Thought #3 - Media Manipulation

Has anyone seen the documentary Outfoxed? Its a documentary that focuses on the bias of Fox News and discusses it in detail. I saw it around a year ago and not much of it shocked me considering its not news to anyone that they almost always lean conservative regardless of the issue (or the fact that they hired Karl Rove.) There was really only one moment in that movie that shocked me. This clip right here:

Now, if you don't have the time, speakers, etc. to be able to view this clip here is a breif summary: John Ellis of Fox News, cousin of George Bush calls the election for Florida for George Bush when in fact he should have come to the same conclusion as the AP: Too close to call. This held over for the next 37 days and is probably why the supreme court chose Bush.

That being said 8 years have passed. New election, new candidates etc. But what kills me is the blatant manipulation by all of the media (ABC, CBS, FOX, CNN), turning this into entertainment in an effort to score high ratings, blowing reports out of proportion and giving unequal time to people. Allow me to elaborate:

Firstly, blowing reports out of proportion. The biggest evidence of this that infuriated me, I found on the Daily Show. I'd love to post a clip but I can't find it anywhere. I know it was from either January 21st or January 22nd. It was all of these different networks saying how Hillary Clinton made a racist statement compiled together. Eventually, the actual clip was shown. It was Hillary Clinton talking about how Martin Luther King struggled and had this beautiful dream about equality and how it took him working with a president for it to become a reality. Her point being that presidents are elected for the interests of the people and to acomplish things.

This really made me angry and I'm not even a fan of Clinton! How can the media knowingly skew what the viewers see and frequently report on such a falsity? They know that the viewers chance of seeing the original clip is slim.

Also, the media eagerly chooses for us which candidates stand a chance and which don't. I'm sure we've all seen the correlation between those getting the most votes and who has the most media coverage. Clinton, Obama, Romney and McCain are easily those with the most media coverage. Forget Edwards, Ron Paul, Mike Hukabee, Richardson and did you know there is still a candidate on the Democrat side named Gravel?

We have 24 hour news networks. It isn't like they are strapped for time.