An Independent Media?

A common complaint from the left is that Fox News acts as an unofficial arm of the Republican Party. Keith Olbermann has complained about this, often throwing in references to the "KKK". A long an overwrought column by Eric Alterman postulated that this alliance is a threat to democracy itself.

So, you would think that the left is free from such entanglements, right? Wrong.

Let's start with Keith Olbermann's complaints. First, if Fox acts as an unofficial arm of the Republican Party then Keith's network, MSNBC, acts as an arm of the Democratic Party. For example, Rachel Maddow, Keith's fellow employee at MSNBC, introduced President Obama's taped remarks at a recent progressive convention. Keith would have had a fit if a Fox employee introduced a Republican President.

Maybe Keith's real complaint is that people actually watch Fox. Keith's ratings are at a seasonally-adjusted two-year low.

But that really just amounts to squabbling between two basic-cable networks. For a better picture of journalism in general we need to look at the "Journolist". This is an invitation-only newsgroup with 400+ members. Its members include well-known figures from all of the major news publications as well as some academics. It also has at least two political operatives from the Obama 2008 campaign.

I have no idea what goes on most days on the Journolist but the day that Sarah Palin was chosen as McCain's running mate, the list was full of ideas on how to minimize her and help Obama. Did you get that? Journalists who are supposed to be trained in objective reporting were working with Obama operatives on how to shape campaign coverage to help Obama.

And Eric Alterman who sees Fox News as a threat and who has written a book denying any liberal bias in the press - he's on the list, also.

Conservatives always knew that the left had a well-disciplined message machine. As far back as the Clinton impeachment, the White House would put out a message of the day that would be included that night in the opening monologues of Jon Stewart and Bill Mahar. Until now, it was always assumed that liberals had to listen to each other. Now we know that they are shaping their message behind the scenes.

Two final thoughts:

1) Imagine the outcry if the right was caught with such a list.

2) The sheer hatred involved. One poster wished that she could see Rush Limbaugh drop dead at her feet. I read a lot of writings on both sides and the left usually wins the "I hate them personally" race but these are journalists.