Media and 2008

by: Matt Stoller

Sun Dec 16, 2007 at 11:01


I don't usually watch the Sunday shows, but I am watching a few of them today.  The visceral hatred of Clinton and Edwards is really remarkable.  I had forgotten how irrationally unfair and superficial the pundits can be.
Matt Stoller :: Media and 2008

Tags: , , , , , (All Tags)
Print Friendly View Send As Email
Media and 2008 | 19 comments
That's Why I Never Watch Them (0.00 / 0)
I had forgotten how irrationally unfair and superficial the pundits can be.

Ever.

I do, however, listen to Ian Masters' Background Briefing on KPFK, 11 AM Pacific Time.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

If you've been (0.00 / 0)
paying attention during this campaign, I don't see how you're just now noticing the visceral dislike of both Clinton and Edwards.  It's been quite obvious for a long time.

Obama won the MSM primary by playing to their preconceptions about SS, etc.  He could have been David Broder with quite a few of his positions.  Quite in lock step with the inside the beltway pundit class.  That's one reason I started discounting whatever platitudes came out of his mouth a couple of months ago.

Trust Me, Dude... (0.00 / 0)
It's one thing to read the transcripts.  But watching it live... all I can say is, it better be flatscreen, or there will be flying shards.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3
[ Parent ]
Edwards treated better than normal this morning. (0.00 / 0)
I thought Edwards was treated much better this morning than I had ever seen this cycle. Not one mention of haircut, exp. house, etc. Even when talking about him appearing angry the harpies said he had changed to upbeat to let Hill. and Obama go at it among themselves.  They mentioned he had best organization in rural Iowa, so I really didn't get neg. vibe at all and I'm very pro Edwards.
[ Parent ]
Maybe they are getting bored with the older narrative? (0.00 / 0)
And trying to start a new one? To me this is what it's all about- boredom and entertainment value of the narrative of the moment.
[ Parent ]
forgot to mention issue questions in addition to horse race (0.00 / 0)
I forgot to say the questioners also asked Edwards issue related questions in addition to horse race questions or maybe John just turned his answers into issue based answers as he is so good at doing. At any rate they let him do it and seemed to be genuinely interested in his responses which were IMO knocked out of the park. 
[ Parent ]
Edwards (0.00 / 0)
did do a great job, but I still think it was in spite of the media not because of them.  Coverage this cycle has been even worse than 2000 and 2004 to me. It's hard to watch so I don't do it most of the time any more.

[ Parent ]
Sunday talk shows (0.00 / 0)
Last night C-SPAN's "American Perspectives" showed Michael Dukakis speaking in late November at the Dole Institute of Politics in Lawrence, KS.  An audience member asked, "What do you think of how the media is covering the campaigns, and of the Sunday talk shows?" 

Dukakis replied dismissively, "I don't watch the Sunday talk shows.  And I suggest you don't, either"

Hmm (0.00 / 0)
I don't watch TV, so I'm surprised that HRC gets a hard time given how pro-corporate she is.
She's nominally a Democrat (4.00 / 1)
  That's enough for the punditocracy, no matter how far to the right she might list.

  She's simply Exhibit XXVIII in why pandering to the right is NEVER a good idea for a Democrat. 

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
You Don't Watch TV??? (0.00 / 0)
I really don't know what I'd do without Criminal Minds and Desperate Housewives.

Watch nothing but DVDs of Buffy, I guess.

"You know what they say -- those of us who fail history... doomed to repeat it in summer school." -- Buffy The Vampire Slayer, Season 6, Episode 3

[ Parent ]
Criminal Mind- seriously? (0.00 / 0)

[ Parent ]
Even more than reporters and editors, pundits are creatures of the Owners (0.00 / 0)
QED
High School Redux (4.00 / 1)
It's become a cliche, but it's true--Washington is just like high school.  Nobody can say anything nice about HRC until queen heather Maureen Dowd says it's OK.  As for John Edwards--well, he talks about helping poor people, so he must be either a phony or a nerd. Only Obama--for now--is cool.
Talking heads for Obama! (0.00 / 0)
I am continually surprised that the punditry so willing accepts Barack Obama, especially Chris Matthews. Considering the utter contempt with which the treat John Edwards and Hillary Clinton, I am impressed that she remained the frontrunner for so long, despite them.

Did anyone see Flip on "Meet the Press"? His attacks on Huckabee for "running in the wrong primary" made me laugh out loud. This from a man who once ran to the left of Ted Kennedy.

Using the Media (0.00 / 0)
One thing that I criticize about the Democratic Party is that politicians seem to be horrible at dealing with the media.  For example, when it surfaced in the Plame affair that Chris Matthews talks on the phone to Karl Rove, my reaction was not to feel outraged but to feel curiosity at the seeming failure of Democrats to have major media figures on speed dial.

The expectation of a non-partisan press "doing its job" seems as outdated as an expectation of Republicans practicing old-school gentlemanly bipartisanship in Congress.  Are progressives failing to engage in behind-the-scenes lobbying for more favorable coverage?

Things You Don't Talk About in Polite Company: Religion, Politics, the Occasional Intersection of Both

Corporate Money and Class Privilege (4.00 / 1)
The problem I think here is that the Village is being run by corporate money and class privilege. In both cases, Republicans are much more effective in these realms and the powers that be who are the bosses of folks like Chris Matthews are much more inclined to lean in that direction. I don't think that it is a case where Democrats are not reaching out to these figures, but rather that such influence from Democrats is discouraged both institutionally and culturally within the Village.

No inside information here, but if someone does have an idea of how this works it would make for a wonderful diary.....

[ Parent ]
And a good data point... (0.00 / 0)
  ...is the latest Joe Klein outrage, in which Time didn't even bother to print responses from sitting U.S. Senators.

  That's why the blogs are so critical, and that's why the Dems need to stop being so hostile to them and start using them. Together, we can accomplish wondrous things. 

"We judge ourselves by our ideals; others by their actions. It is a great convenience." -- Howard Zinn

[ Parent ]
Viscer al Tweety and Sullivan (0.00 / 0)
Eh... I though the coverage was media narrative du jour for the week and I've seen worse, except for Tweety and Andrew Sullivan who were in a heightened state of visceral Hillary hater mode.

Media and 2008 | 19 comments
USER MENU

Open Left Campaigns

SEARCH

   

Advanced Search

QUICK HITS
STATE BLOGS

Home | RSS/XML Feed | Register | Contact

  © OpenLeft 2007-2010, Powered by SoapBlox

Powered by: SoapBlox