MooreThoughts » MSM

MSNBC Flacking

Nathan Moore — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 13:25:06 +0000

MSNBC is actually defending Obama’s advocacy of maintaining one’s tire pressure to address energy prices, implying that McCain’s criticism of him is the truly ridiculous position to take.

Obama’s energy policy is akin to using a slingshot against an Abrams tank.

On a related note, I do enjoy the flaming chevette on the side of the road that MSNBC’s defense of Obama has become.

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Far Removed From Doubt

Nathan Moore — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 20:49:52 +0000

For anyone who doubts the leftist slant of the mainstream media, let us move past voting records, and issue polls of journalists, and move directly on to in-kind contributions, in the form of discounted ad rates

The Times acknowledged to The Post on Wednesday that the going rate for such an ad would be $181,692.

But a spokesman for MoveOn told The Post that the group paid just $65,000.

Amid a firestorm of criticism yesterday, the Times seemed confused about the proper ad rate.

Earlier in the day, the paper’s spokeswoman said MoveOn had received a discount and confirmed to Reuters the normal rate was “about $181,000.” But later, the same spokeswoman told The Associated Press that the proper rate for such an ad is about $65,000.

Saying he wanted to place an advocacy group ad similar to MoveOn’s, a Post re porter who contacted the Times without identifying himself was told earlier this week that the rate was about $167,000.

“We do not distinguish the advertising rates based on the political content of the ad,” spokeswoman Catherine Mathis said, confirming that the normal rate was “around $181,000.”

Of course you don’t. That’s why MoveOn.org received somewhere between a 61% and 64% discount on its “aid and comfort to the enemy” ad attacking the commanding general in Iraq for not adopting its fabricated version of complete disaster in the Middle East.

Of course, the Times, being the upstanding bellwether of responsible and fair journalism that it is, will certainly offer the same discount rate to Freedom’s Watch. Or not. We will certainly see. There is no debate that the price for the ad that was sold to MoveOn.org was $65,000.00. The real fun will be watching the debacle when the Times explains in its answer to a certain shareholders’ derivative suit why it has cut its ad rates by 60% at a time of self-described declining circulation.

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Wow

Nathan Moore — Mon, 14 Aug 2006 18:28:50 +0000

Trent Seibert, noted Tennessean reporter, is heading over to Channel 2 WKRN.

First Brad Schmitt, then Steve Gill, and now Trent Seibert. WKRN is the New York Yankees of the Nashville broadcast media market.

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An Unanswerable Question

Nathan Moore — Sun, 13 Aug 2006 13:34:20 +0000

Cuba has released pictures of an allegedly rehabilitating Fidel Castro. The question, as Matt Drudge posts it on his site, is whether they are real.

As Reuters had nothing to do with the pictures, the question becomes self-validating. The follow-up question then becomes whether we trust Cuba’s journalistic integrity over that of the infamous wire service.

Sadly, I’d almost rather get my photographic news from the island communist state.

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I Count This As Good News

Nathan Moore — Tue, 18 Jul 2006 13:34:34 +0000

The New York Times is cutting jobs and the size of their daily paper

NEW YORK (Reuters) – The New York Times Co. (NYT.N: Quote, Profile, Research) plans to narrow the size of its flagship newspaper and close a printing plant, resulting in the loss of 250 jobs, the company said in a story posted on its Web site late on Monday.

The changes, set to take place in April 2008, include the closure of a printing plant in Edison, New Jersey. The company will sublet the plant and consolidate its regional printing facilities at a plant in Queens, the paper said.

We only could hope to be so blessed, that if there is sufficient good fortune available to the American public, that both Paul Krugman and Maureen Dowd were among the 250 sent packing. Or at least if the smaller paper envisions a smaller op-ed section.

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Sigh

Nathan Moore — Thu, 11 May 2006 00:33:45 +0000

This is what passes for blogging at the City Paper.

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A Quick Note on National Media Bias

Nathan Moore — Wed, 10 May 2006 13:13:41 +0000

There are enough out there on the Left who claim, surprisingly to me, that there is no leftist bent to the belwethers of the mainstream media (or drive-by media, depending on your perspective and radio listening habits). I normally don’t think twice about it anymore. It is clear to me there is a subtle undercurrent that determines the perspective from which stories and columns are written. This perspective determines the focus. This is what is meant by a liberal media bias.

It’s not purposeful per se, which is the alarming part. But your objectivity largely rests on your world view. The focus though is certainly consistent – for instance, today the Times has a piece on Bush’s continuing failing in approval polls, even though his overall approval went up two points from last time. Still within the margin of error, but certainly not indicative of a continuing negative trend, on which the Times focuses.

Then there is the Washington Post today, focusing on the extension of capital gains tax cuts about to be passed by the Congress. The sources first cited are clearly those who favor government spending, and who cannot fathom how cuts in investment taxes will result in more revenue (look at the Reagan capital gains cuts in 1986 to see that there is a precedent for that effect), or indirectly, how much growth will occur in the economy because of it, and the revenues that would stem from that. The story cites the $300 billion budget deficit as unmanageable, but historically, that’s not the case

The increase in receipts in 2004 and 2005 played a significant role in bringing down the size of the deficit. Since the President set a goal of cutting the deficit in half from its projected peak in 2004 of 4.5 percent of GDP, or $521 billion, the deficit has come down markedly. The final 2004 deficit was 3.6 percent of GDP, or $413 billion, and the 2005 deficit fell further, to 2.6 percent of GDP, or $318 billion.

…

While this increase in the deficit is unwelcome, a deficit at this level is still well within the historical range. At 3.2 percent of GDP, it would still be smaller than the deficits in 11 of the last 25 years. More importantly, if we build on the policies of economic growth and spending restraint reflected in this Budget, the deficit is projected to return to its downward trajectory and stay on track to meet the President’s goal of cutting the deficit in half by 2009.

Further, the deficit projected for next year is 2.6%, which is less than most of the Clinton years, save the last term before the tech bubble burst. One way to ensure this decline is to ensure growth, something the left has never quite grasped. To paint a budget in deficit as stingy, as the Post does, is irresponsible and on its face, just plain silly. To cite “experts” who claim we absolutely need the money in the extended tax cuts (which, mind you, were not made permanent) requires a musical backdrop of “Bring in the Clowns”.

Read both articles. Notice the layout and the perspective. When conservatives mention a bias in the MSM, this is what we’re talking about.

Now, off to court.

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Where Goest the Left?

Nathan Moore — Thu, 27 Apr 2006 02:51:54 +0000

One need only look to the Left to see that the conservative cause is not losing ground. From Drudge

‘PROGRESSIVE’ MEDIA STALLS: ‘AIR AMERICA’ IN AUDIENCE PLUNGE NYC, ‘DAILY KOS’ BOOK SELLS ONLY 3,600 COPIES
Wed Apr 26 2006 11:39:51 ET

Left-leaning new media has hit turbulence at the marketplace, newly released stats show.

A book hyped by major media as documenting a progressive revolution of “blogs” and political power, DAILY KOS ‘CRASHING THE GATE,’ has sold only 3,630 copies since its release last month, according to NIELSEN’s BOOKSCAN.

[NIELSEN claims only 2,062 copies of DAILY KOS have been purchased at the retail level; the rest coming through 'discount' outlets. The NIELSEN figures do include online sales from AMAZON.COM, and others.]

Meanwhile, the just released radio Winter Book [Jan-Mar 2006] from ARBITRON shows AIR AMERICA in New York City losing more than a third of its audience — in the past year!

Among all listeners 12+, it was a race to the bottom for AIR AMERICA and WLIB as mid-days went from a 1.6 share during winter 2005 to a 1.0 share winter 2006.

During PM drive, host Randi Rhodes plunged to 27,900 listeners every quarter hour, finishing 25th place in her time slot, down from 60,900 listeners every quarter hour in the fall.

A network source says the radio ratings released today do not reflect the overall growth of the broadcast.

“The demos are better, and listeners trust AIR AMERICA to give them the real truth on issues and the Bush presidency,” says the insider.

I am typically not one to make hay of others misfortunes for the sole sake of spite and mockery (well, sometimes), but the Kos numbers truly surprise me. I could write a book and find some way to get three thousand copies “sold”. On the other hand, the Air America story is not so surprising. That diminishing trend has existed for some time. Just listen to Randi Rhodes and you won’t wonder why. The content and presentation is simply not good. You can hate Limbaugh all you want, but you have to admit he’s entertaining. And he started and succeeded in New York. Not so with Randi and the rest.

I believe Air America died in Washington, DC late last year. Now it’s dying in New York, the bluest of the blue and the largest of the large. Air America has discovered a way to play Sinatra backwards. If you’re a liberal talk show host and you can’t make it in New York, good luck anywhere else.

UPDATE Apparently Drudge’s numbers were off a few thousand – actually, somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 books were sold. Still, my original point stands.

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The Uneducatable

Nathan Moore — Thu, 12 Jan 2006 16:35:02 +0000

Say Uncle takes issue with some of the reporting on the SKS found in that California school yesterday. Specifically, the terms used in gun story reporting.

First, yes, some guns look mean, but so do some dogs, and many people. Looks are deceiving. And guns are only mean when provoked.

Second, the difference between “automatic” and “semiautomatic” is easy. Automatic means you pull the trigger and more than one bullet comes out. Semiautomatic means when you pull the trigger, only one bullet comes out. The two terms have nothing to do with the way the gun looks.

And as a side note, that had to be one friggin’ big backpack to hold an SKS. It must have had a collapsable stock, but that’s another term of art for another day’s lesson.

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The City Paper Blog

Nathan Moore — Tue, 10 Jan 2006 14:29:48 +0000

Also of note is that the Nashville City Paper has a blog. It seems rather vanilla for the time being, but I’m sure that it will become more interesting as the writers do it more. Doing what he will likely do more of, Bill Hobbs offers some suggestions .

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Blogging Thoughts

Nathan Moore — Fri, 30 Dec 2005 16:36:25 +0000

Michael Silence has some, as well as Say Uncle. The medium is maturing, and with that some basic rules are being formed.

Uncle makes a good point regarding what makes a blog effective, while Silence discusses the movement in more general terms. As far a blog’s readability, I agree with Uncle – if you don’t have an RSS feed of some type, I’m not reading your blog. There are one or two without feeds that I read, but I only do so every couple weeks, if that. If you want to get your content out and get linked, a feed is a must.

Additionally, bad format hurts a blog. I’m not a fan of anything not on white. A blog is not a place for a bunch of bells and whistles. That’s not what makes a blog great. Blogs are built on content. If there is no content, there will be no readership and no linking. Combining that with frequency of posting and you have a very readable, good blog.

Silence posts about the growth and evolution of blogdom in general. The blog has legitimized itself by doing what other media and news outlets have at times refused to do. If you want detailed and frequently updated content on a particular subject, or a tireless attention to detail on a breaking issue, you no longer go to a MSM outlet. You find that niche blog doing the grunt work. The Katrina aftermath is a great example, as well as the phoniness of the Rather documents. If it weren’t for blogs, Dan Rather would have wrongly ridden off into the sunset as a nonpartisan and respected journalist. It was this blog with Bob Krumm’s help (pre BobKrumm.com) that noted on Teddy Bart’s Roundtable that Bob Tuke predicted questions about Bush’s guard service before the Rather flap surfaced. In short, those who know are in the know because they know which blogs to go to. Tennessee government is better covered and analyzed by Bill Hobbs, Michael Silence, Rob Huddleston, Bob Krumm, Mark Rose, Adam Groves (sorry if I missed anyone) and the rest of us than any particular MSM outlet.

If anything, the last two years have seen the ascension of the blog as a legitimate format. Questions as to whether blogs are a positive development in the information revolution are answered affirmatively by everyone, save those in danger of exposure over something they’d rather keep hidden. When someone criticizes blogs for merely existing, always consider the source. CBS, for instance

People are pretty smart in assuming that if a blog is making a case on one side that it’s partisan. The problem is when a blog pretends to hold neutrality but is actually partisan.

That’s just funny.

2006 will be a year of sifting. Quality blogs will continue, and some with less commitment will wither. Longevity will depend on content and dedication. With contentious elections coming up, the political blogs will gain more of a following. Silence notes that readership has somewhat leveled off. This is likely true, until another chunk of the public figures out that blogs are the best and quickest source of information. When that happens, another bump in readership will occur.

The conclusion? Blogs are becoming more and more useful and powerful as a medium. In Tennessee we have an unusually high concentration of good and informed writers discussing state and local politics and current events. That gives us an interesting niche, and acts as a model for other blogospheric miniverses elsewhere. That’s the truly impactual growth I’m interested in seeing.

UPDATED for additional content.

UPDATE Silence adds some more

To prove that bloggers and Google News robots can’t do the work of trained reporters, Reader executive editor Michael Lenehan proposes a yearlong journalism strike. “I am urging reporters and editors around the world to put down their notebooks, close their laptops, hang up their phones. Lie down and be counted! Let’s have no reporting, no editing, no application of any human intelligence whatsoever to events public or private till January 1, 2007. I’m calling it the Year Without Journalism. Let’s all relax, let go, and float blissfully in the information-free state (excuse me, I mean free-information state) that our public awaits so eagerly. … Let’s see if Wonkette can deal with the devious bastards in the executive branch any better than Judith Miller did.” (Via Romenesko)

Cool. Then bloggers wouldn’t have to write about plagarism, gross errors, slanted reports, incomplete reports and columnists getting paid by the government.

Ouch.

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Very Convincing

Nathan Moore — Sat, 24 Dec 2005 16:22:49 +0000

Thanks to Sharon Cobb, I noticed that Bill Hobbs is taking on the topic of whether or not a blogger paid by a MSM organization (i.e. WKRN in Nashville) should express bias. Interesting question, and is well worth debate. I honestly have no problem either way. The rising of passions tends to increase interest, readership and debate – all net positives. But this comment from Bill’s post does no one any good, and I laughed so hard at the juvenile nature of it I had to reprint it (sort of … okay, so I heavily edited it) here

Bill Hobbs – Why must you be a c***f*&ed as*&@!e mother faker son of a female dog piece of s*%t!

Just saying that for Brittney because I know she can’t and I know she so wants to and you so deserve it. I know you won’t post this, and that isn’t my intentions. I just wanted you to read it.

Amy

Yeah, well, that certainly clears things up. With arguments like that, this MSM/blogging thing ought to be sorted out by New Years.

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