What's the most important thing people have learned so far through the Dean campaign?
I would argue it's that the media they have traditionally relied on to tell them what's going on haven't got a clue.
Politicians have always known that. Which is why it hasn't bothered them not to tell the media the truth. What they're thinking in talking to a reporter is "Since he's not going to get it right anyway, why make the effort to set him/her straight?"
To a certain extent, this mentality--an expectation or prejudice, if you will--is also apparent in the judicial system. There the thinking is "Since everybody's guilty of something, what difference does it make if they're not actually guilty of what they're being charged with?"
Given this kind of mindset, the logical thing to do is just follow your own inclination--i.e. self-interest. Never mind that when two of our four estates are so contaminated in their thinking, the other two can't possibly work right.
So, what do we conclude? If the media can't be trusted, then we'll all have to pay more attention to what's actually going down and hold them accountable when they are wrong.
That's what a new internet site seems designed to help you do:
http://www.stopmediapoliticalbias.com/
Check it out an see if it works.
Posted by Hannah at February 6, 2004 05:26 AM