Rod Davis: News groups in love with the war machine
(via Chuck Kuffner)
By the beginning of the second paragraph, the author removes all doubt as to where his sentiments lie. Whether you are pro- or anti-war, anyone who can tie Monica Lewinsky, playing footsie, lies, and cigars into an anti-war screed deserves an "A" for effort....
Far from world-class reportage, the Iraq coverage-to-date is the journalistic equivalent of the Monica Lewinksy scandal. The "showdown" has devoured airtime, headlines, editorials and total percentage of news coverage. As with Lewinsky, nothing is more important, no detail of the subject too trivial or digressive or salacious to find a place on Page One or lead the evening news.
Yet there is a difference. In terms of sheer pornographic value, the drive to war makes an oversexed president playing footsie with an intern seem like hard-core compared to PG-13. What's a cigar and a lie compared to the prospect of bombs piercing bunkers, rockets shuddering straight up into the sky, journalists embedded like so many sperm in the phalanxes of the seeds of victory?
Not very often will you find war and pornography juxtapositioned, eh?? While I understand, and even find myself agreeing with part of Davis' argument, the stridency- so representative of much of the anti-war movement- is what I object to. The "how could there POSSIBLY be any other viewpoint?" is as objectionable in the anti-war movement as it is in those who support the war.
Personally, I don't see the bias. Anyone who can stomach the Fox Nuisance Channel ("Fair and Balanced- if you're a Conservative, White Republican")- and I can for only short periods- knows how pro-war FNC is. There are other news outlets that are more balanced. A news outlet's editoral viewpoint is not going to contradict that of it's audience, not over something so important, and not if that outlet hopes to retain it's audience share.
Bias is where you can find it (unless it's FNC we're talking about, which just slaps you across the face with it). Like anything else, though, whether bias exists or not simply depends on which side of the fence you happen to be sitting on.
