Here's an election-eve story you may have missed, thanks to the "news" media. Last Friday morning, the Commerce Department reported an economic growth rate of 3.7 percent for the third quarter of 2004, the best pre-election growth rate in at least the last quarter century. Yup, that's an economic performance stronger than what we saw in 1980, 1984, 1988, 1992, 1996 and 2000. Obviously, if we can pin blame or praise on one man for the economy - which is intellectually questionable but politically irresistible - the sun seemed to be shining on President Bush, right? Not if you tuned... continue reading
Many parents cherish the thought of their children as cute little moppets learning their ABCs, but perish the thought of their offspring growing into awkward teenagers requiring that talk about the birds and the bees. How do parents take on the task of telling their children about sex in a culture that has already taught them all the wrong lessons about it? In an article for the Abstinence Network, Baylor University professor John F. Tanner Jr. came up with six simple rules to raise children to get through their teenage years without the burdens or perils of premarital sex. Start... continue reading
If anyone is still being sold the civics-book baloney that our national press corps is just the referee of our democracy, the disinterested moderator of our national debate, the media's performance in this election year has just blown that concept to smithereens in their collective and transparent desire to deny George W. Bush another four years. To the uncommitted voter, let us state directly: The media are partisan players. They see their role as journalists as not to inform, but to persuade. They aim to make society better, and believe the great society is a society drained of its poisonous... continue reading
Television advertisers not only sell their brand by advertising, they make television itself possible. Absent the pay-per-view formulation of the likes of HBO, or taxpayer-funded PBS, anything viewed on television, both broadcast and cable, requires corporate sponsorship. It follows then that these advertisers bear direct responsibility for the double-scoops of raunchy sex, obscene language and graphic violence that is flooding the airwaves, oftentimes aimed directly at children, children whose parents are then expected to purchase their wares at K-Mart. Here and there one will find the more idealistic advertiser that is troubled by the polluted popular culture it is not... continue reading
The decision of Sinclair Broadcasting to air an anti-Kerry documentary in late October is a nightmarish recipe of "creeping fascism, state propaganda, Big Brother and brainwashing." So says the unhinged Molly Ivins, giving voice to the outrage felt by her colleagues in the news media. Liberals are positively panicked at the idea that somewhere, on some station, at some late date, someone will say something negative about John Kerry without a moment for balance on the other side. Let's be blunt: welcome to our world, liberals. You're all for propaganda and brainwashing when it's Dan, Peter, Tom & Co. are... continue reading
It is slowly dawning on Hollywood - and its affiliated TV stations across the fruited plain - that there's a new sheriff policing the tube in the town of Washington. Actually, it's the old sheriff who has come out of a decades-long slumber and has signaled that he is now, finally, ready to do his job. With license renewals on the schedule, the Federal Communications Commission is beginning to get down to business on assessing fines for decency violations on broadcast television. Janet Jackson's bared breast was only the beginning. Fox affiliates are wincing at the headlines, and they ought... continue reading
Speaking to a media conference thrown by the financial giant Goldman Sachs last week, CBS boss Les Moonves gave his view from the mountaintop about the Dan Rather forgery scandal and how the network's independent investigation would proceed. "Obviously, it should be done probably after the election is over, so that it doesn't affect what is going on." What? Dan Rather and CBS try to destroy the Bush campaign with a file of phony military documents, and now they think it would be politically sensitive to release an independent critique of their bias before the election. It is obvious that... continue reading
Watch out, astronauts and cosmonauts. Watch out, UFOs. Howard Stern's sleazy radio show is headed into outer space. Stern shook the radio world on October 5 by declaring that he will move his long-standing cavalcade of coarseness to Sirius Satellite Radio for a cool $100 million a year in cash and stock, beginning in January 2006, when his current contract with Infinity Broadcasting expires. Some used to worry about besmirching the pristine heavens with satellite weapons. Now the heavens will transmit the daily Stern feed, one classy stunt after another like the current contest to find "The World's Largest Hemorrhoid."... continue reading
It's late in the campaign season, time for the networks to pull out all the stops promoting the greatness of the Democratic Party. But you can only stoop so low, right? You wouldn't actually try to boost the reputation of the most discredited president in fifty years if he were a Democrat, would you? Oh yes, you would, if you're NBC's Katie Couric. Katie has a long history of boosting former president Jimmy Carter, so much so that it was reported the Man from Plains thanked her personally when he won the Nobel Peace Prize. So on the occasion of... continue reading
It's always nice when the ratings numbers reflect that not every hit program revolves around sexuality, snide cynicism, or ever-escalating insults. It's refreshing when "reality TV" isn't merely a demented neighborhood full of unemployed porn stars and tragically post-pubescent child actors mugging desperately for a second whiff of fame. Sometimes, real people play themselves on TV and grow a little. One surprising - even shocking - source of uplifting reality television has been ABC's suggestively named "Wife Swap" and the copycat Fox series "Trading Spouses." (ABC can hardly complain about Fox, since ABC stole the idea and even the title... continue reading