Read this column. Wow. It echoes what many feel about mainstream media; its cultural biases; and its role in how it presents the news. Michael Malone is a brave man penning what many people think. Wonder how he will get treated now in newsrooms all over the industry?
Tags: Media, Michael S. Malone, Ted Leonsis, Ted's Take
I’m so sick and tired of the media bias in the United States that it sickens me. Just give me facts, yeah, give me the dirt on Obama/Biden and give me the dirt on McCain/Palin and let me judge and make a decision.
It’s funny when you talk to a democrat - they see nothing unfair at all, and make it sound like you’re “just mad your candidate is trailing” or “sour grapes” comments.
I’m truly an independent, and while I respect John McCains track record, I really don’t know much about Obama other than his background from wikipedia, some fluff pieces on his life, and watching him debate.
I’d like the dirt on both candidates…and make an informed decision. I just read an article saying the L.A. Times is sitting on a video tape where Obama, Ayers, and others heap praise on a former representative of Yasser Arafat….is this true?? Why isn’t someone in the media fact finding and producing the evidence??
The MSM is sad.
I don’t get it. If Michael Malone, a 25-year media veteran with many opportunities for getting a story out, thinks there are some great investigative pieces that could have been done about Obama - why doesn’t he write one? Isn’t that his job?
When it comes to Obama there has been way too much left out!! I wonder why?
David, isn’t the cardinal question whether such a piece would be published by anyone, or published without heavy editing? If the media outlet don’t agree with the piece for whatever reason, wouldn’t taking the time to write it run a high risk of being a waste of time? Is the absence of such pieces elsewhere in the mainstream media a random event to be ignored in your view?
this is at heart another hyper partisan piece no different than what you get at the NYT or the WSJ. Sorry ted, I don’t see how he is brave at all
Wow. I’m no defender of the mainstream media. But I wonder why Mr. Malone doesn’t ask how the minstream media ‘missed’ Iraq or the current banking bailout? Why is CNN singled out when clearly the most biased news organization in the country, Fox News, is never mentioned? And weren’t the Ayers, Rezko and Wright scandals all over the news cycle for weeks? I couldn’t turn on the television without listening to Governor Palin call the Democratic Presidential candidate a pal of terrorists or now a ’socialist’. Obama did the smart thing and admitted his drug use which made it a non story to most Americans who probably did the same thing when they were young or are doing the same thing now. Talk about bias…:-)!
Obama isn’t theoretically ahead because the media annointed him. He is leading because he talks about things that matter to average people, who so far have voted for him in record numbers - things like the health care they can’t afford, the new jobs they need and reaffirmation of American values over cynical realpolitik. Mr. McCain has been seen plenty and if the media is correct, judged wanting; which is why Mr. Malone’s article can only focus on media coverage of the smear campaigns instead of talking about substance.
Trying to reform the mainstream media is a noble and necessary task in this country, but it won’t happen with thinly veiled attack pieces like this one.
Is Michael Malone the Jerry Maguire of the MSM? Watch out for Bob Sugar.
Very thought provoking article, Ted. The media has been on a very slippery slope for quite sometime and it just gets worse and worse for anyone looking for “news.”
Ever watch CNN Headline news? Goodluck finding any real news broadcasted on it. Entertainment News, Opinions from experts, even opinions from viewers! The news given straight with facts? Not today, not tomorrow.
Like Mr. Malone, I too long for the days when you could read an article or watch a news piece and have the facts given to you as the facts. Not as “we think it happened.” Or “our opinion is.”
I think the irony is that there is more newsworthy stories these days yet less time than ever is devoted to it.
Tell me about the war in Iraq, the suffering in Darfur, and Iran’s wish to go nuclear.. save the Paris Hilton and Obama’s Ipod selections are for an entertainment show.
The media is reporting that the election is going to be a run away. Don’t count on it. The media is reporting on what other media is reporting and reality is getting lost in the process.
When you let other people think for you, you are bound to be not thinking at all.
A shout out to my buddy Mike from Mclean, who replied to my comment that if Malone thinks there are some investigatory stories to be done on Obama, why didn’t Malone pursue any of them? Mike from McLean wondered whether such a piece would be published anywhere. But it’s hard to imagine that such a story would be surpressed or rejected, particularly by media outlets like Fox News and The Washington Times. And if Malone’s employer did reject the story, that would be an even bigger story.
Malone’s complaint strikes me as similar to someone who can’t play the piano, but says that if they had learned to play they would be really good at it. If Malone the Journalist can’t come up with a good investigative story on Obama, it seems pretty weak for him to complain about other journalists not doing so.