The Weird and The Wacky Meet

Where YouBetIAm comes to write….

Liberal Media Bias and Janet’s Breast

“Monday was Groundhog Day.  Janet Jackson’s breast popped out of its hole, saw its shadow, and now we’ll have six more weeks of overreaction.” This is what Jimmy Fallon quipped on Saturday Night Live, the week of the Super Bowl, and it rang true. 

                 It seemed everywhere I went that week people were talking about the infamous “wardrobe malfunction.”  Every single one of my teachers found some way to work it into their lecture, students were mumbling about it in the hallways, and no fewer than three articles graced the Yahoo News homepage detailing the event and the repercussions.

                 However, no one was talking about the other drama that had unfolded that notorious Sunday.  MoveOn.org, a self described grassroots political action committee, raised millions of dollars to run an advertisement during the Super Bowl criticizing the deficit and President Bush. 

                 CBS flatly refused to run the ad, citing that it was too partisan and controversial.  However, CBS did run an ad that was paid for by the White House, promoting the endless, futile “war” on drugs.

                 Whatever happened to the public owning the airwaves?  Should companies that literally rent frequency bands from the FCC be allowed to discriminate?  Doesn’t free speech mean that everyone gets to voice their opinion, even if someone disagrees?

                 Do I sound bitter?  Well, I am. 

                 Last June, CBS was a major supporter of rule changes that the FCC considered implementing.  This would allow media outlets to have bigger monopolies enabling one company to control even more of the media spectrum.  According to MoveOn.Org, CBS gave major contributions to the White House to push these changes through.  Even Republican Senator John McCain says, “These changes were custom-tailored for CBS and Fox.”  CBS was second only to Fox News in support of the president during the war with Iraq.  So it is no wonder that they choose not to air ads that don’t support the president.

                 It can’t be that the ad was controversial, since controversial ads are aired all the time, including during the Super Bowl.  CBS just didn’t like the ideas that were expressed in this particular ad. 

                 Certain media outlets are becoming more and more blatant in their bias all the time.  But you wouldn’t know this if you listened to the news.  Every time someone calls one of these news outlets on their conservative bias, the outlet cries foul, and accuses everyone else of being too liberal.  Sometimes it backfires, like when the Simpson’s ran a parody of the Fox News banner on their show, Fox News almost sued part of its own company and the episode was almost pulled.  But for the most part the only message that is heard is that the media is getting too liberal, and the original conservative bias argument is lost.

                 Why aren’t we hearing more about the MoveOn.org ad that was censored?  Why isn’t it being reported on network news?  Is it important in comparison to Janet Jackson’s breast?  In the long run, which is going to affect us more: media outlets that only allow us to hear one opinion or the shenanigans of an aging pop star?  What should we care about?

                 Last year, Anne Coulter appeared on “The Daily Show with Jon Stewart.”  Stewart, known for his liberal politics, tried to make a concession to the conservative pundit. 

                 Stewart said that the real divide wasn’t between conservatives and liberals, it was between moderates and extremists.  With these gentle words, he was inviting her to disagree amiably and reasonably. 

                 Coulter, quick as a wink, agreed but added that it was the liberals who were all extremists, totally missing or ignoring his point.

                 So long as only one side of the political spectrum has its voice heard, our news media will suffer from the extremism.  Stewart was warning us not to be extreme in our views and try to look to all sides of an argument.  I’m not saying that we should silence the conservative voices, only that we should have a variety of views on the air. 

                 Moderation comes from taking in all viewpoints and balancing them against each other.  How is this country supposed to mend its divide if we don’t get to hear everyone’s opinions?

Copyright 2004

Not the original graphic

By Amanda Evans

Original Publishing Date: 03/04/04