Journalist Activism

For those of you reading this that don't know me, I am retired from the US Air Force and currently hold a contract job in the Middle East. Not a big 3 figure salary job, just a slightly higher than I would get in the states. Anyway the point is that even though I am in the Middle East I am not cut off from events back home.

Thanks to the fine men and women who work at AFN (Armed Forces Network) I get to see television and news from the states. There are downfalls such as the episodes of some TV shows being shown here for the first time right before they are released on DVD or live sporting events coming on at 2 AM. The show are provided to AFN at little or no cost and because of this there are no commercials.

Don't get to excited, the lack of commercials just mean that to get shows to fit into time slots commercials are replaced with DOD and military branch PSA's and military news stories. If I have the definition and consequences of sexual assault explained to me one more time I think I can put being an expert at preventing it on my resume.

Now to the point of my tirade...AFN only has one news channel and they share that channel by showing equal amounts of time to MSNBC, FOXNews, CNN, CBS, ABC etc... In other words a lot of info to push into 24 hours.

Watching news in this format has really highlighted the partisan nature of the media. You watch three hours of MSNBC, CNN, and CBS and then when FOXNews comes on you are really struck by the obvious lack of effort to even hide or disguise their partisanship anymore. You go from Obama is the greatest person to ever grace the rest of us with his presence in the history of mankind to Obama is Hitler and determined to destroy us all.

Whatever happened to a newscast where the reporter states "this is what the President said, this is what the House Minority Leader said, and this is the actual wording on the bill"? Those are facts that let viewers determine their own point of view. Instead the media thinks the public is too stupid and has to be led to an opinion by them because us doing so on our own might be dangerous and lead us to having viewpoints that oppose their own. When their efforts fail and people voice their opposition to media backed legislation they are branded as uneducated mobs by that same media.

This needs to stop now! Journalism is not the stage for activism. Journalism is an American way of life and is iconic in it's ability to freely inform the public of events that effect their lives. Facts and not interpretation! Objectivity, research, honesty, integrity, and trust! These are facets of being a journalist that must not be being taught in our journalism schools anymore. I am not relieving FOXNews from it's responsibility to being fair and factual but when everyone else is supporting a specific political agenda what is left for them to do. I would like to see the MSM reign in the sensationalism and opined reporting and maybe FOXNews would do the same. Either way some one tell me where to get news that isn't tilted to one party.

How Dare They Organize

I am a little baffled by the MSM and liberal politicians "anger" and accusations of people protesting health care reform being organized by republican organizations and insurance companies. As far as the republican organizations go I will resort to the liberal mindset and say DUH!!

Of course conservatives and republicans are informed and organized by republican organizations. That would be like me being angered or not understanding why abortion rights activists are getting information and staging protests with the help of planned parenthood and the DNC.

God forbid that civil rights protests are backed by the ACLU or the NAACP. I hope Greenpeace never organizes those environmentalists, that would be the beginning of the end!

The point of all this is that the feigned outrage by the Obama Administration that these protests are being organized is ludicrous and I hope that most Americans with the ability to think for themselves have the same reaction that I did. So what? If your Republican Senator or Representative send an email to constituents saying we oppose the health care bill and this is why and if you feel the same way please attend this town hall meeting and let other representatives know, there is nothing evil or diabolical about it. That is the American political process working the way it is supposed to.

A true news story would be if these protesters were being bussed in from 5 states away to argue with a representative that doesn't represent them. Then I would have to say that is going to far. If you know of this happening and can prove it let me know. As far as I can tell the protesters at these meetings have been from the areas of the meeting.

As far as the insurance companies go, if I was in the states right now I would attend my town hall meeting with my representative and I don't know, nor have I had any contact with, anyone who works for an insurance company. Many of my friends who share my views on health care and have gone to these meetings also have no relationship with Insurance companies. All of these accusations are an attempt by the left to associate conservatives with the new demon opposed to health care appointed by Pelosi, insurance companies.

I suggest that Pelosi, Reid and Obama go back to the war room and plan another strategy for this one because demonizing your constituency when they voice opposition is just bad politics.