SUBSCRIBE TO OUR FREE NEWSLETTER
Daily news & progressive opinion—funded by the people, not the corporations—delivered straight to your inbox.
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
5
#000000
#FFFFFF
News Media Share Blame for Voters' Ignorance
Oct 30, 2010
A couple of interesting items on politicalwire.com today show how hopelessly ill-informed the electorate is.
One is a Gallup Poll that says 37 percent of Americans believe Congress
has accomplished less this year than in previous years, while 23 percent
believe it has accomplished more. The poll notes that, in fact, "the
current Democratically controlled Congress has passed a series of
high-profile legislative bills, including the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,
and others."
The second is a Bloomberg national poll that finds by 2-1, likely voters
Tuesday believe "taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and the
billions lent to banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program
won't be recovered. "
The truth, Politico.com
notes. "The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans,
has overseen an economy that has grown for the past four quarters and
expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to
rescue Wall Street banks."
In the Bloomberg article, its pollster blames the electorate's ignorance on Democrats.
"The public view of the economy is at odds with the facts, and the blame
has to go to the Democrats," said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer
& Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the nationwide
survey. "It does not matter much if you make change, if you do not
communicate change."
I beg to differ. I believe much of the blame lies with traditional news
outlets, which have consistently split the difference between party
perspectives as the Republican propaganda machine pummeled any and all
Democratic accomplishments. In my mind this is neither balanced
journalism nor good journalism. The media's job is to place the news --
including political attacks -- in context. Overall, I don't believe the
media has done much to point out the sustained attack politics of
Republicans or the way in which they skew the verifiable facts contained
as provisions of some of these laws. Nor are other news outlets
willing to take on Fox News, which, at a national political level, is
little more than a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party.
Yes, Democrats deserve part of the blame. They need to communicate
better. But if the president devoted all his time to traveling around
the country, a lot less would get done. As for the news media, they
should spend a whole lot less time predicting the outcome of elections
and a whole lot more looking at the substance of what's behind the
elections.
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, It’s been nearly 30 years since I co-founded Common Dreams with my late wife, Lina Newhouser. We had the radical notion that journalism should serve the public good, not corporate profits. It was clear to us from the outset what it would take to build such a project. No paid advertisements. No corporate sponsors. No millionaire publisher telling us what to think or do. Many people said we wouldn't last a year, but we proved those doubters wrong. Together with a tremendous team of journalists and dedicated staff, we built an independent media outlet free from the constraints of profits and corporate control. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. Building Common Dreams was not easy. Our survival was never guaranteed. When you take on the most powerful forces—Wall Street greed, fossil fuel industry destruction, Big Tech lobbyists, and uber-rich oligarchs who have spent billions upon billions rigging the economy and democracy in their favor—the only bulwark you have is supporters who believe in your work. But here’s the urgent message from me today. It's never been this bad out there. And it's never been this hard to keep us going. At the very moment Common Dreams is most needed, the threats we face are intensifying. We need your support now more than ever. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. When everyone does the little they can afford, we are strong. But if that support retreats or dries up, so do we. Will you donate now to make sure Common Dreams not only survives but thrives? —Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Jerry Lanson
Jerry Lanson is an associate professor of journalism at Emerson College in Boston. His third book, "Writing for Others, Writing for Ourselves: Telling Stories in an Age of Blogging" (2010). He tweets: @jerrylanson
A couple of interesting items on politicalwire.com today show how hopelessly ill-informed the electorate is.
One is a Gallup Poll that says 37 percent of Americans believe Congress
has accomplished less this year than in previous years, while 23 percent
believe it has accomplished more. The poll notes that, in fact, "the
current Democratically controlled Congress has passed a series of
high-profile legislative bills, including the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,
and others."
The second is a Bloomberg national poll that finds by 2-1, likely voters
Tuesday believe "taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and the
billions lent to banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program
won't be recovered. "
The truth, Politico.com
notes. "The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans,
has overseen an economy that has grown for the past four quarters and
expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to
rescue Wall Street banks."
In the Bloomberg article, its pollster blames the electorate's ignorance on Democrats.
"The public view of the economy is at odds with the facts, and the blame
has to go to the Democrats," said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer
& Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the nationwide
survey. "It does not matter much if you make change, if you do not
communicate change."
I beg to differ. I believe much of the blame lies with traditional news
outlets, which have consistently split the difference between party
perspectives as the Republican propaganda machine pummeled any and all
Democratic accomplishments. In my mind this is neither balanced
journalism nor good journalism. The media's job is to place the news --
including political attacks -- in context. Overall, I don't believe the
media has done much to point out the sustained attack politics of
Republicans or the way in which they skew the verifiable facts contained
as provisions of some of these laws. Nor are other news outlets
willing to take on Fox News, which, at a national political level, is
little more than a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party.
Yes, Democrats deserve part of the blame. They need to communicate
better. But if the president devoted all his time to traveling around
the country, a lot less would get done. As for the news media, they
should spend a whole lot less time predicting the outcome of elections
and a whole lot more looking at the substance of what's behind the
elections.
Jerry Lanson
Jerry Lanson is an associate professor of journalism at Emerson College in Boston. His third book, "Writing for Others, Writing for Ourselves: Telling Stories in an Age of Blogging" (2010). He tweets: @jerrylanson
A couple of interesting items on politicalwire.com today show how hopelessly ill-informed the electorate is.
One is a Gallup Poll that says 37 percent of Americans believe Congress
has accomplished less this year than in previous years, while 23 percent
believe it has accomplished more. The poll notes that, in fact, "the
current Democratically controlled Congress has passed a series of
high-profile legislative bills, including the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act, the Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act,
and others."
The second is a Bloomberg national poll that finds by 2-1, likely voters
Tuesday believe "taxes have gone up, the economy has shrunk, and the
billions lent to banks as part of the Troubled Asset Relief Program
won't be recovered. "
The truth, Politico.com
notes. "The Obama administration cut taxes for middle-class Americans,
has overseen an economy that has grown for the past four quarters and
expects to make a profit on the hundreds of billions of dollars spent to
rescue Wall Street banks."
In the Bloomberg article, its pollster blames the electorate's ignorance on Democrats.
"The public view of the economy is at odds with the facts, and the blame
has to go to the Democrats," said J. Ann Selzer, president of Selzer
& Co., a Des Moines, Iowa-based firm that conducted the nationwide
survey. "It does not matter much if you make change, if you do not
communicate change."
I beg to differ. I believe much of the blame lies with traditional news
outlets, which have consistently split the difference between party
perspectives as the Republican propaganda machine pummeled any and all
Democratic accomplishments. In my mind this is neither balanced
journalism nor good journalism. The media's job is to place the news --
including political attacks -- in context. Overall, I don't believe the
media has done much to point out the sustained attack politics of
Republicans or the way in which they skew the verifiable facts contained
as provisions of some of these laws. Nor are other news outlets
willing to take on Fox News, which, at a national political level, is
little more than a propaganda outlet for the Republican Party.
Yes, Democrats deserve part of the blame. They need to communicate
better. But if the president devoted all his time to traveling around
the country, a lot less would get done. As for the news media, they
should spend a whole lot less time predicting the outcome of elections
and a whole lot more looking at the substance of what's behind the
elections.
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.