Media Matters sums up the Breitbart/Sherrod case:
Here's the thing though; "Is Breitbart washed up?" isn't a question anyone in the media is asking today. It's all about the White House and the NAACP and Shirley Sherrod, as if this hoax just dropped out of the sky without anyone behind it -- a sort of fraud with an immaculate conception. As the video shows, some talking heads got a few shots in, but that's about the extent of it.
There is no question that someone in the administration reacted irrationally to a video put out by a well-known serial liar. And that's something we really need to discuss. But at the expense of talking about the serial liar himself? I don't think so.
The media is absolutely saturated with bullshit pollution from hacks like Andrew Breitbart. If the administration falling for it is such a bad thing -- and it is -- then why is it that the media falling for it is not? Is it serving the public well? It is not. Case in point:
Why didn't Americans know they got a tax cut? Because media outlet after media outlet featured bullshit artists shrieking about how Obama had raised taxes. And those claims were very rarely challenged.
This would be an excellent time for the media to start some sort of self-examination and figure out how it is exactly they could extract their collective head from their collective ass. And they can start by reporting on what a fraud Andrew Breitbart really is and why they take people like him seriously.
UPDATE: I'm not going to repost it here, but check out Rachel Maddow's take on FOX News' coverage of this thing. One day, they were all "Racism! She's racist! RACIST!", the next they were all "shame on the media for jumping the gun on this story."
It makes my head hurt. Do FOX News viewers drink more than most people? Someone should do a study, because I'd almost think they'd have to. How could you fall for obvious crap like that and be sober?
UPDATE II: the New York Times demonstrates exactly what I'm talking about here with an editorial that takes the administration to task, but doesn't mention Breitbart even once. Apparently, the edited clip just spontaneously came into existence and no one is to blame for it.
Here's the thing though; "Is Breitbart washed up?" isn't a question anyone in the media is asking today. It's all about the White House and the NAACP and Shirley Sherrod, as if this hoax just dropped out of the sky without anyone behind it -- a sort of fraud with an immaculate conception. As the video shows, some talking heads got a few shots in, but that's about the extent of it.
There is no question that someone in the administration reacted irrationally to a video put out by a well-known serial liar. And that's something we really need to discuss. But at the expense of talking about the serial liar himself? I don't think so.
The media is absolutely saturated with bullshit pollution from hacks like Andrew Breitbart. If the administration falling for it is such a bad thing -- and it is -- then why is it that the media falling for it is not? Is it serving the public well? It is not. Case in point:
CBS News, Feb. 2010:
Of all the very information that came out of the recent CBS News/New York Times poll, one question stuck out, that of taxes.
Here's the poll question: "In general, do you think the Obama Administration has increased taxes for most Americans, decreased taxes for most Americans or have they kept taxes the same for most Americans?"
The answer:
" 24 percent of respondents said they INCREASED taxes.
" 53 percent said they kept taxes the same
" And 12 percent said taxes were decreased.
Why didn't Americans know they got a tax cut? Because media outlet after media outlet featured bullshit artists shrieking about how Obama had raised taxes. And those claims were very rarely challenged.
This would be an excellent time for the media to start some sort of self-examination and figure out how it is exactly they could extract their collective head from their collective ass. And they can start by reporting on what a fraud Andrew Breitbart really is and why they take people like him seriously.
UPDATE: I'm not going to repost it here, but check out Rachel Maddow's take on FOX News' coverage of this thing. One day, they were all "Racism! She's racist! RACIST!", the next they were all "shame on the media for jumping the gun on this story."
It makes my head hurt. Do FOX News viewers drink more than most people? Someone should do a study, because I'd almost think they'd have to. How could you fall for obvious crap like that and be sober?
UPDATE II: the New York Times demonstrates exactly what I'm talking about here with an editorial that takes the administration to task, but doesn't mention Breitbart even once. Apparently, the edited clip just spontaneously came into existence and no one is to blame for it.
