“Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine”

By: American Decency Staff

Our job is only to hold up the mirror – to tell and show the public what has happened.â€Â That is a well known quote from the legendary CBS news anchor, Walter Cronkite. It has been a long time since you could say that was true of the average journalist. Here is another excellent quote from Cronkite: “Objective journalism and an opinion column are about as similar as the Bible and Playboy magazine.â€Â If that were the case, journalism these days would be an illustration of Bathsheba in the bath tub. Bias is the bread and butter of the modern network news show. There is no hint or even claim of objective reporting. From the far left with MSNBC’s Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow to the farthest-right-that-media-goes with FOX’s Bill O’Reilly and Glenn Beck. News shows just ain’t what they used to be. A poll by Sacred Heart University shows that this is old news (pun intended). According to this study, which is their third on this subject, 83.6% of Americans polled agree that national news media is “very or somewhat biased.â€Â Almost 85% of Americans realize that the news network of their choice is giving them an opinion with their report. Fortunately, we still have the right to choose our information inlets. We also have a much longer buffet table of media choices to choose from, including, in some cases, the sources for the newsrooms themselves. In this way, we, the audience, get to decide what is worth the media reporting on. It is an excellent example Let’s pull that apart a little bit. What has happened since the third quarter of 2008? Well let’s see. We have elected the most oppressively liberal president in generations. He has spent trillions of dollars trying to dig ourselves out of the hole. He is pushing nationalized health care. He has cut our missile defense and snubbed our allies. This could be a really long and depressing article, but that's not what I’m writing about. The point is that the news channel that President Obama claims is “entirely devoted to attacking [his] administrationâ€Â is the news channel with sometimes two and three times the viewers as its runner up. And that is Fox News. I am not naive enough to think that Fox News is unbiased. I would not go so far as to to say it is “the communications arm of the Republican Partyâ€Â as the White House does, but I would say that it tends to deliver its news in a conservative friendly way. In spite of it’s tendency to lean right in it’s political commentary, it is certainly the most impartial of the networks in its actual reporting. I have realized over the last few years that one power that the founding fathers balanced so precariously with the rest is overlooked by government text books and political commentators. That power, through the freedom of press, is the news media. It has proven true in recent times that whoever controls the media, in a big way controls the populace. The network news has realized and utilized the power that they have to enhearten their supporters and suppress their opponents. By making any who disagree with them feel that they are the minority or that they are foolish and by deciding what ideas and candidates deserve attention and popularity, the reporters of our day have played with us like a puppet rather than presenting us with the information and allowing us to judge for ourselves. We are unfortunately long past the days of objective journalism. For too long, we have taken arsenic in the form of propaganda with our nightly news. For many it has built up and killed their ability or (more importantly) desire to think for themselves. However, people are realizing that they must pick their poison. And ratings show that the overwhelming majority are picking the antidote. Submitted by Chris Johnson ================================= Finishing the year strong – As we rapidly are coming to the end of 2009, I want to thank the many of you who have faithfully continued to support us as well as those who have recently joined with us through your financial support. We stand amazed at the generosity of God’s people even in the midst of such difficult economic times. We are under no illusions, however, despite the generosity of many, October (if not for the match grant gift of $15,000) has not been kind to us.  Numbers of gifts and the gift total at this writing (10/22) are significantly down. As you begin to prayerfully contemplate the various ministries that you support with your year end gifts, will you consider ADA in your plans for support? If you would like a copy of our financial review for the year 2008, we will gladly send you a copy. Thanks for all you have done allowing us to stay in the battle. To support this ministry: https://secure4.afo.net/ada/main.php?f=donate/display9 ==================================== American Decency Association Bill Johnson, President P.O. Box 202 Fremont, MI 49412 ph: 231-924-4050 www.americandecency.org http://www.twitter.com/billwjohnson

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