Friends And Allies Of Rome, Or Who Kicked The MSM's Butt
If ever there was a reminder of why bloggers are taking the Internet by storm, and have the power to be "movers and shakers," this interview is the key. Generalissimo Duane will have the transcript up (hopefully soon), and I will let our readers decide this themselves. I listened to this interview, and it shows precisely what Hugh Hewitt posts on his site:
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times columnist and journalist, and the thousands of MSM "journalists" like him. Agenda-driven partisans afraid to reveal their biases, even though these are obvious to anyone with eyes and ears, quick to hurl slanders and accusations, even quicker to take offense. Incapable of moral judgment, and unwilling to do much other than posture. Obstinate in admitting error, and prone to many of them as a result.
http://www.radioblogger.com/ (Just scroll until you hit this interview. Trust me, this isn't one to miss. Read It All.)
Mr. Hiltzik's answers were less trhan desired. He was anything but forthcoming, even from Hugh's prompting that it was OK to come out of his shell.
Needless to say, he exhibited the same things that Hugh cites above. He refused to address any sort of bias in the media towards ANYTHING. Not candidates, not stances, not journalistic malfeasance, nothing. But they do have an apparent bias. This bias was evident as this interview went on. Simple questions, like who did Mr. Hiltzik vote for? What were his opinions on certain people, like Stalin and Hitler? Who did he determine to be "more evil?" These sound like leading questions to some.
I beg to differ. To determine the footing one has with another, the primary focus should be with the ideology they subscribe to. Now, to Mr. Hiltzik's credit, he deemed that people like Stalin and Hitler were evil. But he was allowed to spin and justify someone like Mao. Again, I can see his viewpoint, but he resides in America, and the ideology that Mao subscribed to was a bloody ideology not unlike that of Josef Stalin, and Vladimir Lenin. From the communists point-of-view, he was a hero and a patriot; from my point-of-view all three were ruthless murderers.
But this goes to bias of the MSM. Look at the people they have "protected." The list is long and plentiful. "Howling Mad" Howard Dean, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Robert Byrd, Dan Rather, Eason Jordan, Joe Wilson, Michael Moore, Jayson Blair, etc. People like Peter Arnett and Dan Rather have "protected" Saddam Hussein. Barbara Demick, South Korean Bureau Director for the LA Times wrote a "glowing" piece about North Korea. The media covered up the apparent lies Giuliani Sgrena in Iraq, Yasser Arafat proclaiming a desire for peace in Israel, and China's recent episode that cost almost thirty people their lives in Dongzhou Town.
They write and report lies, like the Newsweek "flushed Koran" story, the Bush Texas Air National Guard memos, and the accusations that Karl Rove outed a non-covert CIA analyst. They allow politicians to avoid hard questions regarding their stances on issues, whether it is John Kerry on the campaign trail, or Joe Biden calling for a filibuster on President Bush's judicial nominees.
Yet, when people look to the bloggers, they don't get the "truth," per se. They get the story, and at times--like on our site here--you get some commentary to go with it. Everyone coming to the Asylum knows exactly where we stand in the realm of political ideologies. We are conservative. Some would claim we are extreme; where that comes from none of us can figure out. We give our opinions in a sound, reasoned way. So do many other bloggers. And the blogosphere has it's fair share of heavy hitters.
Michelle Malkin is a syndicated columnist, and perhaps one of the best people to comment on things regarding border issues. Captain Ed Morrissey runs Captain's Quarters, and not only provides solid political analysis on American affairs, but those from abroad and those to our north; he did break one of the biggest stories to rock the Canadian government. Charles Johnson and Victor Davis Hanson are superb when it comes to international analysis and news. Lileks, Steyn, LaShawn Barber, The Anchoress, Blackfive, The guys at PowerLine and the Mudville Gazette, Michael Yon, The minds at Confirm Them and Confirmation Whoppers...The list goes on.
If you compared us to the MSM, everyone in the MSM would be out of a job except the lawyers; Old Man Scratch always has use for a blood-sucking lawyer.
Just kidding, but it's a sad reality. And I really wish Mr. Hiltzik would have realized that when he agreed to "blog" for the LA Times. This isn't an ordinary job. This is more than that, more than a hobby. For a blogger everything is about the reader. For the good bloggers out there (and we do consider ourselves such; we're just small fish in the pond) we present the story. We give you our thoughts. We let you decide. BUT we let you decide with as much of the facts as we can muster. If something can't be confirmed (and we learned this with the judicial nominees) then we don't run it. We can make a supposition, be we'd rather be right and accurate than look like idiots; our readers expect more, and we demand the same of ourselves.
The MSM doesn't do this anymore. Whether the mindset is to let veteran "journalists" slide on the facts, and not do the checks, or whether an editorial is blatantly biased, the media has a job to perform, and it's been a long time since they actually adhered to those ethics. Maybe the bloggers are here to remind them of that commitment, or maybe we're here to take the reins I don't know. I do know this: If things don't change the media's going to be left on the side of the road, out in the cold.
Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. If they don't, they're finished. Subscriptions to the top newspapers around the country are down. The LA Times is closing down a division, and the NY Times is cutting jobs. Advertising revenue for the NY Times is down by almost 15%. When money is hard to come by, something's obviously wrong. They refuse to accept it. America obviously has, and is showing it by "voting with their wallets." They're not supporting this garbage anymore.
They're embracing the alternative media more and more on a daily basis. They're tunring to talk radio. They're turning to the blogs. They're turning off CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the alphabet networks, and tuning into FOX News. We're showing the way, but they're so deep ina bias that blinds them that they're unable to recognize it. This just goes to prove another old adage.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make the flea-bitten thing drink.
The MSM is the flea-bitten old nag.
Publius II
Marcie, Sabrina, and I welcome Hugh Hewitt Readers linking here. TY very much for the kind comments.
If ever there was a reminder of why bloggers are taking the Internet by storm, and have the power to be "movers and shakers," this interview is the key. Generalissimo Duane will have the transcript up (hopefully soon), and I will let our readers decide this themselves. I listened to this interview, and it shows precisely what Hugh Hewitt posts on his site:
Michael Hiltzik, Los Angeles Times columnist and journalist, and the thousands of MSM "journalists" like him. Agenda-driven partisans afraid to reveal their biases, even though these are obvious to anyone with eyes and ears, quick to hurl slanders and accusations, even quicker to take offense. Incapable of moral judgment, and unwilling to do much other than posture. Obstinate in admitting error, and prone to many of them as a result.
http://www.radioblogger.com/ (Just scroll until you hit this interview. Trust me, this isn't one to miss. Read It All.)
Mr. Hiltzik's answers were less trhan desired. He was anything but forthcoming, even from Hugh's prompting that it was OK to come out of his shell.
Needless to say, he exhibited the same things that Hugh cites above. He refused to address any sort of bias in the media towards ANYTHING. Not candidates, not stances, not journalistic malfeasance, nothing. But they do have an apparent bias. This bias was evident as this interview went on. Simple questions, like who did Mr. Hiltzik vote for? What were his opinions on certain people, like Stalin and Hitler? Who did he determine to be "more evil?" These sound like leading questions to some.
I beg to differ. To determine the footing one has with another, the primary focus should be with the ideology they subscribe to. Now, to Mr. Hiltzik's credit, he deemed that people like Stalin and Hitler were evil. But he was allowed to spin and justify someone like Mao. Again, I can see his viewpoint, but he resides in America, and the ideology that Mao subscribed to was a bloody ideology not unlike that of Josef Stalin, and Vladimir Lenin. From the communists point-of-view, he was a hero and a patriot; from my point-of-view all three were ruthless murderers.
But this goes to bias of the MSM. Look at the people they have "protected." The list is long and plentiful. "Howling Mad" Howard Dean, John Kerry, Ted Kennedy, Hillary and Bill Clinton, Robert Byrd, Dan Rather, Eason Jordan, Joe Wilson, Michael Moore, Jayson Blair, etc. People like Peter Arnett and Dan Rather have "protected" Saddam Hussein. Barbara Demick, South Korean Bureau Director for the LA Times wrote a "glowing" piece about North Korea. The media covered up the apparent lies Giuliani Sgrena in Iraq, Yasser Arafat proclaiming a desire for peace in Israel, and China's recent episode that cost almost thirty people their lives in Dongzhou Town.
They write and report lies, like the Newsweek "flushed Koran" story, the Bush Texas Air National Guard memos, and the accusations that Karl Rove outed a non-covert CIA analyst. They allow politicians to avoid hard questions regarding their stances on issues, whether it is John Kerry on the campaign trail, or Joe Biden calling for a filibuster on President Bush's judicial nominees.
Yet, when people look to the bloggers, they don't get the "truth," per se. They get the story, and at times--like on our site here--you get some commentary to go with it. Everyone coming to the Asylum knows exactly where we stand in the realm of political ideologies. We are conservative. Some would claim we are extreme; where that comes from none of us can figure out. We give our opinions in a sound, reasoned way. So do many other bloggers. And the blogosphere has it's fair share of heavy hitters.
Michelle Malkin is a syndicated columnist, and perhaps one of the best people to comment on things regarding border issues. Captain Ed Morrissey runs Captain's Quarters, and not only provides solid political analysis on American affairs, but those from abroad and those to our north; he did break one of the biggest stories to rock the Canadian government. Charles Johnson and Victor Davis Hanson are superb when it comes to international analysis and news. Lileks, Steyn, LaShawn Barber, The Anchoress, Blackfive, The guys at PowerLine and the Mudville Gazette, Michael Yon, The minds at Confirm Them and Confirmation Whoppers...The list goes on.
If you compared us to the MSM, everyone in the MSM would be out of a job except the lawyers; Old Man Scratch always has use for a blood-sucking lawyer.
Just kidding, but it's a sad reality. And I really wish Mr. Hiltzik would have realized that when he agreed to "blog" for the LA Times. This isn't an ordinary job. This is more than that, more than a hobby. For a blogger everything is about the reader. For the good bloggers out there (and we do consider ourselves such; we're just small fish in the pond) we present the story. We give you our thoughts. We let you decide. BUT we let you decide with as much of the facts as we can muster. If something can't be confirmed (and we learned this with the judicial nominees) then we don't run it. We can make a supposition, be we'd rather be right and accurate than look like idiots; our readers expect more, and we demand the same of ourselves.
The MSM doesn't do this anymore. Whether the mindset is to let veteran "journalists" slide on the facts, and not do the checks, or whether an editorial is blatantly biased, the media has a job to perform, and it's been a long time since they actually adhered to those ethics. Maybe the bloggers are here to remind them of that commitment, or maybe we're here to take the reins I don't know. I do know this: If things don't change the media's going to be left on the side of the road, out in the cold.
Adapt. Improvise. Overcome. If they don't, they're finished. Subscriptions to the top newspapers around the country are down. The LA Times is closing down a division, and the NY Times is cutting jobs. Advertising revenue for the NY Times is down by almost 15%. When money is hard to come by, something's obviously wrong. They refuse to accept it. America obviously has, and is showing it by "voting with their wallets." They're not supporting this garbage anymore.
They're embracing the alternative media more and more on a daily basis. They're tunring to talk radio. They're turning to the blogs. They're turning off CNN, MSNBC, and the rest of the alphabet networks, and tuning into FOX News. We're showing the way, but they're so deep ina bias that blinds them that they're unable to recognize it. This just goes to prove another old adage.
You can lead a horse to water, but you can't make the flea-bitten thing drink.
The MSM is the flea-bitten old nag.
Publius II
Marcie, Sabrina, and I welcome Hugh Hewitt Readers linking here. TY very much for the kind comments.
posted by Syd And Vaughn | 1:26 AM
2 Comments:
Quite right, of course. The MSM does not treat the intellects of its audience with respect. They believe they are in the job of telling us what to believe about who, what, when, and where. Cute Blogger name, by the way. I have a nagging suspicion that conservatives are over-represented among Alias fans.
I actually had an exchange with Hiltzik on my blog earlier this year (it even prompted an "Instalanche" after Glenn Reynold linked to me. Hiltzik's views are pretty much what one would expect from a SMS type.
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