Love, lies and press conferences

posted at 9:03 am on July 2, 2009 by Anita MonCrief
[ Media ]    regular view

While most Americans are still cringing at South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford’s oversharing and the ad nauseam coverage of tan lines and soulmates, another tale of infidelity and lies seems to have finally reached critical mass. Unlike Sanford, he mainstream media (MSM) has never made a secret of their own obsessive love. In articles written in the superfluous style of Sanford’s emails to his Argentinian mistress, the MSM’s devotion to and dalliances with Obama have been public and embarrassing.

Sanford, taking another stab at political suicide, reported to the AP that he had “crossed the line,” but not “the ultimate line,” with other women. Sanford left many wondering about his definition of “crossing the line.” Thankfully at least two members of the MSM now understand their status as the mistress in the Obama affair:

“Following a testy exchange during today’s briefing with White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas told CNSNews.com that not even Richard Nixon tried to control the press the way President Obama is trying to control the press.

‘Nixon didn’t try to do that,’ Thomas said. ‘They couldn’t control (the media). They didn’t try.

‘What the hell do they think we are, puppets?’ Thomas said. ‘They’re supposed to stay out of our business. They are our public servants. We pay them.”

Puppets? No. Willing participants in an effort to lie to and mislead the American people? Yes.

In articles too numerous to detail, the media approach of the Nixon era has been replaced with sound bite journalism, pre-packaged statements and fawning coverage. Gone are the Woodwards and Bernsteins who would have cried foul at the obvious “straw men” placed in town hall meetings and press events, or the skillful dodging of hard questions by the adminstration. Either way, the MSM’s betrayal of the American public and their journalistic ethics is complete and unrepentant.Thomas goes on to say, in what appears to be utter disgust:

“I’m not saying there has never been managed news before, but this is carried to fare-thee-well–for the town halls, for the press conferences. It’s blatant. They don’t give a damn if you know it or not. They ought to be hanging their heads in shame.”

In a comment on the article, poster “surewewill” stated:

“I suppose the spin the Obama White House will put on this will be similar to the description of the IG that was dismissed because he was ‘confused, incoherent, etc.’ and therefore received a no confidence vote. Obviously Ms. Thomas’ line of questioning will be attributed to her ‘advanced’ age, approaching senility, time to retire, yada. Gibbs’ manner in press conferences have been colored with the quiet arrogance and dismissive manner of his boss. Like the President, he considers himself above the average person. Increasingly the Administration is developing a mistrust of the media which is gradually seeing the man and not the charismatic candidate. The tough questions are avoided and only pre-approved, prepackaged questions are allowed to give the appearance they have it all under control. IMHO.”

Speculation abounds on Twitter that the MSM has now taken on the role of the jilted and bitter ex-lover, but some have also taken to calling them the “State Run Media” or SRM. The tiff that the Media is having with Obama is really about credibility. Apparently, the losses of readers and ad sales have caused some newspapers and networks to reevaluate the benefits of this relationship. The administration can feed pro-Obama news to the media as long as it does not appear to. The media is not ready for this relationship to go prime time, that is, not until the Fairness Doctrine and possible bailouts have been secured.

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