[Vision2020] Public vs. Private Sector News

[Tom Hansen]

Give it a rest, Mr. Lohrmann -

 

Even Fox admits that they are a right wing media service.

 

Tom "a day's drive from the right side of the aisle" Hansen

Moscow

 

  _____  

From: vision2020-bounces at moscow.com [mailto:vision2020-bounces at moscow.com]
On Behalf Of Tim Lohrmann
Sent: Saturday, August 21, 2004 8:29 AM
To: Tbertruss at aol.com
Cc: vision2020 at moscow.com
Subject: Re: [Vision2020] Public vs. Private Sector News

 

Ted,

     I'm not a Fox News Fan either--mainly because the topics they choose to
cover are ratings driven and because of the shallow coverage of what is
newsworthy. My point is that concentration of media ownership--private or
public-- is a bad thing.

    And monopolies are bad whether the monopolizer is FOX, AOLTIMEWARNERCNN,
or PBS/NPR.

    I've got no problem with the existence of government owned media, I've
just got no illusions that they're unbiased just because the govt. owns
them.

    

     You contend that the media sensationalism is to blame for your
perception that Sandy Berger's supposed exoneration not being covered to the
same extent as the allegations against him.

     First of all, I've got news---most people have never even heard of
Sandy Berger, know who he is, or have heard of any stories involving him. My
point about sensationalism was that stories involving a person who is to
most an obscure individual about whom they have little or no interest doing
something with documents just don't cut it. Sensationalism needs blood, sex,
stuff like that--stuff like the ad nauseum coverage of the Scott Peterson
murder trial, Michael Jackson, the SLC murder.

   As for your getting all worked up that only a few stories were written
about Berger being cleared of wrongdoing, perhaps this was because most
media outlets didn't think anyone really gave a whit about the story anymore
and probably never did.

  In any event and rightly or wrongly, it's a long-time tradition that
retractions/corrections are printed on interior pages even if lead stories
are being corrected. This isn't a recent development in newspaper coverage
and the situation with Berger is analagous. 

 

  Or maybe they thought it was premature to print the story--after all
printing that a Clinton official who admittedly took documents and
reportedly stuck them in his socks and other clothing is cleared of
wrongdoing is pretty incredible.   

   Best, TL

  

   

Tbertruss at aol.com wrote:


Tim et. al.

This is really a hoot!

I'll get up on any side of the bed you want if you will just read the dang
nam Wall Street Journal article on Sandy Berger's "exoneration."  Then we
can discuss this issue reasonably.  If you refuse to at least respond to my
previous post exhorting you to "Do Your Home Work," which contains some
detailed info from that article, I can only conclude you are not debating
sincerely, and I am wasting my time.

If you think the Wall Street Journal is full of it on this issue, fine, tell
me why!  But you have not made reference to the specific content of this
article regarding the evidence it offers that contradicts your statements
about the Berger investigation of document theft.

As for you finding it amusing that ! I suggest that democratic government is
supposed to represent the people, including government funded media, I gave
an example in Canada's CBC of government funded media that I think is an
excellent news source.  No, I don't think the CBC represents Big Brother.  I
think FOX news is much closer to that, and it is "private sector."  Why
could totalitarian control not come from the corporate "private sector"
agenda?

Can you respond to this contrast I just made between FOX news and the CBC?
Perhaps this will offer a clue as to what bias you have towards public
funded news vs. private sector news, if you do have a bias one way or the
other.

I do not have an a priori bias one way or the other.  Depending on the
circumstances, I rely on both private and public funded news sources.  And I
think it healthy in any society to have a balanced mixture of public and
private sector media.

What do you think of this approach?

Ted Moffett _____________________________________________________
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