The Left Fights back, at least a little

So finally, after all the shit being slung by the conservatives to scare their constituents into opposing a public health care options, the left side has begun to VERY quietly fight back. It helps that some old insiders are coming out like Wendel Potter. And Obama has posted actual FACTUAL information on the White House website here.

But this raises a point that has perplexed me for years: Why do so few elected liberal leaders defend their positions and beliefs as aggressively as their conservative counter-parts? Don't get me wrong, the liberal constituents can be just as loud and aggressive as their conservatives, but the liberal elected officials just don't seem to get mad. Ultimately, I like and respect this, but sometimes its necessary to call bullshit when people (in this case "conservative" media like Fox News) straight out lie.

What really concerns me is the underlying reason for this pro-conservative and anti-liberal take from Fox "news" is neither due to their belief in the conservative rhetoric, or their concern about the AMerican condition, but instead stems from a desire increase viewer-ship and therefore increase advertising revenue. Fox, in ALL of its branches, is fundamentally an ENTERTAINMENT broadcasting corporation, and in the business to make money. NBC, CBS, ABC all have a long history of reporting news, they've had their ups and downs, but overall, reported the news, all the while trying to maintain a neutral stance. Conservatives shouted and howled that since they weren't in agreement with their stance, they accused them of their "liberal" bias. The right solved this problem about 10 years ago when they invented Fox news. There has never been any kind of cover on what Fox "news" is intended to be: a conservative response to the other legitimate "liberally biased" media. And they do a wonderful job running around without any restraint reporting what they want.

The business strategy is pretty straight foward when you look at it: If you report what your targeted viewership WANTS to hear, regardless of its veracity, they will watch. This creates a cycle in which a conservative minority has their inaccurate beliefs reinforced by inaccurate news, allowing them to grow in volume as "victims" and increase their viewership of the inaccurate news networks; Then, these netwroks see their increased viewership, and are encouraged to continue their dishonest reporting stances. Their recent increase in viewship has recently led Fox "news" to claim that, compared to other news networks, they are clearly the most powerful force in news today... I can't believe a self-respecting news network would actually make such a claim.

While I never truly saw Cronchite in action live, the recordings where he simply and straightforwardly delivered news that he believed to be true are inspiring. He did NOT take a stand, and he did NOT flavor his reporting with his own beliefs. Reporting ACCURATE news was paramount. I can't help but wonder how Fox "news" missed that day in reporting school. How can they claim to be a powerful news agency if their network simply cannot or fails to include some of the most important tenets of reporting: Accuracy and unbiasedness.

I'm sorry Fox, but you will NEVER be a news agency. You will continue to sell your hot air, and have your reporters, and you'll even make money at it, at LOT of it. But you will never be a news agency and I look forward to when the American public see the truth that you constantly hide behind your red faces and victim attitude.