Hipocritical, Circular Logic In The Media

There are many ways to elevate your blood pressure in the morning, and reading a sample of news briefs from the Google news page is particularly effective. A quick scan of the main news compilation shows the most promoted and, by someones standards, the most important news stories at that particular moment.

As I write this, there are over 590 major news sources such as the BBC, New York Times, Guardian, and LA Times having a self promoting orgy fest about how Alaska's largest paper has chosen to endorse their candidate Obama. These outlets quote an opinion from the Alaska Daily News, that "Governor Palin is too risky" to become the vice president of the United States. What nonsense they peddle as legitimate stories. Their obvious implication is that in a Republican state, and populated by citizens who know Governor Palin well, "they" have their doubts about her viability for the vice-presidency job and hence the viability of the entire McCain/Palin ticket. The implication is that this opinion piece represents the Alaskan populace, but in reality, "they" only represent the overpaid newspaper staff. I honestly don't know exactly how much these writers and editors earn, but for printing such trash, they earn too much. When other blatantly biased news outlets reference the Anchorage paper, they believe that somehow they are vindicating their own tainted reporting because this Alaskan paper article agrees with them. In less sophisticated circles, this would have sounded like a litany of "I told you so." The circular logic here is mind numbing. However, even among the uneducated masses, this form of circular logic is well known for being illogical, and in other words, just plain stupidity.

In reference to Anchorage Daily News, just who exactly are "they?" This paper is owned by the California Based McClatchy Co., and according to Wikipedia, The McClatchy Co. is a large publishing company that operates a number of newspapers and web sites. They are based in Sacramento, California and their original newspaper was the Sacramento Bee. Other large ticket items at this company include the Minneapolis Star Tribune, The Olympian from Washington State, and many other papers they obtained in the Knight Rider purchase. In sum, these folks operate numerous MSM newspapers and some may wonder just how large is the liberal bias at this company. Here is a quote from the McClatchy's Washington D.C. bureau chief, John Walcott, as he proudly boasts about the McClatchy's reporting during the Iraq War.

"Why, in a nutshell, was our reporting different from so much other reporting? One important reason was that we sought out the dissidents, and we listened to them, instead of serving as stenographers to high-ranking [Bush administration] officials and Iraqi exiles."

These folks are not just "liberal," they are outright subversive. Their bureau chief's moment of pride is seeking out and publishing the stories of Iraqi dissidents, at the time of war. There is another, more accurate way to characterize this behavior. Publication of propaganda pieces from the Sadr army, Al-Qaeda (in Iraq), Hezbollah, etc,... is not something to proud of. In fact it is shameful.

Although I used this above quote from the Wikipedia page, to illustrate media bias specific to McClatchy Co., there are numerous other excellent examples of such bias. The McClatchy watch site is particularly useful. Apparently, several McClatchy directors, and family members of the McClatchy clan, are large donors to Obama and the Democratic party. Would it be surprising then, that a list of 17 McClatchy newspapers, including the Anchorage Daily News, are proclaiming their endorsements of Obama?

Now I want to review the reported statement about Alaskans once again, and within the proper context I discussed above. The headline all these newspapers are clamoring about is: "Even the Sacramento Bee, endorses Obama." Now, having read this you might think: Huh? Why is this news? Pretending that such reporting is honest, is hypocrisy. Believing that printing such stories is a healthy for the news industry is dumb. Just how dumb? Try falling from 17.25 dollars per share to 2.26 dollars per share in a 52 week period, dumb.

Lastly, I wish to return to my comment about the newspaper writers and editors being overpaid. The way they operate, they will soon be unemployed. This is how capitalism, and in essence reality, eventually triumphs over ignorance, wishful thinking, and insanity. I just hope enough Americans will open their eyes in time, so that the fate of these pathetic rags will not become our nation's fate.