The mainstream news personalities who survived knew that their livelihoods could be stripped away at a moment's notice if they were deemed by the Right to possess a "liberal bias." Many journalists twisted themselves into contortions so as not to anger the Right.
Meanwhile, the American Left made the opposite choice. Apparently believing that professionals like Cronkite would stay in charge of mainstream news, well-heeled liberals put their money into almost everything but media.
The Left largely ignored media in favor of "grassroots organizing" and embraced the slogan: "think globally, act locally." Progressives increasingly put their resources into well-intentioned projects, such as buying endangered wetlands or feeding the poor.
So, while the Right engaged in "information warfare" -- seeking to control the flow of information to the American public -- the Left trusted that Walter Cronkite and future Walter Cronkites would keep the nation honestly informed.
However, in 1981, just as right-wing Republican Ronald Reagan took control in Washington, Cronkite retired as the CBS Evening News anchor at the age of 64. He soon found himself excluded from any significant role at the network he helped build.
Then, backed by the Reagan administration's tough-minded "public diplomacy" teams, the Right ramped up the pressure on Washington news bureaus to rein in or get rid of troublesome journalists -- achieving that goal with a stunning measure of success. [For details on this strategy, see Robert Parry's Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq.]
Failure on the Left
As those right-wing pressures began to take a toll on reporters at the national level, the progressives focused on more immediate priorities, such as filling gaps in the social safety net opened by Reagan's policies.
With the numbers of homeless swelling and the AIDS epidemic spreading, the idea of diverting money to an information infrastructure seemed coldhearted. After all, the social problems were visible and immediate; the significance of the information battle was more theoretical.
In the early 1990s, I first began approaching major liberal foundations about the need to counter right-wing pressure on journalism (which I had seen first-hand at the Associated Press and Newsweek), but I received dismissive or bemused responses.
One foundation executive smiled and said, "we don't do media." Another foundation simply barred media proposals outright.
On occasion, when a few center-left foundations did approve media-related grants, they generally went for non-controversial projects, such as polling public attitudes or tracking money in politics, which condemned Democrats and Republicans about equally.
Meanwhile, through the 1990s, the Right poured billions of dollars into their media apparatus.
Young right-wing writers -- such as David Brock and Ann Coulter -- found they could make fortunes working within this structure. Magazine articles by star conservatives earned top dollar. Their books -- promoted on right-wing talk radio and favorably reviewed in right-wing publications -- jumped to the top of the best-seller lists.
(Brock broke from this right-wing apparatus in the late 1990s and described its inner workings in his book, Blinded by the Right. By then, however, Brock had gotten rich writing hit pieces against people who interfered with the Right's agenda, like law professor Anita Hill whose testimony about sexual harassment endangered Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court nomination.)
As the 1990s wore on, mainstream journalists adapted to this altered media environment by trying desperately not to offend the Right. Working journalists knew that to do so could damage or destroy their careers. There was no comparable danger from offending the Left.
Meanwhile, the American Left made the opposite choice. Apparently believing that professionals like Cronkite would stay in charge of mainstream news, well-heeled liberals put their money into almost everything but media.
The Left largely ignored media in favor of "grassroots organizing" and embraced the slogan: "think globally, act locally." Progressives increasingly put their resources into well-intentioned projects, such as buying endangered wetlands or feeding the poor.
So, while the Right engaged in "information warfare" -- seeking to control the flow of information to the American public -- the Left trusted that Walter Cronkite and future Walter Cronkites would keep the nation honestly informed.
Then, backed by the Reagan administration's tough-minded "public diplomacy" teams, the Right ramped up the pressure on Washington news bureaus to rein in or get rid of troublesome journalists -- achieving that goal with a stunning measure of success. [For details on this strategy, see Robert Parry's Secrecy & Privilege: Rise of the Bush Dynasty from Watergate to Iraq.]
Failure on the Left
As those right-wing pressures began to take a toll on reporters at the national level, the progressives focused on more immediate priorities, such as filling gaps in the social safety net opened by Reagan's policies.
With the numbers of homeless swelling and the AIDS epidemic spreading, the idea of diverting money to an information infrastructure seemed coldhearted. After all, the social problems were visible and immediate; the significance of the information battle was more theoretical.
In the early 1990s, I first began approaching major liberal foundations about the need to counter right-wing pressure on journalism (which I had seen first-hand at the Associated Press and Newsweek), but I received dismissive or bemused responses.
One foundation executive smiled and said, "we don't do media." Another foundation simply barred media proposals outright.
On occasion, when a few center-left foundations did approve media-related grants, they generally went for non-controversial projects, such as polling public attitudes or tracking money in politics, which condemned Democrats and Republicans about equally.
Meanwhile, through the 1990s, the Right poured billions of dollars into their media apparatus.
Young right-wing writers -- such as David Brock and Ann Coulter -- found they could make fortunes working within this structure. Magazine articles by star conservatives earned top dollar. Their books -- promoted on right-wing talk radio and favorably reviewed in right-wing publications -- jumped to the top of the best-seller lists.
(Brock broke from this right-wing apparatus in the late 1990s and described its inner workings in his book, Blinded by the Right. By then, however, Brock had gotten rich writing hit pieces against people who interfered with the Right's agenda, like law professor Anita Hill whose testimony about sexual harassment endangered Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court nomination.)
As the 1990s wore on, mainstream journalists adapted to this altered media environment by trying desperately not to offend the Right. Working journalists knew that to do so could damage or destroy their careers. There was no comparable danger from offending the Left.
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