Media Tenor, another media monitoring group, points out:
"As coverage of
the economy improves, President Obama will be viewed more favorably, meaning
that Republican candidates may have to focus on different issues to appeal to
their base, as well as to undecided voters," according to Racheline Maltese, a
Media Tenor researcher.
"Iowa is often
about social issues because of the limited number of participants in the
caucuses. It's an important time to see what messages candidates are providing
to their supporters, but it is not always reflective of the wider tone of the
election," she notes."
"Not always
reflective, "How's that for an understatement? The real winner so far is,
ironically, Barack Obama--just by doing nothing but looking presidential when
he's not playing golf or signing New Years Eve signing "signing statements"
undercutting the Constitution while expressing "reservations."
Meanwhile, our fearless media continues to undercover the financial crisis, the desperation of the poor and economic pressure on most American families.
That failure is compounded by
an unwillingness of media mavens to admit that their own practices contribute
to a crisis that is fast becoming a collapse.
The New York Times turned itself into an even more of a newspaper for the 1% by raising its newsstand price to $2.50. You have to pay more to read more about the growing inflation.
Meanwhile, TV "news" programs are increasingly losing what was left of their news, as the Washington Post reports
"TV newscasts are
increasingly seeded with corporate advertising masquerading as news -- and the
federal government wants to do something about it.
Concerned that subtle "pay-for-play"
marketing ploys are seeping into the news, the Federal Communications
Commission has proposed a regulation that would require the nation's 1,500
commercial TV stations to disclose online the corporate interests behind the
news.
The proposal, which could take months to
be enacted, has drawn praise from media watchdogs and consumer groups that have
criticized the current system, which requires broadcasters to disclose that an
advertiser paid for a mention on the news only in the closing credits of a
broadcast.
"Unless you stick around for the end
credits, you're unlikely to know it's payola," said Corie Wright, senior policy
counsel for Free Press, a media watchdog group backing the FCC proposal. "If
broadcasters were required to put it online, you could check to see if it was
actually sponsored or not."
The proposed regulation is aimed at news
programs that appear to viewers to be the work of independent journalists, but
in fact sponsors have shaped or even dictated the coverage."
The problem is that even much
of the non-fudged news is itself a context-free concoction with little
perspective or challenge to an increasingly corrupt status quo.
This is a game
of fools played by fools so the rest of us stay fooled.
News Dissector
Danny Schechter blogs at News Dissedctor.com. His latest book is Occupy:
Dissecting Occupy Wall Street (Coldtype.net) He is also editing the New Mediachanel, Mediachannel1.org.
(Note: You can view every article as one long page if you sign up as an Advocate Member, or higher).
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