Partisan Hackery
I want to apologize again for my extended absence. I've been very busy with school and midterms, family birthdays, plus the Red Sox and Yankees' series. I've barely even had time to think about politics. However, having watched video of John Stewart on Crossfire, I wanted to comment on what took place and what was discussed. I agree with much of what John said. The networks often do the jobs of the politicians. This is true. It is a combination of both "partisan hackery" and sensationalism. Political attacks become more and more brazen in attempts to get airtime on the networks. Two examples of this are the Swift Boat ads and Dan Rather's attacks on the President's military record. Both stories were made to garner ratings, which they both succeeded in doing. However, both also were less than honest. It may be true that Bush evaded as much military service as he could and it may be true that Kerry got more accolades than he deserved. But this really has no bearing on today's election. What is important is that both parties use the media as attack dogs. What is worse, though, is that the media not only seems to approve of this, but embrace and encourage it. Whatever will get more ratings and more money is the way to go.
Watching the exchange between Stewart, Tucker Carlson, and Paul Begala was really intriguing. It seemed as though Begala, while he may have been offended by what Stewart was saying, was at least interested in hearing what Stewart was saying. Carlson just did not want to have any of it. He practically admitted that he did what Stewart accused him of doing and instead attacked Stewart of being John Kerry's "butt-boy." While Stewart did not deny being very nice to Kerry, which he was, and it could be a soft spot for him in this argument, he rightly pointed out that his show is preceded by a show where puppets make crank calls and that it shouldn't be his responsibility to be a serious journalist on a comedy station. He was not incorrect when he blasted CNN for being as partisan as it is. All networks should be less biased in their broadcasts. I don't believe that, with the exception of Fox News, the networks are specifically biased either way. I believe their main goal is to make money, which gives the viewer biased reporting from whichever party has a juicer story on the opposite party. This hurts the viewer because often times opinions are formed for them and not by them. The job of the networks should be to benefit the viewer, not themselves.
Watching the exchange between Stewart, Tucker Carlson, and Paul Begala was really intriguing. It seemed as though Begala, while he may have been offended by what Stewart was saying, was at least interested in hearing what Stewart was saying. Carlson just did not want to have any of it. He practically admitted that he did what Stewart accused him of doing and instead attacked Stewart of being John Kerry's "butt-boy." While Stewart did not deny being very nice to Kerry, which he was, and it could be a soft spot for him in this argument, he rightly pointed out that his show is preceded by a show where puppets make crank calls and that it shouldn't be his responsibility to be a serious journalist on a comedy station. He was not incorrect when he blasted CNN for being as partisan as it is. All networks should be less biased in their broadcasts. I don't believe that, with the exception of Fox News, the networks are specifically biased either way. I believe their main goal is to make money, which gives the viewer biased reporting from whichever party has a juicer story on the opposite party. This hurts the viewer because often times opinions are formed for them and not by them. The job of the networks should be to benefit the viewer, not themselves.