My Vote For McCain and Against Media Bias

>Back when Bill Clinton was President, talk radio was regularly flogged by left wing pundits who could never get a talk show to take off. The low point was after the Oklahoma City bombing , when Bill Clinton suggested that talk radio may have incited the perpetrators.
This election, Democrats are already salivating at the prospect of a “Fairness Doctrine” to solve all of their problems. People with their eyes open see a lot of media bias, but not in talk radio. If an article is clearly labeled as “opinion”, then …

Back when Bill Clinton was President, talk radio was regularly flogged by left wing pundits who could never get a talk show to take off. The low point was after the Oklahoma City bombing , when Bill Clinton suggested that talk radio may have incited the perpetrators.

This election, Democrats are already salivating at the prospect of a “Fairness Doctrine” to solve all of their problems. People with their eyes open see a lot of media bias, but not in talk radio. If an article is clearly labeled as “opinion”, then you have the choice of accepting it or getting an opposong piece to counterbalance it. If it is labeled as “news” then many might think that they are collecting facts and making educated choices when they are really reading stealth editorials.

This election, the bias for Obama in mislabeled news coverage was steady and blatant. Coverage seemed especially geared towards demoralising McCain voters and infusing Obama supporters with enthusiasm. Coverage of the financial crisis was not geared towards analysing the problems but in assigning blame as quickly as possible in an election year. At times the coverage almost seemed calculated to spread panic. It was morally irresponsible and clouded public understanding of complex problems.

Equally irresponsible was speculation about riots if Obama does not win. Comments from the chatterati like Erica Jong about “blood in the streets” got widespread publicity.

Additionally, speculation about “racist” voters focused exclusively on white voters and never on African Americans. Millions of white Americans did and will entrust their votes to an African American. The fundamental arguments about conflicting political philosophies were of far greater interest. These issues got sound bite treatment at best in the mainstream media.

I see which candidate is being pushed by the major networks and newspapers. They spiked substantive stories like Obama’s rise through the ranks of Chicago politics and his early influences. Instead of substantive coverage we get in depth news about Sarah Palin’s wardrobe. We are told that she lacks gravitas without being told why.

I live in New York. I would be greatly surprised if McCain won New York’s electoral votes. But the popular vote still has a moral significance. On a psychological level it still matters.

What is even more important to me is to not reward the biased media by staying home and giving them a victory, or to accept their biased and dishonest judgement.

Years ago, the morning after my windows were smashed in the Crown Heights riots, I picked up a copy of the Daily News which suggested we took into the root causes of the riots. It did not talk about the moral wrong of targeting the innocent with violence. I have not bought more than ten copies of that paper since that day in August 1991.

I will similarly long remember those who abused their positions as journalists to skew election coverage. I will note and boycott them, finding a way to read what I must of their coverage without benefiting them financially.

There have been brave journalists who risked their lives comforting the afflicted and afflicting the comfortable. Some investigated gangsters and some fought political corruption. Such individuals deserve our undying respect. But there are far too many who are not worthy to be called journalists or even reporters. It is these individuals that reap the seeds of contempt that they have sown across the election season. I will be voting today for McCain and against pervasive dishonesty in the news. I hope that many will join me.