I don't need a poll or an analyst to tell you about the people who watch FOX News, believe the government's story about 9/11, or don't think elections are stolen. Some years back when the right wing took over our mainstream media and the last remaining leftist talk show host went off the air in San Diego, I did what any intelligent person living behind an iron curtain does: I bought a short wave radio. Then I bought a computer. And last year a friend in Germany set up a website where four of us, one in Boston, one in Canada, me, and him, post and discuss the news of the world. We usually have excellent knowledge of what is going on even if the media here misreports, slants, buries, or ignores it. Our Canadian user just posted the list of the top 25 underreported stories of 2005, and we'd devoted extensive space to almost every story on the list. People who still rely on the mainstream media for news are right-wing, ignorant, and/or have little knowledge of history. They don't want more than one side of any story. And they care more about sports, fashions, movie/tv celebrities, and cars, than about world events. They are the kind of people who go along to get along, even when what they're going along with are wars of aggression, torture prisons, illegal wiretapping, xenophobia, and other clear indications of a fascist regime. They're like the "good Germans" of WWII, and their expected claim afterwards that they didn't know what was going on will be partially true, but only because they don't want to know. Even sources like Air America Radio and blogs like Daily Kos, often discourage discussion of important topics. If you want the real news about something going on in the world right now, go to the Indy Media site for that area. There are Indy Media sites almost everywhere, and very few major cities or countries are without one. Each Indy Media site has links to all the others. Why get your news second- or third-hand, when you can get it from people on the scene? Lately I've started donating to and volunteering with my local Indy Media site. The media and government are just like anything else -- if you want it done right, you have to get in there and do it yourself. Paying someone else to do a job for you might or might not bring the same results. There is a reason I read and contribute to opednews. Rob Kall understands the problem and is part of the solution. That's my bottom-line criterion for a news source and if we truly want an informed electorate, it will have to be everyone's.

by Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 100 diaries, 1325 comments) on Thursday, May 11, 2006 at 10:41:42 AM

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Viewers of the drive by media think that the elections was stolen, wow I am really shocked, not!

by John wayne (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 29 comments) on Thursday, May 11, 2006 at 3:00:36 PM

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In that case why is a drive-by troll like yourself posting here?

by Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 100 diaries, 1325 comments) on Thursday, May 11, 2006 at 4:02:37 PM

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I don't watch network or cable news. I think it would have been interesting to include people in the sample who don't rely on these outlets at all.

by Free Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Friday, May 12, 2006 at 2:12:30 PM

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To help you not make of fool of yourself, if possible. But, if you want to fall victim of rhetoric, be my guest.

by John wayne (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 29 comments) on Thursday, May 11, 2006 at 4:34:52 PM

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Twas brillig and the sneering snark Did jeer and jumble on the blog All frothy were his mumbleswipes And his gnome wraths outgrabe! (With apologies to Lewis Carroll)

by Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 100 diaries, 1325 comments) on Friday, May 12, 2006 at 10:12:26 AM

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"We believe that we will find that if you pull out Fox viewers, the rest of America has a far different view of America and the Bush Administration." But this poll didn't sample Americans. It only sampled that teensy tiny group of Americans that have volunteered to participate in Zogby polls. And I'm pretty sure these folks are a long, long way from being typical Americans, most of whom have never even heard of Zogby polls.

by Free Spirit (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 2 comments) on Friday, May 12, 2006 at 2:04:18 PM

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The mainstream media and big corporate pollsters are the ones who have been coming out with things like Bush's low approval rating. I've seen them pull polls from MSNBC, CNN, and other sites when the results didn't come out the way they wanted. Polls with hundreds of thousands of responses are hard to freep. Zogby has an excellent track record, and weights their polls to account for demographic limitations. If anything, they tend to be conservative with their numbers so as to maintain their credibility. Face it -- no matter how you look at it, people are fed up!

by Mark E. Smith (21 articles, 30 quicklinks, 100 diaries, 1325 comments) on Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 12:11:42 PM

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Your article says: "The OpEdNews/Zogby People's poll clearly shows that Fox News is the only thing keeping the Bush administration from being thrown out of office and into jail. " Your report does not support this. If you understand statistics and want to keep the same tone, you would say that viewers of Fox News are "the only thing keeping the Bush administration from being thrown out of office and into jail." The evidence you present suggests that the viewers select Fox because it refelects their prior point of view. Your statement undermines your credibility.

by Merican (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 1 comments) on Saturday, May 13, 2006 at 12:59:05 PM

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Mainstream news is designed to appeal to the lowest common denominator in society. It is news for the sheeple who are just baa-ing around and grazing,unaware of the slaughter to come. No wonder Bush and his cronies would like to muzzle the internet. Guess I will think about getting a short-wave radio.

by macdon1 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 113 comments [4 recommended, 0 rejected]) on Sunday, May 14, 2006 at 4:27:18 PM

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