entire investigation was poisoned and the media would be sympathetic. But it's Trump and the Democrats are okay with it, so the Media (and the ACLU) are okay with it.
The latest evidence of the media's role as an extension of the Democrat party is the impeachment of President Trump.
The media was calling for Donald Trump's removal from office before he took office. We are at month 36 and counting of the media calling for Donald Trump to be impeached or otherwise removed (remember the calls for Vice President Pence or members of the Cabinet to declare the President incompetent and remove him?).*
Then there is the coverage of the impeachment itself. The title of the article cited below says it all - "Evening News Spin: 100% Negative on Trump Defense, 95% Positive Dems."**
So stop calling the media liberal. They aren't. They are partisan Democrats, representing whatever position the Democrat party favors at that moment. I'd have a lot more respect for the media if they were truly liberal.
* https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/bill-dagostino/2019/09/24/medias-35-straight-months-impeachment-obsession-predate-trump
** https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2020/01/29/evening-news-spin-100-negative-trump-defense-95-positive-dems
They are Democrats. They are an extension of the Democrat party. Not officially but willingly.
The media is not liberal, nor can you say they represent any other political ideology. To link a person to a specific political ideology you need to define the beliefs of that ideology and then demonstrate the person almost uniformly follows that ideology. The media generally does not meet this test.
Yes the media generally supports more government, a general definition of a liberal. But their position is not consistent. To paraphrase John Kerry, they are for more government until they are against more government. On the other hand, the position the media uniformly follows is whatever position the Democrat Party takes. Let's get specific.
Did President Clinton get excoriated by the media for passing Welfare Reform, for passing tougher laws on Crime, and for using the surplus tax revenues to pay down the deficit? Hardly.
Contrast the media reaction to the positions of the Obama Administration (and prior to that the Clinton Administration) on illegal immigration - opposing people crossing the border illegally, trying to prevent it with various means, condemning it in speeches, separating families and putting kids in cages (that was solely the Obama Administration) - versus the media reaction to what the Trump Administration is doing, which is basically the same without the cages.
The clear driver of the media opinion is what the Democrat Party thinks. In the former case, the Party was generally supportive. In the latter case, the Party is rabidly critical. And the media reflected the Party's positions.
Consider the media's position on government surveillance of American citizens. When increased security measures were adopted during the Bush Administration, the media was somewhat opposed because the Democrat party was somewhat opposed. The events of 9/11 prevented the Democrats from taking too strong a position. When Edward Snowden released information about US surveillance during the Obama Administration, the media expressed unhappiness but not too strongly because it was the Obama Administration in office at the time, some media even suggested Snowden be charged with Treason.
However, when members of the Trump Campaign are spied upon, and now we find out wrongly spied upon because requests for warrants to conduct the surveillance were falsified by the FBI, the media is perfectly okay with that because the Democrats are okay with that. True liberals should be outraged at the abuse of the constitutional protections of American Citizens. If the people being investigated were murderers, the ACLU would be petitioning for everyone indicted to be released claiming the entire investigation was poisoned and the media would be sympathetic. But it's Trump and the Democrats are okay with it, so the Media (and the ACLU) are okay with it.
The latest evidence of the media's role as an extension of the Democrat party is the impeachment of President Trump.
The media was calling for Donald Trump's removal from office before he took office. We are at month 36 and counting of the media calling for Donald Trump to be impeached or otherwise removed (remember the calls for Vice President Pence or members of the Cabinet to declare the President incompetent and remove him?).*
Then there is the coverage of the impeachment itself. The title of the article cited below says it all - "Evening News Spin: 100% Negative on Trump Defense, 95% Positive Dems."**
So stop calling the media liberal. They aren't. They are partisan Democrats, representing whatever position the Democrat party favors at that moment. I'd have a lot more respect for the media if they were truly liberal.
* https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/bill-dagostino/2019/09/24/medias-35-straight-months-impeachment-obsession-predate-trump
** https://www.newsbusters.org/blogs/nb/nicholas-fondacaro/2020/01/29/evening-news-spin-100-negative-trump-defense-95-positive-dems
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