Re: I'll Take A Stab at Part of This One

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Posted by elektratig [ 152.163.100.65 ] on December 19, 2005 at 18:29:26:

In Reply to: Re: I'll Take A Stab at Part of This One posted by manualblock on December 19, 2005 at 10:34:29:

MB,

I love the Post! After all, the Gray Lady doesn't give you Page Six!

In all seriousness, Fox is a mixed bag. Some of it is ridiculous. On the other hand, I think the Britt Hume evening program is the best one-hour news program on television. I watch it every chance I get.

The big difference between Fox, on the one hand, and the other networks (CBS, CNN, et al.) and the big print media (NYT, Washington Post), on the other, is that Fox makes no bones about the fact that it is basically pro-administration -- although I've seen harsher overt criticism of certain administration policies on Fox than I have on CBS. The others pretend that they are "objective" and express outrage when anyone questions their impartiality, even though everyone knows it's not true.

I've been reading a good deal of history about pre-Civil War America over the past several months, and I much prefer the honesty of the press back then. Papers made no pretense that they were impartial. To the contrary, they touted the fact that they were pro-Jackson or pro-Whig or whatever. There was truth in advertising, the reader knew what he was getting and could factor that in when assessing the information he was receiving. Fox, by and large, and many internet sites represent a return to those roots, and I think that's a good thing.

As for the internet, it may be "fractionalized" in the sense that there are so many sites that it's hard to focus on any one. But I disagree to the extent you are suggesting that particular sites present only half-digested opinions and rants without reasoned analyses of the underlying facts and considerations. There certainly are many such sites (Democratic Underground being a prime example). But to pick our last topic (torture) by way of example, I've come across many, many lengthy discussions of the issue, pro and con, on the internet that discuss the topic in far greater depth than I've seen in any print publication, including the revered NYT.

Let the love begin!



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