The MSM start covering the blogosphere, poorly
We can expect the MSM to now cover the blogosphere with some seriousness, since there appears to be a growing recognition that the Left blogosphere is harming the Democratic Party’s chances of returning to power. This WaPo article by Jim VandeHei appears to be a case in point, addressing “an intraparty rift that could complicate efforts to win back the White House: fiery liberals raising their voices on Web sites.” However, the Antique Media have a long way to go before the coverage is any good, if this paragraph from the story is an indication:
The closest historic parallel [to the Left blogosphere] would be the talk-radio phenomenon of the early 1980s, when conservatives — like liberals now — felt powerless and certain they did not have a way to voice their views because the mainstream media and many of their own leaders considered them out of touch. Through talk radio, often aired in rural parts of the country on the AM dial, conservatives pushed the party to the right on social issues and tax cuts.
Here are just a few things that are wrong with this bit of history:
(a) The WaPo contention that conservatives “felt powerless” during the 1980′s, when pro-life tax-cutter Ronald Reagan was President for most of that decade is rubbish. It is certainly true that conservatives felt that the MSM ignored or disparaged them, and VandeHei’s bizarro history of the eighties shows that the MSM still fail to pay the respect of trying to accurately understand and portray them;
(b) VandeHei’s contention that talk radio “pushed the party to the right” seems similarly false. Conservatives in the GOP appear to us no further right than was Reagan himself two decades ago. Talk radio may have reflected and reinforced conservative opinion, but it did not create it. There are competing cases by Republicans like Michael Barone and Democrats like John B. Judis and Ruy Teixeira on the re-alignments going on in and among the two parties, but the reasons are a lot deeper and more interesting than that talk radio did it;
(c) The talk radio industry did not begin in any real sense until after the repeal of the Fairness Doctrine in 1987, as we have written. The proper date for the beginning of the “talk-radio phenomenon” would be August 1, 1988, not the “early 1980′s,” a particularly clueless mistake;
(d) We just can’t help noting the National Geographic / foreign correspondent quality to some of the writing: talk radio is “often aired in rural parts of the country on the AM dial.” We can almost hear the exotic sounds of jungle birds in the background as VandeHei describes the conservatives in their native habitat. Gee, you’d almost never know that talk radio is often aired on some of the nation’s largest urban radio stations like WABC, KFI, WLS, WOR, KABC and all the rest.
Still, we’d like to extend a hearty welcome to the Washgington Post in trying to understand the blogosphere. First, they need to get an understanding of the eldest of the New Media, however. Listening to it, even a little bit, would help.