While I like talking about politics as much as the next arm chair pundit, I am very tired of hearing about the (insert the political idealogy)’s control of the national media. According to the Right, the Left has hopelessly brainwashed the national media, skewing everything to the Left. And according to the Left (see the link above), the Right has controlled the national media for 30 years, suppressing the truth from the country.

The problem is, each side (who only view things through their own set of red or blue tinted glasses) believe that somehow, the national media must be completely unbiased in their reporting. These people live, eat, and breath politics, and expect other people to do the same, but they also expect the national media to be completely unbiased (or at least on their team). Of course some media outlets are going to be biased. Isn’t that the point of a free press? If you don’t like Rush Limbaugh, then don’t listen to him. Nothing you say will convince a ditto-head to stop listening to him. Save your breath. And don’t forget, there are plenty of left-leaning media outlets. Maybe they aren’t as loud or as well listened to, but they exist (as a side note — and I’m too lazy to find links — I thought it was interesting when it was announced that Al Franken would do a radio, it was pointed out that he only had a one year contract. Not the best way to build a loyal fan base — how long has Rush been on the air?).

It seems to me that this sort of finger pointing is simply a way to shift the blame. The Democrats can say “it’s Rush Limbaugh’s fault Al Gore lost! He gave his listeners bad information!” If Bush loses come November, the Republicans can claim “those Lefty newspapers were spreading lies!” Why shoulder the blame when you can point it at someone else?

Posted on 11 May 2004