WASHINGTON (CNN) – A prominent Democrat is joining the fray as many of the nation's newspapers slash staffs, file for bankruptcy, end their print editions, or cease publishing altogether.
Sen. John Kerry of Massachusetts announced Monday that he will chair a subcommittee hearing on the future of journalism.
"An independent news media is vital to our democracy," Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Commerce Subcommittee on Communications, Technology, and the Internet, said in a statement Monday evening. "The history of our Republic is inextricably linked to the narrative of our free and independent press, yet today, America's newspapers are struggling just to stay afloat. I called this hearing to directly address a problem that for too long has had us turning the other way. Whatever the model for the future, we must do all we can to ensure a diverse and independent news media endures."
The hearing is set for May 6. It is the subcommittee's first hearing since Kerry became the chair. It "will address the economic recession's impact on media," the statement said.
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We need independent news sources so we are not just subjected to the lies of Faux News.
Newspapers are struggling because the internet and television have become more efficient. Losing newspapers isn't a threat to independent journalism, it is progress towards a better news medium. Newspaper news is old news.
Interesting piece, glad that the Feds will be studying the demise of traditional media. I trust that the evolution of online media will be a major topic inthis discussion; it's this industry disruptive technological leap.
I see this movement as the ultimate DEMOCRATIZATION of media, w/anyone w/voice able to express themselves and gain a following, w/o being tethered or bound by financially & politically powerful, entrenched organizations! Vive La Social Media!!
Right....
And the media is going to go full steam ahead and not give the government a pass... especially after the government pumps them full of money to keep them afloat.
right.
its not the government's job to save the newspapers, or any other business. what is going on... i no longer know my own country.
Sorry to tell it to you Sen. Kerry, but the newspaper days are gone. We live in a new age where all the news we need to find is online. The only relevant papers are the Wall St. Journal, The Daily News and the Washington Post. Sooner or later, those new papers will be irrelevant.
Unless the media stops promoting political agendas and taking sides (instead of REPORTING), it has no future.
and this will accomplish what? What a waste of time. Let the market determine what media succeeds and what fails.
And it begins... here lays the path to govt run news. Not that most isn't already, this will just be more official.
Simple solution: fund the news with stimulus money. Then us worker-bees won't waste so much time worrying about facts.
The main stream "news" media deserves bankruptcy! They are totally bought and paid for by the left clowns. Let them eat cake. John Kerry needs to get a brain.
Maybe if the "news"papers start printing news stories instead of propaganda, people might be more inclined to purchase them. People are tired of hack journalism, and media personalities who seem more concerned with making the news instead of reporting the facts.
There's only one problem. The media isn't independent, and they certainly don't report the news. They try to manipulate the news. Maybe that's why everyone is so disgusted with them.
Is this guy kidding? "An independent media"???? We haven't had one of those for years. The media is so shamelessly liberal it's not even funny. People have voted with their wallets and simply refuse to buy the garbage these businesses have been producing. Maybe Chris Matthews will attend the hearing so he can get another chill up his leg. What a joke.
"America's newspapers are struggling just to stay afloat" – Kerry
So maybe what America's newspapers need is an infusion of Government cash to keep them going, then Obama can control the banks and the media. That's not too much to ask, is it?
Senator Kerry, just like the 8 track was replaced by the tape deck, which was replaced by the CD player, things run thier course. The Newspaper industry is not exempt from that. When you have sites like CNN who give you the news for free, when you have sites that give your real times noews, not things that happened yesterday, when you have media outlets that give you real time news 24/7 on television, internet on your phones etc.......well who is going to spend $1.00 to $3.00 in some places to read something that they can pull out thier laptop or thier phone to read. I know you are old Senator Kerry and probably nostalgic, the day of newspapers are over. There will be some who like to get thier news the "the old fashion way" but most of will use the internet. I think the real issue is, is that you can no longer control the media outlets due to the internet.
The reason the newspapers are going under is because people stopped buying them. Nothing more than that. Case in point: I'm on CNN.com and not reading a newspaper. Why are they having a meeting on this? Are they going to have a bailout of newspapers now?
Who cares. They are all a bunch of rags.
Hey Kerry....the future of the press is called the Internet. You don't need to waste taxpayer dollars figuring that out. Congress needs to stay out of this one. The newspaper PRINT business is dead....move on.
"An Independent News Media" ? Did he read/watch the coverage in the run-up to the Iraq war? Did he read/watch the coverage of the last election? "Diverse" and "independent" hasn't existed in a long, long time–What a Joke!
The problem with journalism is that they do not play both sides and people are tired of it. People want to hear it all. Like our local newspaper. They are so liberal, that when an Illegal kills a cop they put in a 4 line info on it on page 99. But an illegal who wants us to pay for their Illegal kid to be taught english and gets a lawyer to sue someone gets top billing on the front page. Just stuff like that goes on and on all the time. A columnist will write their single views on something. But, journalist need to show both sides..
What is he going to do? Bail them out so that the 'press' can continue to print favorable stories about Barry?
Paper media is very wasteful. The amount of tree and paper used for newspapers and magazines is astounding. Just transitioning over to electronic media will be the largest and greenest move the world has ever seen by an Industry. And it's wonderful that this is happening naturally due to customer preference, not any over arching government mandate.
AKA....All the liberal print media is going under and we need to bail them out to keep spewing the bs liberal talking points.
hmmmmmmmmm......I've got a Ketchup fortune and a full head of hair....exceeelent.
An independent news media is vital to the Democracy of the United States. Sadly, some the biggest names are not very independent (Fox, CNN, Huffington etc...). One can find oneself having to cross reference global news sources to flesh out truths from the 'American political party media'...why is that? Fox news won’t acknowledge any faults by the Bush Administration and CNN spends a lot of time of fluffy fluffy.
This hearing going to lead to discussions of bailing out the printed press and media?
Wall street got it's bailout for making bad business decisions.
Detroit got a semi-bailout for making bad business decisions.
So it's only logical that we give the printed press a bailout for their bad business decisions and inability to adapt to a changing information environment.
American journalism's biggest enemy is America's colleges of business. News sources are controlled by men and women with degrees in management and accounting, not journalism. Their goal is advertising sales. They prefer scandal to information, because people like scandals. Informative pieces and background pieces are expensive to produce and harder to sell.
So, the media is covering personality disputes rather than issues. The media wants to provide publicity for other corporations owned by the corporate conglomerate that they belong to. The media does not want to cover the corporate hanky-panky of their sponsors.
Of course ! ! !
A liberal democrat wanting to prop up the dominant liberal media. It's understandable why the liberal left wouldn't want to lose it's shills .
Journalism has 2 key problems:
1. Bias – the advent of FOX news has highlighted the bias in media. As it becomes obvious of their conservative bias, seeing both sides of a story has demonstrated clearly the liberal bias on the other channels. More and more it becomes so obvious who the journalist is supporting. Roland Martin is in the tank for Obama, doesn't matter what Obama does. CNN clearly protrayed Obama in a better light than Hillary Clinton in the primary. This bias hurts the credibility of all of the news agencies.
2. The internet gives us quick news, more views, less bias and free news. It's going to be hard to compete with the internet.
See, herein lies the problem, we live in a niche society now. We can all choose the sources of information that are slanted towards our own views be they liberal or conservative. My wife and I call it newsertainment. We can listen to the satellite radio station that only plays the type of music we like. We can live in a neighborhood where everyone is in the same socioeconomic class as us. We can totally avoid exposure to ideas that are different from our own. Thus we become more insular and opinionated and convinced that we are "right" and they are "wrong". Hence all of the strongly voiced opinions on this blog. Y'all need to step away from the computer, turn off the tv and get out of the house more often, sort of step outside your little ideological bubbles. Don't believe anything the media tells you. It is all slanted. Have a nice day!
"..to ensure a diverse and independent news media endures."
Letting Rupert Murdoch own 60% of all news organizations is clearly diverse and independent.
And isn't this the best example of the 'Peter Principle' – John Kerry holding a Senate meeting.
Just what is an independent news media?
Fox News is slanted to the right.
MSNBC is slanted to the left.
CNN is slanted to the left.
Better to define an independent viewer as one who watches all three.
Can you just see a hearing on an independent viewer – not many of them around except for you and me.
Diverse and independent? The media single handedly got Obama elected and still refuses to criticize. Give me a break....is this Kerry's way of saying a bailout should be given to the media? Go AWAY Kerry! You and your billionaire wife.
John Kerry needs to take a long walk off of a short plank. People might be a little more concerned if the US Media wasn't so corrupt already. Without the media Obama doesn't even come close to being elected President. Without the media we get the public support to do whats needed in Iraq and that war is over several years ago. Instead we are still there, and we have a Islamic president claiming to be christian who has less experience in politics than my cat.
He's more concerned with the propoganda machine of the Democratic party !
Oh goodness! Now the feds are going to bail out newspapers who can't sell their opinion pages?
When a paper if left wing liberal in a moderate society I don't get why there is a question of their financial security.
Who wants to buy liberal papers when they use them only to just push their agendas. Besides, you go green people should love the fact that we'll save some trees. My only hope is that liberal sites such as CNN will also go down. Kerry and the libs will try to bail out all their friends, but the fact is the papers are going down just like pro 8 because the general public just doesn't agree with this crap. You guys won 3 presidential elections in thirty years. How great is that, you must be very proud. But keep trying to brainwash the youth, after all Hitler said, if you control the youth you control the future. Obama's a great student of that philosophy.
With the type of unprincipled people reporting news now, I am not sure that there should be anymore independent news media. They are for the most part no longer reporting the truth or the facts, and seem absolutely unable to be unbiased for what they are reporting. No where is that more evident than cable media. I believe we are probably getting more real news and truth from good i-witness reports on the internet. At least, when something is reported that is one-sided or incorrect, it can be refuted easily on the web.
Everything, all things, come to one essential truth. In America you are governed by the person with the purse strings. Companies who advertise on your news program dictate what your news program says. When you have advertisers who WANT unbiased, unslanted journalism then you will get it. Our news is advertiser driven. Absolutely everything you see on TV or read in a newspaper or in a magazine has had marketing all over it first. We are a manipulated society.
Senator, I just wish the journalists in the newspaper business were independent................................
Finally, someone in Washington is paying attention to this problem. It is critical to our Republic that we have a watch-dog press. I think that there should be more news reporting, not less. Cable news and the constant chatter can not replace newspapers, I believe, because there is an accountability that is lost. Anyone can jabber about anything on CNN, MSNBC or, and most especially FOX NEWS, but how often is there truth check in 24/7 coverage. When a journalist puts her/his name on an article, he/she is taking a public stand with a reputation that took years to develop. That is not true on the constant chatter of cable news. Thank you Senator Kerry for your attention to this critical issue.
This committee is another method to try and spend more money to save an industry that is so biased.
Perhaps if the media wasn’t so biased and it reported consistently the hypocrisy on both sides the American people would realize the problem is with both political parties and vote for real change we can believe in. Not some goof who used a catch phrase and continues to run our country in to bankruptcy.
If my memory serves me correctly, a very wise professor once said in journalism school many years ago that "the only true freedom of the press belongs to the man who owns the press," or something to that effect. Sad, but it had never been more true than today.
Can't believe there are still folks tooting the "Liberal Media" horn. There is no liberal media. All the big media is owned by right-wing corporate hacks. Even PBS is now so heavily corporatized they tend to cover stories from the big-business perspective. They are now basically owned by their big sponsors like ADM, Merck, etc.
All the corporate media covered the "Tea Parties" as if they were some hugh revolution about to happen – many with just a handfull of protesters. Where were they when 200,000+ people were marching in the street to protest the 2000 election? 100,000+ protesting the Iraq war? Covering torture by the US government as if it were just a minor slip in judegement?
what i like about the news media they are the only ones to root out the corruption in the government.also if you have a problem you cannot get resolved you can write to the news media and your problem will be resolved,by embarrising the politician that cannot or would do nothing with your problem.
It'd be worth it to me to pay an appropriate fee to read the newspaper online - I think this is the best way to go.
I agree we need both print and internet media and that's why i buy several written newspapers daily in addition to viewing several online sources. I don't think the written paper will completely die out...too much local content in them...but they need to change their formats a little to address their areas.
lol...if internet news was the only news available we'd be in trouble...
Can the govt please stay away from the press. If the liberal "independent" press had reported news like it's supposed to, they wouldn't be going bankrupt. "NYTimes" hint hint
Americans only get American News. Little is broadcast on what is happening in the rest of the world unless it directly effects the US and then it is slanted depending on the politcal bent of the person writing or broadcasting. In effect a type of propaganda and a constant assault on the intelligence of the viewer.
This is not true on Canada's cbc or Britains bbc which has objective, factual news. America's lack of knowledge of the rest of the world is astounding!
the banks are so afraid of the media reporting on how they spent the tarp money, they would rather return it than give an account as to what they did with it, good work media.
Let print media die like the dinosaurs. Its time has come and gone and the web is the new medium for news. People drive cars to work everyday instead of riding a horse. We have advanced. Same goes for news. Besides, think of all of the trees that will be saved instead of wasted on printing a paper that most read and dispose of within an hour. What a waste.
open your minds
Kerry is absolutely right.........a hearing can produce more information, which is always good.
whoever you read or listen to, facts cannot be distortred only omitted.
There hasn't been an independent media in a long time. This is most clearly seen when you think of how GM is now run by the government (BO fired the CEO) since they gave them bailout money. The gov also gave GE 10 billion dollars. GE happens to own NBC and MSNBC. Does anyone doubt who runs those two fine (gag) media outlets?
Newspapers are dying b/c of free market forces. Most of us like to get our news on TV or in the internet. When mainstream media became almost exclusively liberal it really hurt their cause as well, as the average independent minded person couldn't trust what they were reading.
Sorry Mr. Kerrry, but journalism has died in many newspapers long ago.
The newpapaers missed the boat, period. They were not fast enough to change with the times, and stuck to an agenda that was vastly different from what the public (those of us that cared enough and are intelligent enough to read a paper) wanted.
Had they been truly independent they may not be in this predicament.
Sen. Kerry should spend his time worrying about the security and future of this country and the fitness and legal status of our President before wasting more $ on this kind of crap.
Losing newspapers isn't a threat to journalism, people are just getting their news from better, and free sources that cover news from around the world in real time.
I thought the world in general was supposed to think conservation..... Wouldn't the end of "newsPAPERS" save the trees?
Kerry, the opportunist strikes again! Does Kerry think this will endear him to the press or what? I know tehre are reoports that teh NY times mightfile bankrupcy, but Journalism won't die if the NYT goes bankrupt! And even if print media does fade away, there is still TV news and the internet, so who cares if these papers die out? it's the price of technology. just like the dinosaurs died out.. Sorry John, your brown nosing is not only self-serving, but wrong -headed
As much as I love my daily newspaper I have to agree that the printed word, i.e., news'papers', may be dying out. We are so used to getting everything, including our news, "now", thanks to the internet, that I think we need to rethink the whole issue. I'm not sure what the best solution to this dilemma is but we clearly need good journalism! I just hope the reason people don't subscribe to newspapers any longer isn't because of the dumbing down of America that has been going on for far too long. I started reading the newspaper when I was in high school. Granted, some of that was "human interest" type stories and Dear Abby, but it was a start. I don't know any teenagers today who read the newspaper. That is just sad.
Is this a joke. Our news media is so biased that it makes me sick. I do not think I dislike any one group more than mainstream journalists with the exception of ACLU lawyers. Take the example of CNN reporter Susan Roesgen last week carrying her agenda in as non-biased "reporter" covering a story.
We need an impartial media more than we need an independent media.
If they are going to takes sides on the issues instead of just reporting it then we don't need them. If they are filling the front page with their opinion and the real news on section C7 they are not going to stay in business.
Report it impartially as it is and let the people form their own opinion.
They main reason why the newspapers are failing is not because of the Internet is because the readers do not want to hear their opinion but just what is happening.
If the people are not interested on what they have to say and are not going to read the newspapers then what is the point on keeping them on circulation.
Let the free market decide.
I agree that free and independent media is essential to democracy... unfortunately most journalists that are part of the media are liberal and thus biased toward the Democratic party and other liberal groups and causes. Fox is probably better balanced. They are accused of being right-wing. If you compare them to other broadcast and cable news networks, they do appear more to the right.... but that's only because they are more in the middle and the other networks have swung way left.
John Kerry would be in charge of this unbiased study! Newspapers would have done better if not for the campaign fiasco that proved to anyone with any brains at all that most are so biased to the left that journalism is dead. The return to true journalism would have to be the issue, and all Kerry would be after is to save another venue with a left wing bias. So let them fail, and no bailouts.
I do still read some print journalism, and think there is a place for it. So much on the internet and the tv are not fact-finding journalism, but opinion, and pundits. For history's sake, we do need to have some way to preserve the daily occurances. I'm not sure of the answer, because we did cut our paper due to our family's budget cut-backs...
Jornalism in the USA is totally corrupted. Let it gol under
Who wanna buy a bunch of lies. Americans have learnt to filter through and get the news before they are reported. That way they don't need to buy newspapers that are written to Promote republicans agenda!!
Media is good if truly informative but they went to far premoting the cold war that cause the death hunddreds of thousand people which never exit.
If only he was around to save the telegraph. Morse code was cool right. No one reads newspapers anymore, say goodbye.
I hope Oprah or someone with alot of money would come up with a news outlet!
What a complete waste of time and Taxpayer dollars.
When is our president going to stand up to this crap????? Oh, wait a minute . . . BO is in bed with GE so he can have the support of NBC . . . it is so true that the liberals are a hateful and unfair group. The democrats are only interested in themselves and not for the good of the country. For Kerry to make such statement is proof that there is very little intelligence in the Congress. HELP . . . America is in trouble.
John Kerry just wants to prop up the various media, as 90% are either tilted left or just plain left wing propoganda.
Let the newspapers go the way of the hand-cranked telephones.
Newspapers – print journalism – helped form this country. Ben Franklin and others who spoke out agains the monarchy were jailed and had their presses confiscated.
Americans' ignorance of their country's past – as well as its present and future – will surely continue to destroy this country and make it virtually a nothing nation, which it's on its way to becoming: wow, its people can't get education; the country's infrastructure is falling apart because of politicians' pandering to businesses; our mothers/fathers and sisters/brothers or aunts/uncles are dying every day in a country we should never have entered...
And all the bulk of the responses on this board can do is call John Kerry names.
You get what you deserve.
It may have once been true, but for a very long time, the idea of an independant media has been a myth. The media has to turn a profit and to do that, it must sell ads. What we once had, but no longer have, is a code of ethics that keep the executives and ad-men out of the newsroom. It is now painfully apparent that editorial policy is dictated from the front office to assuage advertisers and promote political agendas. Sometimes those agendas are left-leaning, sometimes right-leaning. But the objectivity is almost completely gone. Bloggers, which are supposed to be the antithesis of our corporate-controlled media, are even worse. They aren't journalists and are even more prone to policial motivation.
Without the so called "independent (liberal slanted) news media", people might not be able to be brainwashed into thinking Democrats are wonderful, caring people. They might evaluate them on their merits, and we would be stuck with an independent or libertarian government. That would be terrible. We need Kerry to spend more money and create more liberal slanted garbage to keep people like Obama in office.
Dave April 21st, 2009 10:05 am ET
Diverse and independent? The media single handedly got Obama elected and still refuses to criticize.
In the first place, the fair and balanced Faux Noise did all they could to make sure suspicion was cast on Obama from birth onward. The people saw through the charade and the baiting and the lies, and elected the best man for the job.
Secondly, if the media was just reporting the news, why would they be criticizing anything? I thought you wanted just reporting, not
commentary. You can't have it both ways...if you want to know what Sean Hannity's opinion is, that is not hard news. If you want to know how Congress voted on an issue, that is. Those of us who watch Olbermann know exactly when he is reporting facts and when he is telling us his viewpoint. An educated person can discern the difference, but editorial comments belong on the editorial page, not the front page.
And if you had been watching MSNBC, Keith has done plenty of criticizing of the expansion of the war, the failure to want to prosecute the previous adminstration for war crimes...unlike Fox, who just criticizes, MSNBC actually reports what's happening and looks beyond the sound bite.
Journalism died when academia became infected with the disease called liberalism and then began spawning brainwashed robots to carry the blind liberal message forward under the name of "journalism".
Why does the media keep hosting republicans even after being thrown out of power. ..Why do they give Dick cheney air time to talk over President Obama with what he is trying to do?
What journalism? There are no real news reporters today, and as far of the print media goes, the papers that are shutting down are mostly those that pushes an extreme far left view to the point that their readership are cancelling their subscriptions.
I stopped the paper months ago because I got sick and tired of the one sided liberal media. I want to hear ALL sides of the story, not just one.
Todays press is a joke,just like the fake two party system.What we have today are not rights,only temporary privlages.
I'm not really so sure that the problem is as much with the media as it is with an ignorant public. What many are referring to as "news" is not news but is commentary. Nightly news should, and usually does deliver the news, just the facts with quotes and videos. Most newspapers report the news but the political page is just that – political – and they usually try to have columns from both sides of an issue. Each side complains that the other is allow to have a column.
But, if people are counting TV commentary (i.e. Chris Matthews, Bill O'Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Jon Stewart, Steven Colbert, etc.) to be "fair and balanced," they need an attitude adjustment. These are people with an agenda, even if that agenda is just to boost ratings, make money, or just make people laugh.
Journalists could do a better job of investigating issues thoroughly but there has been a big improvement in that arena in the past few years. People should be exposed to both sides of an issue but be aware that there is news, entertainment, and political campaigning. Try to recognize the difference.
The "liberal, biased media" is nothing more than right wing propaganda. This lie was invented by the GOP, when the media went after Richard Nixon and uncovered his criminal wrongdoing. Well, if demanding the truth is liberal, tell me where I'm supposed to line up.
To all the folks who think the Internet is 'the' place to get news... check the by-lines! Many many of these stories come from Newspaper staff who are paid well to do good investigative journalism. Paper may be an outdated way to get access to the news but without those who write what we read (online or in paper form) our access to quality journalism will suffer.
He might as well count the leaves on the trees. -- What a total waste of time and manpower.
Some people think Cspan is a fair public channel because it is a citizens network. If you think so, think again. Look how they arrange their Programs and look who comes to the network for rebuttal.
Sick and tired of being sick and tired!!
With all the other things going on, is a congressional hearing necessary to tell us what we already know,the newspaper industry missed the boat ! Newspapers on a local/regional level may survive to report police or school board corruption. With the immediacy of cable news and internet bloggers, newpapers are a thing of the past. I still enjoy my daily paper on the train ride to work, but that is what I grew up with. The younger generation get their news on blackberrys, I-Phones and lap tops they will not pay for something available for free.
Do not bail out the New York Times with my money.
Let that Liberal rag fail.
1st Quarter of 2009:
Gun sales up 27%
NYTimes Ad revenue down 27%
How's information like that grab you?
Since I've helped to support both that must make me one of Neapolitano's "Right-Wing Extremist's"
BTW-Fox News is killing the rest of the industry combined...fools.
Journalism died when Peter Jennings died.......
Or in other words when Dan Rather got fired because of asking hard questions of Bush millitary credentials.........
Hope this is not leading to a bailout for the newspapers. Also could this be a back door for the Fairness doctrine. Let's only pick the newspapers that show favoritism. Doesn't Kerry get it that most people gain their news from the Internet???? Man needs to concentrate on spending our tax dollars on more important issues and stop worrying about how he is going to be presented in the press.
Perhaps the media outlets are dying becuause they are no longer independent.
I hope John Kerry also addresses that clear and present bias exist in the cable news today and the corporate relationships between political parties. I was a stout Democrat inspired to vote for the very first time at age 35 by President Clinton. After many years I finally accept the fact that he let me down but I still believed in Democratic Party I never believed the rhetoric that there was a liberal bias in the cable news. Everday watching both Fox news and MSNBC I often bashed Fox news and praise people like Chris Matthews; until until Barack Obama. I watched as the clear and present biased for Obama as so evident in CNN and especially MSNBC. the bashing and bias even extended to fellow Democrats like Hillary Clinton.
I could understand why the DNC would want Obama over Clinton, until I realized that the best way to impose an extreme viewpoint and agenda is to make people afraid to object.
Most people are afraid to object to Barack Obama because he's black and those who do are subject to harsh criticism and labeling. You use the fear of character assassination and other fears like economic concerns than you can ram just about anything through.
The Bush administration were amateurs when it comes to using fear as a tool to promote an agenda.
Now is an independent I still watch all three networks and Fox news time after time has always been the most balanced
It's called "creative destruction".
Things went downhill in a hurry when it was decided that the news should become entertainment. Then of course legislation that prevented the same people filtering most of the media was weakened. Investigative reporting? What is that?
I also get most of my news from non-American sources. BBC and CBC are good English language sources. Some online media is good but you will not find too many knowledgeable impartial people reporting there.
How many people remember real news programs? And when opinion pieces were labeled as such?
since 90% of the media is in the liberal pocket... so much so it's makes you ill.... let them die... it's all slanted personal views anyway.
Don't worry... AM radio and FOX cable are profiting even in a slow economy... so the truth will still be out there
...and next, the fox will be watching the henhouse. Maybe Mr Kerry should have put in an "earmark" for several hundred million to study the effects of the fox watching henhouses!!!?!?!?
Yet another prime example of OUR tax dollars being wasted by politicians with agendas...Wake up, America! Hangers on like this need to go back home and out of DC.
Americans have all the media choices they need. Journalists need to exert more control over themselves and reestablish their responsibility to a journalistic code of ethics and those standards of professional conduct which have made the fourth estate such an important part of American life. Especially considering the fact that today any self-righteous, uneducated, opinionated buffoon with a laptop computer can present himself to millions as a journalist. It is the duty of the fourth estate to rise above those conditions and present factual information in a fair and unbalanced manner. Mainstream media has abandoned that duty in exchange for ratings (profit). As we evolve into this new found wealth of information and bastion of free speech, journalism and free press will evolve with us. All Kerry wants to do is lay the groundwork for a state controlled media.
That is the problem with politics today we continue to go back to the old. With technology comes progress and newspapers are the old way to get informed. He needs to let it go and use Twitter or the Internet.
Anyways isn't he for helping the environment, we can't continue to cut down trees for the paper.
Get over it !!! The newspaper people need to cross over to the internet for jobs, that's the way it will be going forward.
Kerry and the print media have a lot in common. Both are a thing of the past, on the way out.
There is an army of independant thinkers all plugged into this very internet we're all using right now. Senator Kerry, harness the power of the people to report on their own world... include that goal in your plans for maintaining our free press. We have the power to tell our own story! Protect our right to dissent and criticism of our government.
What kerry is really saying is...
"The conservatives in the media are beginning to get the truth about us out there and we have to silence them. We need to find ways to remove their freedom without making it look too obvious."
I was doing journalist as my major and I don't like the carreer anymore since our media is spreading alot of lies and criticism that I can not do on air. They have confused me so much....
Kerry is rich, I hope he comes up with a network that will be reporting news!!
Hey Frank Dan Rather got fired because he used a fake document as his source about the President’s service. Not for asking tough questions.
I have no problem with investigating government officials but don't make up things and use fake documents to try and sabotage an election.
This is only one example of why the majority of people do not view the media as independent.
To those complaining about liberal media, etc...you just need to realize that there is news reporting [just stating the facts of the events of the day], and news commentating [putting one's spin on what happened today]. The problem is that the divide between the two is becoming less and less aparent, and people are mistaking commentating for actual news. Perhaps if people stood back, and made this assessment, they would not be so negative on this blog. And, keep in mind, Fox news was put in place specifically to provide a conservative view point...if you don't like that view point, don't watch it. Same for those who complain CNN, and others, are just full of liberal opinions. In other words, there's enough room for all points of view on cable!
Folks, there is a difference between "independant" press and "agendaless" press. Here's a history lesson for you...We have always had, and have today, and independant press...it is a press that is NOT run by the government.
However, we have ALWAYS had a press with an agenda. It has typically been a political agenda. Benjamin Franklin wrote fabrications against political rivals for the newspapers of his day...so did Jefferson.
The idea of a balanced and fair press is naive. It has never existed. Fox News will always be consevative, as will USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, the Washington Times, and the Tribune Co. Papers. CNN will always be revoltingly "Populist" agitators. NBC, the New York Times and the Washington post will tend to be progressive.
What we need to guard against in this country is a government takeover of the media. There have been threats of that happening from both the left and the right.
Oh goody, another sub committee for Kerry. Should the big government be getting in bed with the media? Seems like a major conflict of interest unless you benefit from it, Kerry...?
Kerry is right about one thing...an INDEPENDENT print media is necessary. Unfortunately, today's print media are anything but that..... they are all tied to the liberal left wing. Good riddance to them.
End the media monopolies, it's that simple. Right now only 5 corporations control all mainstream media in the United States. There used to be a limit on how many news papers and tv/radio outlets a media company could own... If there were more successful ACTUAL independant media companies, an independent media (both in structure and of the government and private corporate interests) would flourish. Added to this, CREDIBILITY. No more FOX news and maybe people with actual journalism degrees would be hired as reporters, rather than former lobby and party shills and propaganda writers with non-related degrees.
"Fox" and "balanced" were actually used in the same sentence in this commentary section? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Yep...it's certainly fair and balanced for Hannity to question Obama's birth certificate when there's no evidence that it's fake and the courts have thrown out that argument.
Sure is fair and balanced for Glenn Beck to pretend that violent revolution and secession are appropriate, viable, responsible options for people like himself who can't stand that their ideology is broken, proven so and that America has now rejected them.
And O'Reilly? I mean, c'mon, how could it not be fair and balanced for him to shout over every guest that disagrees with him, call them names and maybe even hit a mute button so they can't speak?
What a load of garbage.
The DNC should be very concerned and concerned enough to establish a committee to investigate their largest mouth organ used primarily for dispersing the spin they do so appreciate. What would the news be without the liberal approach to everything.
It's been decades since I purchased a newspaper. I stopped as soon as I came to the conclusion that they were not independent and try to influence every aspect of American life where they could. This was worse for politics. Whatever last bit of respect I had for the media was lost with the Iraq fiasco when the media by and large just sat by like a bunch of cowards cowering under the pretence of being patriotic, and did George Bush's bidding to keep their jobs. I am happy that many of them are going out of business. The recession is cleaning house and that's a good thing. May the strongest and most independent survive.
Complaints about the "Liberal Media" from all the GOPers...translation = "The facts and evidence are inconvenient for us and the media should be ignoring them as muchas possible so we can continune to sell our broken, disproven ideological diarrhea to the masses and get them to believe it because they won't know any better. Any media outlet that prints or states facts, e.g., science about evolution or global warming or all the scientific studies disproving the effectiveness of things such as torture and trickle-down economics (and the fine line between the two), is just trying to further the "libera' agenda." We should be able to sell our political lies with impugnity and the media should stay out of the business of pointing out that reality happens to be contrary to what we're telling people to believe."
Barry April 21st, 2009 10:53 am ET
Is this a joke. Our news media is so biased that it makes me sick. I do not think I dislike any one group more than mainstream journalists with the exception of ACLU lawyers. Take the example of CNN reporter Susan Roesgen last week carrying her agenda in as non-biased "reporter" covering a story.
Uhh, Barry,...Susan Roesgen was just trying to get that guy to explain why he was calling Obama a fascist. He couldn't give her an answer.
Asking tough questions is not biased that is what journalists should do. The fact that CNN was covering the so called Tea Parties at all says something. How many in depth stories did Faux have on the war protests? And, in case you are not aware, the ACLU fights for the rights afforded to each and every one of us by the constituiton of this country. Free Press and consitutional rights, two more things the right cannot tolerate.
"Don't worry… AM radio and FOX cable are profiting even in a slow economy… so the truth will still be out there"
Funniest post of the day!
Government Banks
Government Auto Company
All we need now is Government-run Media to make the "change" from free and independent to government-controlled socialism.
What Kerry is really saying:
"The far left journalists are losing a place to spit out their propanganda".
Have you noticed that there are newspapers that are doing just fine, and then there are newspapers that are stuggling. Those that are struggling are the ones who try to sneak in opinion when "reporting". The New York Times, the Boston Globe, the LA Times and any NBC affiliated reporting arm are failing because they continue to attempt to influence news as opposed to reporing it. We do not want to be told what to think.
Real journalism is definitely a dying breed. It died when Walter Cronkite retired and when Dan Rather was made an example of by Bush. I remember "editorials" and "opinions" that were always prefaced so as not to be the opinion of the "station" or publication. And, anyone who really believes that Fox News is "fair and balanced" probably is a neocon and probably gets all their news from Fox, Rush and Hannity. If you took a survey of the attendees at the Tea Parties last week, I guarantee over 50% of them are loyal Fox news watchers. Hmmmmm.
Most know that the Liberal media (CNN, NY Times, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, Air America) are all suffering finacially.
Is it due to the economy?-NO
Is it due to unfiar competition?-NO
Is it due to the average American seeing that the outlets have become cheerleaders and just write puff pieces for the liberals?-MAYBE
Free speach and free press is free from any government interaction and Kerry interaction.
If you cannot sell ads or cannot find a financial backer...you need to fail in the free press.
LET THEM ALL FAIL -
waaah waaah..."liberal media"....waaaaah
Cry me a river that reality, i.e., the facts and evidence, happens to be liberal.
Perhaps if you GOPers spent more time listening to reality and adapting your ideology accordingly, instead of expecting your ideology to dictate to reality, you'd be less worried about the media being "liberal."
Of all the discussions I have seen at CNN, this one exhibits the most stunning thoughtlessness. It is not simply a matter of print vs electronic media. The issue is that very careful and elaborate systems of checking and vetting and reviewing grew up in relation to print media. This is true not only of major newspapers, but also of University based academic presses. Those presses as well as newspapers AND ALSO THE SYSTEMS AND PRACTICES OF CHECKING, VETTING, REVIEWING are not surviving. They have not made the transition to a much more attention-trapping, short attention span electronic environment. This has consequences for the way a democratic public is formed and informed. It has consequences for scholarship and higher education in which students and some scholars read in screen-sized chunks much more often than they read books that explore an issue in depth, at length, and from many perspectives–books that have been carefully reviewed and revised in the light of what other scholars have to say about them.
When the NY Times, LA Times, and Washington Post began their pro-lib agenda was when journalism ended and drive-by reporting began. Newpapers no longer report the news, they comment on it, try to influence the reader and try to further their own biased agenda.
Wake up! All you commenters saying we should let journalism die should be ashamed of yourselves. The free flow of information is the only thing that keeps citizens free. If journalism were to suddenly stop, we would be living under a totalitarian police state within five years. Journalism and democracy are inseparable, and we need to support news agencies that do good reporting and aren't beholden to corporate sponsors. We cannot just let business interests determine what survives because that isn't beneficial to citizens. Journalism must be a separate entity from the government and the business world.
Journalism should take the Wikipedia approach with everyone contributing but a team of editors to create a final product for a small fee by subscription to both read and submit.
Every single American knows the main stream news media is extremely liberal... is not hard to see... their reporting is so slanted and full of personal opinion it's rediculous. Look at Jack and Anderson... refering to people as Tea Bagging... thats about as much integrity as Howard Stern.
Let them die... the only one's who will miss them are the Democrats politicians whos backside they kiss.
Dan Rather is the best example... straight up lying to influence an election... and this is what Kerry wants to save... no need to wondere why
I do not know when we had an independent media in this country. Analysis I have seen indicates at least 80% of the media exists with a hard left slant, and has for decades. Maybe the citizens of this once great country are simply getting tired of the liberal distortion, and lack of factual reporting. Of course, we did vote for a left-wing community organizer who is busy running around the world appologizing for representing the only country who once truly offered freedom and liberty for all.
Welcome to the new banana republic.
Bottom line, the media can't be trusted period! They all lie and push their agendas to have high ratings. America is so full of hypocrisy, you can't trust our leaders nor the media. Lets just face it, we are on our own. You can't get good news without hidden agendas and you definitely can't trust those in Washington, because they are a bunch of lying thieves, who are taking us around the track with our tax dollars. We work hard and they take it. Do you see any of them in the media or Washington having financial woes? Of course NOT! They are all in it together people.
The media overall is not independent or free but giant corporations of print, cable, radio, etc. The idea of a free and independent press is needed but that will require breaking up the conglomerates of media. Specifically the press is far from independent. I stopped buying a paper when 90% was day old information from the AP or Reuters. The only value for me for print media is local information and even that has become "regional."
Tom in Delaware April 21st, 2009 11:17 am ET
BTW-Fox News is killing the rest of the industry combined…fools.
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No one should take from Fox News’ high ratings that ratings alone means that what it broadcasts is the truth. It is a bit like saying if McDonald’s is the most popular restaurant, it must mean its food is healthy.
For that matter, take the example of “The Daily Show.” A 2007 study by Pew Research showed that viewers of “The Daily Show” and “The Colbert Report” have the highest knowledge of national and international affairs, while Fox News viewers rank nearly dead last.
So who's the fool now?
Old Hatchet Face is at it again. Maybe he can get his wife to donate some of her inheritance. I mean remember when he was running for President and his financial statement read like a banks financial statement. The man is wealthy so why don't he just give them his money?
Let's face it. Media is liberal biased and in bed with the current administration. Look at you CNN, you have Paul Begala and James Carville working for you. Why don't you report on their daily briefings with Ron Emanuel where they discuss their media strategies for the day.
I'm sure my post will not see the light of day.
William – The problem is the media will not go after Obama or Clinton the way they went after Nixon or Bush. I want a media that will investigate all politicians. My hard earned money is paying their salaries and the media is needed to let us know how well they are doing. I could care less how the reporter voted. I want the facts and all of he documents. What did Obama really know about Blago? What did Cheney cover up with Haliburton in Iraq? Where are the tough questions and document discovery from our media? A society who fails to question their leaders is destined for failure as a whole.
The news will no longer be independent if the government starts subsidizing newspapers or any other type of media. We've already seen how interference-minded the Democrats are with their tampering in banks and the auto industry, who's to say they would treat newspapers any different?
Faux News.......... gets "high ratings" and I question it. Faux Stations also carry popular shows like "American Idol" & "24".
Journalism is changing, its good to evolve and change. Our family gets its news online. We read the New York Times & CNN, daily. And watch little or no local news.
Still love my Sunday NY Times, though!
You want a good news outlet? Try Factcheck.org or Google your news up or sometimes even wikipedia.org has good footnoted sources from which you can gather bare-bones factual data from which to draw your own opinion. You will not get objective journalism from any major network media outlet anymore, so really, the blather about slant in one direction or the other is a red herring. The problem the GOP is having right now is that the facts and evidence are mainlly contrary to the perceptions and positions they want to sell, so they're pretty angry about anyone reporting those things instead of pretending they don't exist.
And by the way, the internet has plenty of skewed news to balance out the purely factual, including virulent blogs from both sides of the fence, so GOPers relying on the argument that it's the "liberal slant" of the newspapers that is killing them are just rationalizing to make themselves feel more comfortable. The fact is, our society is tired of the slanted crap from both sides and is more and more relying on the internet to do fact checking and verification and then to write our own articles and opinions and blogs fighting the good fight to reprimand news outlets and politicians alike for their disrespect for facts, evidence, historical truth and their lack of any curiosity in terms of digging underneath the surface to uncover deeper truth (e.g., it would have been nice to hear something about Israel's blatanlty racist and fascist Minister Lieberman in response to the colective hissy fit thrown in response to Ahmadinejad calling Israel racist...because it happens to prove him right).
Yes let's bailout the newspapers. Let's see we gave Wall Street 700 Billion, AIG got 170 Billion, GM got 57 Billion, the banks got 1.3 trillion, sure let's bailout the newspapers, how’s, a nice round 300 Billion sound? And Sen. Kerry please do not forget the airline industry. They are hurting as well. Better plan another trillion for them.
And then Big brother can nationalize all of these private companies and before you know it we have the "New World Order" or what our founding fathers referred to as Tyranny!
Frankly, open debate and disagreement on political issues is healthy and warranted in an open and free society. Since 1968, I mostly voted as a strong conservative who is also a hawk. However, I did vote for two women senators, strictly to send a message that women should have a vote in the House and Senate, not just men. I also voted for President Obama, my first Democratic President. The media, although some claim it so, is not fair and balanced. By their nature, the "talking heads" of evening talk shows are biased, either to the left or the right. I can handle that aspect of these shows, because my channel changer is my control point when I get tired of hearing the bologna these folks spew. The print media is passing on, due solely to the fact that they are reporting history – basically what happened yesterday. Real-time news is killing print media. The electronic newspaper, CNN, Fox News, CSPAN, etc. are a real-time source that many people rely on 24/7. I am not for standardization of news, talk radio, or television talk shows. If the Congress or Senate try to control these sources of information, we will hear the Left and Right Versions of what the people really need. We had eight years of one-sided information and reporting, with CNN, MSNBC, CBS, and ABC referred to as the Loony Left, by Fox News, Bill O'Reilly, and Sean Hannity. We are now finding that the Loony Left was only interested in protecting our basic human rights. You have to love The Freedom of Information Act.
All Kerry [ The traitor ] wants to do is save the totally, in the bag leftist
newspapers like The New York Times and The LA Times from furthering the democrat's anti – american agenda. And speaking of traitors let's throw in Carter and Obama for kissing the feet of murdering, thug dictators. If Bush had even thought of doing half the trash Obama has done the media would have hung him from a lamp post. It's a joke. Obama has 4 fingers out of the water already. Totally incompetent in world affairs like Carter and Clinton. This guy has no experience what so ever and it shows. Just wait until he gets stuck in the tar baby of Afghanhistan then we'll see how his press buddies try to bail him out. And by the way, where is all the outrage of sending more
troops in? Wake up. This guy gives feel good speeches and does nothing. He's a cheer leader for a losing team.
The problem with journalism today is that are not enough "Woodstein's" (ala ALL THE PRESIDENT'S MEN), but too many Hannity's, O'Reilly's, and Limbaugh's that give journalism a bad name.
No bailout for the newspapers....don't even think about it....it's survival of the strongest. Government should never be involved...didn't Hugo Chavez just take over the newspapers....symptomatic of socialism. Not my taxpayer money...you might as well as put a fork in these democrats...they are done.. hello anybody there. This has gotten to be ridiculous.
I, for one, will be supporting any media which doesn't spend a inordinate amount of journalistic time and talent fueling the anger of Americans on inert subject matter – handshakes and smiles come to mind – but, rather focuses on issues and concerns of substance .
Stop it! We don't need to bail out every blasted thing that goes bust in this country! We can't continue to borrow and prop up entities that we should just let go under! If newspapers were worth a hoot anymore, they wouldn't be going under. As for independent media in this country.....where would those be? Few and far between, for sure. So this begs the question of who he wants to save. The NY Times? Washington Post? Any and all who support the liberal party line? Note to Congress: Stop wasting time and my money on nonsense and do something constructive.
Newspapers are struggling because of their obvious Liberal Bias. Who wants to pay for a paper that shoves their biased opinion down your throat and not report the facts. The only ones buying those papers are Liberals and that is limiting their circulation. Same goes for Newsweek, when my subscription is up, it will be cancelled. I don't buy newspapers or magazines for their opinions. I want the news reported unbiased and will not support it otherwise.
The print news media is failing because they are printing classified information and and anti-American rhetoric. Americans don't want to read how evil they are for being born in America and they don't want to read how rotten their country is. Sure there are things wrong in America, but the majority of print media doesn't print anything good about America. There are good things and bad things. If you don't print anything good about America, people will stop buying your paper. The moderate and conservative papers are doing much better financially. They print the good and the bad about America, not tell their readers that America is evil. Newspapers should be subject to the free market. But so should banks and the auto industry. I'm guessing bailout. Hey, if the government bails out the newspapers, they can tell the newspapers what to print. Just like they tell the banks who to lend to and automakers what kind of cars to make. I'm sure this government would love to have its own propaganda branch, I mean 'save' the newspapers.
This has nothing to do with liberal or conservitive bias. Newspapers are hurting for a couple of reasons. 1. The free media, the internet is grabbing more and more market share. 2. We're in a deep recession, advertising money is down.