Tuesday September second, Yahoo News included among its five most popular news stories, a piece from Real Clear Politics titled "Obama Offers a Beautifully Packaged Lie."- Clicking the link revealed that the piece was by one Robert Tracinski. It's a vicious (and very well-written) smear of Obama's acceptance speech, asserting that each and every one of his major points is an out-and-out flat lie.
Okay, the man's got a right to his opinion. The trouble is that Yahoo News lists his tirade not as opinion but as a news story (though once you've clicked through to it, you do find it labeled opinion). This is the kind of subtle swiftboating that is hardest to counteract. Labeling the piece news seems harmless enough, but how many people will click to it thinking it's a factual report?
As for the bias of the writer, a consultation with Google turned up the news that Tracinski is the owner and publisher of a site called The Intellectual Activist. TIA, for short, announces that, quote,
The Intellectual Activist is especially dedicated to understanding and promoting the revolutionary ideas of the 20th-century novelist and philosopher Ayn Rand, ...earning Ayn Rand's recommendation as "an antidote to the cultural irrationality of our age." In the 1980s, [TIA] began to expand beyond politics, becoming a forum for applying Ayn Rand's Objectivist philosophy to art, literature, and culture.
Unquote.
So readers' responses to brother Tracinski should be informed by their knowledge and opinion of Ayn Rand, the Kahlil Gibran of social philosophers--if, at this late date, many readers still have any knowledge, or even memory, of her or her loopy philosophy.
But regardless of Tracinski's intellectual origins, such as they are, his piece is opinion, and loud, vehement, scathing opinion at that. For Yahoo to label this rant a top "News"- story is itself irresponsibly biased, and we all need to let them know it.
jimstinson.com
A career writer and media maven, Jim Stinson is the author of four mystery novels and a college textbook, Video: Digital Communication and Production. He lives with his wife in Portland, OR.
The views expressed in this article are the sole responsibility of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of this website or its editors.
Yahoo is yet another cog in the wheel of corporate news media....
During my volunteering efforts for John Edwards, they smeared John Edwards in a similar fashion, with many negative articles and a decided slant...They were obviously afraid of Edwards's populist postions, and his challenge to the corporate power structure.
Now they are going after Obama...We will stop this corporate attack on the truth only when both parties rid themselves of corporate influence and work for the people again.
P.S. When I tried to contact Yahoo last year re: their unfair reporting, there was no contact info. (only for advertising with them)...How convenient!
Any suggestions as to how to get in touch with Yahoo?
by
Kathy Callan (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 9 comments) on Wednesday, Sep 3, 2008 at 3:34:06 PM
My wife uses a Google G-mail address to campaign for Jeff Merkeley, Oregon's Democratic candidate for senator. As you may know, Google makes its dough from G-mail through ads and unsolicited e-mails that "may be of interest" to the subscriber. In other words, they track your interests and sell this info.
She was astonished to find paid ads and stuff in her box from the most notorious, scurrilous swiftboating site on the web, attacking her candidate and all progressives.
Google says they can't be responsible for vetting the content that passes through. However, they can choose the customer's they sell services to. They rightly reject child pornography out of hand. It's not unreasonable that they should also decline to profit from paid inserts from scum telling out-and-out lies
Like Yahoo, they are almost impossible to reach with a protest.
by
Jim Stinson (14 articles, 0 quicklinks, 2 diaries, 76 comments) on Wednesday, Sep 3, 2008 at 4:20:37 PM
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