meme o' the day

main stream media, a.k.a. MSM

Main stream media can be anything from the three big networks, to every news source outside of James Dobson's newsletter, depending on who you talk to. Usually a derisive term. Heard most recently in the discussion of possible voter fraud, as in, "the main stream media is ignoring the widespread accusations of voting irregularities." But does the main stream media deserve this epithet?

I still watch the nightly news on one of the three major networks. I'm not being coy in not naming names, it just depends on my mood on a given night which channel I tune in. Generally speaking, it's ABC until the first commercial break, and thereafter whichever of the other two is not showing a commercial, flipping each time one does come on. And I watch the News Hour on PBS. Yes, yes, all of this is hopelessly bourgeois. I also read a lot of news online, starting with Google News and Slashdot and working my way through the New York Times editorial page and various blogs. I also occasionally watch CNN or MSNBC. I listen to NPR (usually WPR, but also other affiliates) all day at work. I read comics, like Doonesbury and The Boondocks. And if it's 10:00 pm, you can find me absorbing every glorious second of the Daily Show. If it's Sunday (. . . it's Meet the Press, he he he. Yup, I'm a loser.) I am watching the morning talk shows. If it's Friday, I'm watching NOW. I don't really know if I'm a special case, or the norm in my methods of news gathering, I suspect the former, but I do know that I make use of the main stream media on a daily basis and feel no worse for wear.

The main stream media is taking the brunt of a groundswell of distrust. But I think it's a useful starting point. Every news source has bias, every news source has problems. The key is to recognize that and get enough news from enough sources to be able to assess what you read and hear critically. I can't stress enough that ignoring news entirely is not a solution. I get so angry when I hear people say this, in fact I'm getting pretty angry just thinking about it.

The meme of main stream media has become an excuse to be lazy and ill-informed. It has allowed people to, in effect, abdicate responsibility for their role in democracy.