Not a lot gets done (or at least heard of) in politics without the media these days. The old times of standing on a soap box and proclaiming your opinion are long gone. You can still do that, but few if any will take the time to listen to some kook standing on a soapbox, talking to himself. Especially when they could go home and sit in front of the stupid box (the TV) to get there information or they would rather zone out with the master vacuum of time the computer and its trusty little side kick the Internet. Getting news these days really depends on what you want to hear too and how you want to hear it.
From this you end up with designer news networks that cater to your point of view before the news even happens. The most obvious example of this to me is Fox News. It is an obvious right wing conservative news network to anybody who watches it and is objective and without bias. Yet they market it as a "No-Spin" form of news, implying that their news is unbiased. Unfortunately for the brighter folks out there, some people actually buy that propaganda as truth and swear by it (gag me). That’s not to say other media outlets are free from this sort of practice. It's just more clearly defined in the case of Fox News. This illustrates the way government and private interests market their politics.
The whole myth about a "liberal media" was created by conservatives and marketed through friendly channels (Fox News) to legitimize their far right wing agendas over the last decade. Even though the vast majority of the country is decidedly moderate, they believed in this nonsense for so long. Why you ask? It’s ridiculously simple. Why do you drink Coke and eat Pringles? It’s all about the marketing. They market their opinions to the audience. If those that want to change your opinion have enough money, are connected with the “right” media networks, and have an agenda; they can change your mind. That’s why it costs millions and billions of dollars to become the President or a Senator in this country. You have to market what you are about on TV, radio, and print media or nobody will vote for you. This is the sort of propaganda marketing we deal with in this supposedly free country. It may be obvious to some and puzzling to others. Either way, that’s what it all boils down too.
The exploding popularity of blogs on the Internet has challenged the traditional media outlets and disrupted the regular flow of government propaganda. News stations and radio are scrambling to keep up with the rapid exchange of news and events that happens on the World Wide Web. Satellite radio has carved nice niche in the scheme of things for the time being, but the power of corporate fueled news is beginning to weaken. What will happen remains to be seen as we continue to watch things play out. I can only hope that accountability and responsibility for Politics in the media will win out.
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