a) Origin
�[Journalism is] a hell, a sink of iniquity, lies and betrayals that no-one can pass through, or emerge from uncorrupted.�
Honore de Balzac (attributed quote)
The schoolyard bullies never had it so good. The recent polarisation of the American media runs far deeper than mere political allegiances, and only by examining the ideological revolutions of long-dead patriots can we truly understand just how deep the mire currently flows. Thomas Jefferson, patron saint of free speech, understood how important an unrestricted press was for the advancement of society when developing the 1791 First Amendment to the United States Constitution. On declaring of the liberty of the press a fundamental necessity to the advancement of society, Jefferson wrote: �Our liberty cannot be guarded but by the freedom of the Press. There is no safe deposit for these but with the people themselves, nor can they be safe with them without information. Where the press is free, and every man able to read, all is safe.�5 His may have been an idealistic view of the great potential of the emerging media perhaps, but it led to the development of traditional journalistic ethics, such as objectivity, accuracy and responsibility- the �duty� of the press in a social context. If we consider the tabloid culture American society currently finds itself immersed in, it should be noted how far removed some recent exponents of �journalism� find themselves from that original promise.
In keeping with Tom Paine�s earlier call to �recover rights� that had been lost to �conquest and tyranny�, Jefferson�s framework offered the emerging United States a basis upon which to form their first great democratic experiment. But he was not without his critics. Third president James Madison warned of the potential corruption that could overwhelm the objective bliss of a truly �free� press. Sewing the little acorns from which the mighty roses of media criticism now bloom, Madison�s words echo through to the present day, and seem startlingly accurate given the present situation. Robert McChesney notes: �He warned of a �real domination� of the few under an apparent liberty of the many�, deploring the �daring depravity of the times� as private powers �become the praetorian band of the government- at once its tools and tyrant; bribed by its largesses, and overawing it by its clamours and combinations.�6 God only knows what he would have made of Rush Limbaugh�7
The nineteenth century press, whilst notoriously biased, failed majestically to ignite public opinion. Ideological rants by publications owned by political parties were commonplace. Then again, the press was not considered the bastion of public opinion it is today. The potential framework for polarisation certainly existed, however, and it was not until the early part of the 20th century that the media began to become aware of its emerging power. Trading even-handedness for economics, the original media moguls, William Randolph Hearst et al, rarely shied away from controversy. Their strong affection for sensationalism still retains some degree of relevance today. Hearst�s now infamous comments regarding the 1898 war in Cuba, �You furnish pictures and I�ll furnish war�,8 bear a striking resemblance to the pre-conflict hype in the run up to the 2003 Iraq war on several of major networks, where enthusiastic �play-by-play� build ups led to inevitable comparisons with the Superbowl.9 On the other hand, it could be argued that Hearst�s attitude was paralleled, if not eclipsed entirely by the work of the Creel Commission during the First World War. The Woodrow Wilson endorsed commission was essentially a propaganda outfit aimed at encouraging US intervention; despite the public�s dim view of, what was then, an insignificant conflict in a far off land. Its effectiveness was incomparable. Noam Chomsky notes: �[It] succeeded within six months, in turning a pacifist population into a hysterical, war-mongering population which wanted to destroy everything German, tear the Germans limb from limb, go to war and save the world.�10 As with the relentless �weapons of mass destruction� rhetoric in the lead up to the current conflict, the Creel Commission�s effect on the media helped taint Jefferson�s ideal and corrupt its most basic freedom of speech principles. Fear of �the other� outweighed the necessity for accuracy.
Today, Republican spin has replaced the demented demagogues of Creel and co. The extensive conservative public relations apparatus as we know it today is a relatively recent phenomenon, spurred on somewhat by the defeat of Richard Nixon to the affable John F. Kennedy in 1960, and the subsequent ascension of Lyndon Johnson four years later. The party�s lack of public discourse, however, led to increasing criticism in the press. It was time rediscover the roots of conservatism, and repackage them in such a way as to appeal to the greatest demographic. In order to reclaim the country, a new image was needed, and it was up to the early marketing gurus such as Richard Mellion Scaife to rebadge the party. As Eric Alterman notes, 1964 was the year when the new breed �figured out that it was pointless for wealthy conservatives to pour money into the coffers of conservative candidates like Barry Goldwater without first investing in their own form of media through which to communicate their ideas.�11 The development of conservative think tanks such as the Heritage Foundation in the mid sixties, coupled with the demand for dealing with the increasing disillusionment over the Vietnam War, gave rise to a new breed of conservative; savvy, learned and charismatic. Johnny Appleseed. The all-round American good guy. It wasn�t until the election victory of Ronald Reagan in 1980 that the party found their hero; a leader respected both as a film star, and highly respected governor of California. Under the leadership of the Gipper, and his understudy, George H.W. Bush, the innovative, sleek, conservative machine gained control of both Senate and Congress. The excessive exorbitance of the eighties formed the perfect backdrop for the fusion of conservative business with predominantly moderate media. Iran Contra aside, things were looking up for the blue half of the country. And any criticism of the president could be easily dismissed through implementation of the Right�s new all encompassing, winner take all catchphrase, �liberal bias�.
Clinton�s contribution to the emerging subjectivity in the media was accomplished through an ill-conceived sexual encounter with an intern. Having shaken off earlier allegations of corruption during the Whitewater affair, the Lewinsky scandal, which played out with all the wanton sensationalism of some turgid American soap opera, provided fresh ammunition for the right�s new breed of �journalist�. No longer restricted to voicing their opinions across a liberal dominated spectrum, the �new conservatives� had license to embark upon fruitful �crusades� against the deceit and fabrication raining down upon them from the sycophantic media and their disgraced �Lying King�. The door of opportunity had swung open, and with the re-emergence of Reaganite conservatism in the Oval Office in 2000, the right had found itself a soapbox from which to deliver its most searing oration to date. There was a new sheriff in town. Dubya be thy name. Impartiality was out. Ideology was in. Journalism was in danger of being swallowed up by corporate infrastructure. But after two aircraft collided spectacularly with a couple of skyscrapers on a bright September morning, the public, all of a sudden, didn�t seem to mind.
The sudden surge in conservative interest in the �liberal� press had little to do with advancing journalistic ethics, and everything to do with �guilt by association�. By �reclaiming� the media territory from the �so-called� liberals, the right achieved a double whammy, alienating the conventional media while associating it with partisanship (ironically) and old-fashioned values. Here was the terrier to snap at the ankles of the Great Dane. Here was the flag-waving David to bring down the leftist Goliath. In the wake of September 11th, the nationalistic isolationism of the right-leaning media found itself echoed by the national mood, as stations such as Fox found a niche through strong emotional evocation and intense graphics. The �new media� looked fresher, sounded better and told Americans what they wanted to hear. Journalism could no longer claim to be fair and balanced. �Fair and balanced�? Sounds like a good slogan�12
Far from embarking on a hostile takeover of the major networks, the right implemented a subtle, methodical system for bringing the larger media environment in line with their all-American values. In keeping with the philosophy of Bush�s administration, you�re either with us, or you�re against us. Orville Schell notes: �the actual number of people they�ve infected so far is small, they�re steadily contaminating the rest of the media. They�ve created a template on how to get more viewers and readers. They�ve succeeded in contriving a common wisdom, that if you don�t imitate them in some way, you�re falling behind in the race for market share�.13 Despite the high viewing figures enjoyed by traditional news formats, such as the main evening broadcasts on the �big three� (CBS, NBC and ABC), the conservative media �empire� has embraced emerging media formats, new platforms upon which to stake their claim and deliver their crushing credenda. At the start of the 1990�s, talk radio, a heretofore-unexplored media format, found its feet with the surfacing of enthusiastic partisan opposition to the Clinton presidency. Journalist-cum-entertainers Rush Limbaugh, Neal Boortz and others helped create the fastest growing media format of the decade, which, under the current government, hit the mainstream, shedding few of its prejudices along the way. Even conservative media analysts, generally slow to acknowledge the presence of conservative bias in the media, recognise the subjective nature of the format. �Talk radio is mostly conservative, but it is identified as such. People know what they�re getting,�14 claims Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy In Media, an organisation established to root out �liberal bias� in the press. Cable news, a format established by CNN in the late 80�s, was also �hijacked� by the partisan agendas of Fox News (now enjoying vastly higher ratings than its Ted Turner owned counterpart) and populist NBC offshoot, MSNBC. The Internet found its niche embraced by conservative culture, with the vast array of online journals and media watchdog outlets giving rise to an uglier, unsourced form of journalism. The scandal heavy �Drudge Report�, a daily theorization that kicks into gear whenever Bill Clinton/John Kerry/Ted Kennedy (delete where applicable) open their �dirty leftist mouths��, is currently the 338th most popular site on the Internet 15 , more than twice as popular as Salon.com, a centre left publication which enjoys over 3 million readers a month 16 . One cannot have �news� without �new�, and by gaining control of emerging media, the conservative media machine remains focussed on the future, leaving hordes of journalistic purists in their wake.
The traditionalists never saw it coming, concentrating on substance over packaging. Major media outlets, such as NBC, steadfastly remain true to their traditional values, even with the conservative monster of big business breathing, quite literally down their necks. The real difficulty for the moderates is maintaining their image amidst the conservative backlash. As former White House correspondent John Palmer notes: �General Electric, which owns NBC is certainly conservative�they have huge defence contracts. But I have to say that at NBC news, and the same is true of ABC and CBS as well, there is an absolute firewall between what corporate management might feel is good and what the news division of the network does.�17 The traditional media outlets are old-fashioned activists face to face with the future. Should they fight to maintain current structures or charge head on and take on the �new� media at their own game? Viewing figures would dictate that the former option is preferable, yet the need to maintain originality and �keep up with the Ruperts�, has led to what could almost be termed the �Foxification� of some of the more established media. The public witnessed evidence of this in the run up to the Iraq war, when NBC fired long-standing defender of liberalism Phil Donahue in order to make way for Florida congressman Joe Scarborough, a conformist Republican and strong supporter of President Bush. 18 Governmental image management has overshadowed the established reporting ideals set in stone by generations of impartial journalists.
The moderates are losing their own �war on terror�.
b) The Liberal/Moderate view
�Liberals are now grappling with a problem not unlike that facing the far right forty years ago: how to get one's ideas across through media that twist and distort them beyond recognition?�
Eric Alterman 19
As I have already discussed, the make-up of the current division in the media is far from straightforward, �conservatives� and the �right� toe the party line, whilst �the left� occupy a far broader socio-political spectrum, not only subscribing to traditional liberal values (such as abortion or immigration issues) but also to receptive government policy. No so called �liberal� journalists dared to question the logic of invading Afghanistan in the wake of September 11th, yet, in hindsight, moral opposition may have prevented follow-on effects, such as the current �quagmire� in Iraq. The �Left�s� broad philosophy still forms the ground level values of a large number of newsrooms, given the sheer volume of moderates and liberals that operate �in the trenches�. A Pew Research Centre study in May 2003 found that 34% of media operatives considered themselves liberal in orientation, 54% admitted to a moderate self-rating, while a meagre 7% considered their view conservative.20 Yet despite continual attempts to appeal to the largest common denominator, the liberal/moderate media is being increasingly disenfranchised by the emerging right, and finds itself in the middle of an identity crisis, choked by the restrictive nature of the current government and the weight of public opinion.
It is fair to say that the �liberal press�, in its current form, never considered itself �liberal� until the conservatives labelled it as such. The emerging crisis for balanced media rests with the inability of the majority of left-leaning critics to acknowledge their disenfranchised state and develop their own form of democratic revenge. Rather than recognise the success (and increasing popularity) of outlets such as Fox News, the moderate majority merely seeks to belittle it, brush it under the proverbial carpet and hope it will burn itself out. Yet the continuous success and gross turnovers experienced by the newly formed partisan media channels are a testament to the effectiveness of the new format.
As I will discuss in the next section of this chapter, a large proportion of the press cringes at the mass redevelopment by the conservative right of the journalistic values they hold so dear. Up until September 11th, the rules were plain and simple, and borrowed heavily from the old Jeffersonian ideal. Balanced discourse. Two sides to every story. Open discussion of both sides� point of view. Leaving it up to the audience to form his or her own opinions.
Not any more.
Timothy Noah, editor of the left-leaning Slate magazine notes: "Within the cultural sphere, liberalism has been in retreat for a good quarter-century. Liberalism's definitive "defeat" occurred sometime between 1985, when Rambo II re-fought the Vietnam War, and 1992, when Rush Limbaugh's 'The Way Things Ought to Be' "hijacked the New York Times bestseller list." 21 Despite never being aware of their own power, the Left now finds itself playing catch up to a conservative brainchild with the financial and political backing to maintain a considerable advantage. As David Brock, president of Media Matters for America notes, �One significant problem is that people [on the left] are in denial about the impact of conservatives in the press. They dismiss something as one story and don't think it will snowball. Liberals don't think these people matter; they think they're crackpots. They may well be crackpots, but they matter. There may be a slow learning curve about understanding that.�22 In order for the left to deal with the increase in conservative presence in the media, the traditionalists need to identify what it is about the right�s media machine that generates such popularity amongst the �huddled masses�. There needs to be openness regarding liberal misgivings and an awareness of the changing media environment. The Left denies it ever controlled the media, yet remains savvy enough to believe it can maintain its subtle opposition to the advancing Republican hordes.
The paradox lies with identity. To admit to a �liberal� tag, hitherto balanced outlets would lose credibility, having finally been �ousted� by the all-knowing conservative media machine. The notion of objectivity would be lost; disillusionment with the media, already at peak levels 23 would skyrocket. The conservative definition of the word �liberal� has entered the mainstream. As a political trademark, �liberalism� no longer evokes memories of �Founding Fathers� or open-mindedness. In the wake of the Iraq war, the word has found itself inexorably linked with �wimp�, �peacenik� or those no good �cheese-eating surrender monkeys�, the French. 24 Mark Walsh, CEO of Air America, a station which seeks to depose the conservative stronghold on talk radio from within, is fully aware of this: �I think it's a brand that needs some revival, because it's been demonised. But it's very expensive to revive a brand, and it takes a long time.�25 The �Left� must take a step back to recognise its identity and attempt to stem the tide. Whether this means adopting some of the strategies of the Right remains to be seen.
c) The Conservative view
�There is some strategy to it. I'm a coach of kids' basketball and Little League teams. If you watch any great coach, what they try to do is 'work the refs�. Maybe the ref will cut you a little slack on the next one�
Rich Bond, former Republican National Committee Chairman, 1992 26
It seems that what�s wrong is Right and what�s right is also Right. The conservative media bandwagon is gathering speed by the second, leaving objectivity and balance by the side of the road as it roars down the ideological freeway (or words to that effect). The United States of America is undergoing the single biggest media transformation in its short history, and it all boils down to intelligent marketing. By redeveloping media management and PR in the wake of the liberal sixties, the early neo-conservatives set in motion the wheels of press manipulation that the current administration has launched into the mainstream. The Right�s all-powerful, all American philosophy has the financial and, for the moment at least, emotional support to redefine the very essence of journalism. Old Glory waves elegantly in the corner of the screen! Eagles soar! Arabs flee! Uncle Sam wants YOU! Terror Alert ELEVATED! NEWS JUST IN...BUSH WALKS ON WATER! USA�! USA�!
Where the liberals and moderates lack self-definition, conservatives in the media excel in it. Throughout the Reagan presidency, the emergence of a self-conscious conservative mindset paved the way for a kind of ideological isolationism; bubbling under during Clinton�s term. Where liberals seem eager to appeal to the moderate majority, the Right builds its support from the �true believers�, the upstanding all-American citizens who support the military, the flag and the expansionist predispositions of the old Confederacy. Before September 11th, such idealists were left to ponder an impossible future, adopting many of the protest tactics that the Left now employs. After September 11th, it was sufficiently tolerable to extol these �patriotic� values once again. If you didn�t support the flag, you weren�t a proper American. And all the while, the major corporations and conglomerations gazed on happily as the cash rolled in from a newly spendthrift nation. It is the media�s gradual descent into corporate concentration during the 1990�s that paved the way for its polarization, providing the Right with a pulpit from which to preach along the way. Genesis chapter 1, verse 1. Destroy the �liberal media�.
Far from offering a logical �alternative� to the liberal voice, the conservative media seeks to drown it out through the manipulation of traditional news trends. It attempts to establish a form of control over the rest of the media through charges of �liberal bias�. Offering what it considers the �fair and balanced� truth, the Right seeks to alter the news output of mainstream news broadcasts, pushing its own agenda higher up the news scale. Money is the contact lens in the eye of the conservative beholder, and the strong links between corporate and executive media and the Republican party, ensures that a conformist �spin� is never too far away. Former Presidential candidate Al Gore, commenting on the partisan media, noted in 2002: �Something will start at the Republican National Committee, inside the building, and it will explode the next day on the right-wing talk-show network and on Fox News and in the newspapers that play this game, the Washington Times and the others. And then they'll create a little echo chamber, and pretty soon they all start baiting the mainstream media for allegedly ignoring the story they've pushed into the zeitgeist. And then pretty soon the mainstream media goes out and disingenuously takes a so-called objective sampling, and lo and behold, these RNC talking points are woven into the fabric of the zeitgeist....�27
The Bush administration ideology borrows heavily from the philosophy of Carl Schmitt, a little known, but highly influential German thinker. Schmitt taught that every realm of human endeavor is underscored by a deep duality, black against white, good against evil and so forth. When Bush declares a War on Terror, he is, in effect polarizing the world as �good� or �evil�, those who are either �with us� (i.e. �coalition of the willing�) or �against us� (�axis of evil�, France, �those folks� 28 ). The same �with us or against us� structure can be recognized in conservative dialogue in the media. Alan Wolfe, commenting on Schmitt, notes: �politics still requires that you treat your opposition as antagonistic to everything in which you believe. It's not personal; you don't have to hate your enemy. But you do have to be prepared to vanquish him if necessary� 29 . The right-leaning media must be on a war footing at all times, as the purer �surrogate� for the misguided liberal media. Where the Left is open to discussion, the Right must be argumentative and self-centred. Where the Left challenges policy, the Right must use its position to defend policy and discredit any potential challenge. Clinton is bad. Bush is good. The conservative media is everything that the liberal media is not. And its resulting success owes a lot to its championing of a unique definition of �diversity�.
By celebrating its own uniformity (and in the process redefining it as �diversity�) the conservative media develops a sort of �exclusivity� that the mainstream press cannot replicate. Through the development of public awareness, so-called �liberal bias� is slowly (but surely) stamped out. The Right�s �all-American� format establishes itself as a �breath of fresh air� compared to the smoggy leftist media environment. Due to the propensity of the government and its followers to �speak their minds�, the subjective conservative media is free to cry out against �liberal domination�, seducing large proportions of the American public through subjective rhetoric. Their message is simple; objective journalism, if adhered to correctly, would almost certainly present the world as viewed by the contemporary US Right. Presenting its case sympathetically, it is simultaneously submissive towards and critical of the left�s dominance, as Robert McChesney has observed: �The conservative criticism is also rather flattering to journalists; it says to them: you have all the power and the problem is you use that power to advance the interests of the poor and minorities (or government bureaucrats and liberal elitists) rather than the interests of corporations and the military (or middle America).�30 The truth is, of course, that the all-powerful �liberal media� only exists as a hyperbolic fabrication of the conservative public relations machine. The Right is only �afraid� of its own shadow. Through clever marketing, the conservative media appears �alternative�, not only through it�s embracing of modern technologies, but also via a dedicated ideology and inclination towards straight talking, as opposed to balanced debate. Through the amalgamation of information and entertainment (henceforth referred to as �infotainment�), and a proliferation of charismatic pundits and analysts, the Right�s onslaught on the mainstream media is calculated and flexible enough to redefine any potential misgiving as an exclusively liberal slip-up.
Control is another paradigm of the conservative critique. While the liberal and moderate majority associate media ownership (by Murdoch, Eisner et al) with the ideological format of the station or organisation, conservatives deem the owner/advertiser influence irrelevant. Claiming the decisive power lies exclusively with the journalists themselves, and that all journalists are by their nature liberal, the corruption of the press is reactionary to the progressive ideologies of those �in the trenches�. Whether Murdoch supports or reproaches US intervention in Iraq, for example, is an irrelevant question in the eyes of the conservative media critic. Given the high proportion of journalists who identify themselves as liberals (see earlier reference to Pew study), it could be argued that the Right has a point. Yet the increase in media mergers and recent staff turnovers warrant further scrutiny, and will be given a full examination in chapter 3.
The real success of the conservative media lies with its commercial value. With a mindset that embraces big business and advertising revenue, the recent surge of conservative presence in the media owes more to the wealthy backers of multinational corporations than it does to the average American. Reverting to a �top-down� form of journalism, where the media becomes little more than a public soapbox, as opposed to an �across the board� forum, the Right has transformed traditional objective formats into a series of linguistic one-way streets. Talkback, long considered an inalienable human right, has been condemned to history. The �infotainers� have arrived, and somewhere between deriding the latest Democratic slip-up and �praising the hard working men and women out there in Afghanistan/Iraq/Saudi Arabia/etc� they have created a form of news that breaks with tradition and embraces entertainment, high production values and visual impact in the manner of a typical Hollywood blockbuster. Gaining the sort of tabloid driven audiences that would normally shun the main evening news broadcast; the developing conservative media also attracts high advertising revenues thanks to a mutually beneficial relationship with big business. It�s a win-win situation. Richard Goldstein, editor of �The Village Voice� notes: �There�s a public for it. And if the media have a bias, it�s like a heat seeking missile. They look for consensus.�31 They say that sex sells, but there�s nothing sexier than an ideologically charged loudmouth screaming down another socialist bed wetter in the glorious name of �fair and balanced journalism�. �For the bored, more excitement. For angry conservatives, angry conservatives. For nonideological audiences fed up with liberal sanctimony, less liberal sanctimony. For those weary of political correctness, almost none. For news hounds, enough news to stick around for the fireworks. For men, blondes. For the opinionated, lots of people who are opinionated. For Americans, the flag. And for the tabloid mind in all of us, the tabloid mind over news.�32 And now, a word from our sponsor�
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Chapter three, �Constituents of the divide�, will focus on influential factors that contribute to the media�s polarisation, from aesthetic concerns such as �tabloidization� to the authoritative power of media moguls and the government. This will allow for the development of certain �themes� that will be explored further in chapter 4, which will examine the content of several news stories on a variety of networks.
4 According to Bartelby.com, Liebling�s famous quote first appeared in Richard Kluger�s The Paper: The Life and Death of the New York Herald Tribune, Smithmark Publishers, New York, 1986
5 Thomas Jefferson quoted in Robert McChesney and John Nicholls, Our Media, Not Theirs:The Democratic Struggle Against Corporate Media, Seven Stories Press, 2002, p24. For a more up-to-date, detailed examination of US journalistic ethics, see http://www.asne.org/kiosk/archive/principl.htm
6 James Madison quoted in John Nicholls and Robert McChesney, It�s the Media, Stupid, Seven Stories Press, 2000, p15
7 Rush Limbaugh is the most successful syndicated US talk radio host to date. His daily show, from 12-3pm ET, allegedly has 20 million daily listeners. David Brock has commented on the importance of the �Limbaugh echo chamber syndrome� - by which messages originating on Limbaugh�s show drive the twenty-four hour news cycle (David Brock, The Mighty Windbags, Salon.com, May 11 2004, http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/05/11/noise/index_np.html)
8 Recent studies by the American Journalism Review indicate that William Randolph Hearst probably never said this. However the comment lives on as �Exhibit A� for those wishing to discredit the power of media moguls. See http://www.ajr.org/article_printable.asp?id=2429
9 Jesse Ventura, governor of Minnesota, is just one of several commentators to make this analogy. Working For Change journalist Geov Parrish notes in Bush's Sickening Super Bowl Propaganda how the government used the event in 2002 to promote the �War on Terror� message: http://www.alternet.org/story/12335
10 Noam Chomsky, Media Control: The Spectacular Acheivements of Propaganda, Seven Stories Press, 1991. Excerpts available online at http://www.thirdworldtraveler.com/Chomsky/Media_Control.html
11 Eric Alterman, Liberal Signs of Life, The Nation, July 14, 2003. Full text can be found online at http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030714&s=alterman
12 �Fair and balanced� was chosen as a Fox News Channel slogan in 1996. The term hit the headlines after Fox attempted to sue journalist Al Franken for misrepresentation, following the release of his book, �Lies and the Lying Liars Who Tell them; A Fair and Balanced Look at the Right� in 2003. The case was thrown out of court. Further analysis of Fox�s slogan can be found in the Press Think article Notes on the Creature Called Fox by Jay Rosen, http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2003/10/14/fox_riddle.html
13 Orville Schell quoted in Eric Alterman, What Liberal Media?, Basic Books, New York, 2003, p40
14 Cliff Kincaid, editor of Accuracy In Media (http://www.aim.org), in interview
15 John Hawkins, 100 Of The Most Popular Political Websites On The Net, RightWingNews.com. See http://www.rightwingnews.com/special/rank.php
16 Amit Asaravala, Salon's Got a Will to Survive, Wired.com, 11 March 2004. http://www.wired.com/news/business/0,1367,62620,00.html
17 John Palmer, former NBC White House Correspondent, in interview
18 The replacing of Donahue with Scarborough is discussed further in the following articles: Eric Deggans, An unlikely homesteader in "Scarborough Country', St. Petersburg Times (Florida), June 14, 2003, p1D; Ken Auletta, VOX FOX; How Roger Ailes and Fox News are changing cable news, The New Yorker, May 26, 2003, p.58; and Paul Fahri, Moving Rightward, American Journalism Review, April 2003, p37
19 Eric Alterman, Liberal Signs of Life, The Nation, July 14, 2003. Full text can be found online at http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20030714&s=alterman
20 Pew Research Centre for The People & The Press Project for Excellence in Journalism, Public wants Neutrality and Pro-American Point of View, July 2003, can be viewed online at http://www.people-press.org
21 Timothy Noah quoted in Brian C. Anderson, Who�s Right?, TechCentralStation.com, 25 November 2003. Full text can be found online at http://www.techcentralstation.com/112503F.html
22 David Brock, The Mighty Windbags, Salon.com, May 2004, http://www.salon.com/books/feature/2004/05/11/noise/index_np.html
23 A May 2003 Pew Centre study, �Bottom line pressures now hurting coverage, say journalists� noted that 51% of survey respondents thought the �National Media� was headed in the �wrong direction�. 46% disagreed. Similarly, the same survey saw 86% feel that news was �avoiding complex issues�, and 52% believed �increasingly sloppy reporting� was becoming widespread. See http://people-press.org/reports/display.php3?ReportID=214 for more on the study
24 Re: �Cheese eating surrender monkeys�. For more on the origins of the phrase, see Gary Younge and Jon Henley, Wimps, weasels and monkeys - the US media view of 'perfidious France', The Guardian, February 11, 2003, p.3
25 Quoted in Russell Shorto, Al Franken, Seriously So; New York Times, 21 March 2004, Section 6, p.38
26 Quoted in Lloyd Grove, Media to the Left! Media to the Right! The GOP, Shooting The Messengers, The Washington Post, August 20, 1992, p.C1
27 Quoted in Gene Lyons, Fighting Your Own Battles, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette, 4 December 2002, p23
28 �Those folks� is borrowed from President Bush�s first address to the nation on the morning of September 11th, at a school in Florida. The full sentence reads: �I have spoken to the vice president, to the governor of New York, to the director of the FBI, and have ordered that the full resources of the federal government go to help the victims and their families and to conduct a full-scale investigation to hunt down and find those folks who committed this act.� In The Press Effect, KH Jamieson notes that: �By using the casual colloquial �folks� to identify the perpetrators, Bush also failed to find a language commensurate with the tragedy he described or the horror being experienced by those watching the events unfold that September morning.� (Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Paul Waldman, The Press Effect, Oxford University Press, 2002, p147
29 Alan Wolfe, A Fascist Philosopher Helps Us Understand Contemporary Politics, The Chronicle of Higher Education, 2 April 2004, p16
30 Robert McChesney, The Problem of Journalism: a political economic contribution to an explanation of the crisis in contemporary US journalism, Journalism Studies, Volume 4, Number 3, 2003, pp. 299�329
31 Speaking on MSNBC�s Alan Keyes is Making Sense, March 7, 2002
32 �For the bored�tabloid mind over news� taken from the Press Think article Notes on the Creature Called Fox by Jay Rosen, which can be found at http://journalism.nyu.edu/pubzone/weblogs/pressthink/2003/10/14/fox_riddle.html