April 09, 2009

Case Study: Leftwing Advocacy Group Provides Talking Points to Media, Media Dutifully Reprints Without Hesitation Across 200+ Outlets

A good post, if only for additional evidence of the media malfeasance that we know goes on every day. Media Matters could not be reached for a comment about this post, because they, as a philosophical matter, have a problem with political partisans trying to insert partisan political agenda items into the news (LOL).

It's a simple formula - a small, focused group of leftwing Obama supporters (in this case, a leftwing group pushing for universal socialist health care) gives talking points to sympathetic "journalists" in the press, and the press just runs with it as if this group's cause is a "story." Other outlets see their competitors picking up the "story" and don't want to be left without their "coverage." No balance, no challenge, no refusal to print the activist group-generated Democrat talking points as if they're "news." Just unquestioning, lethargic acquiescence and complicity.

Case and point (from the link above):

• Third of Illinoisans went without health insurance in last 2 years: Sun-Times
• Report: 2.5M in Michigan lacked health insurance: Chicago Tribune
• Study: 29% of Ohioans have gone without health insurance: BizJournals
• Report: More NJ residents lacking health insurance: Forbes
• Study: Many Kansans are uninsured: BizJournals
• Report tallies uninsured in Hawaii: KPUA AM 670
• Study: 1 in 3 Alabamians have no insurance: BizJournals
• 1 out of 4 NH residents lacked health insurance within last two years: WBZ
• 1 out of 3 Coloradans lacked insurance in past two years: Denver Post
• Nearly 1 in 3 Idahoans lack health insurance, study says: Idaho Statesman
• One in four nonelderly Minnesotans has been without health insurance, study shows: Twin Cities
• 1 in 3 are uninsured in Georgia, study says: Augusta Chronicle
• 1.3 million Louisiana residents uninsured: Independent
• Millions in N.C. lack health plan: Winston-Salem Journal
• Uninsured are mostly working: Sun-Herald
• Nearly one-third of Wyoming residents went without health insurance in past two years: Wyoming Tribune
• Report finds health insurance lacking in W.Va.: Charleston Gazette
• Nearly 1/3 Of Kentuckians Uninsured Says Report: WFPL Radio
• REPORT: 254K Rhode Islanders Uninsured at Some Point from 2007-2008: ABC 6

And the misrepresented facts, as well as the misleading and sometimes outright false statistics get repeated. Over. And over. And over. And over, until they become "collective wisdom." Some of the problems with the "47 million Americans are without health insurance" claim, for example, are listed at the link. Like the FACT that (according to Census data) about 9.5 million of them are illegal aliens. And another 17 million of them freely choose not to purchase insurance. Details, details, right? No wonder Obama wants to grab hold of the Census and run it from the White House.

Why, it's almost as if there exists a collective willingness on the part of most mainstream media outlets to function unflinchingly as an echo chamber of Democrat talking points and a propaganda arm of the Obama Administration.

Speaking "truth" to "power." What a joke.