CNN's and MSNBC's campaign in behalf of the Democratic Party has moved into full swing since this summer. It is amazing that the McCain-Palin ticket continues to have any viability, given the reality of network media's open campaigning for the Obama-Biden ticket. I don't have a television, but the other day I was watching a bit of the aforementioned network broadcasts after lunch at work, and I could hardly believe the blatancy of the slant. Their supposedly "non-editorializing reportage" has little more surface credibility than most of blogsville's output (which, however, has enough integrity to make no pretense of avoiding editorializing). Even their gestures toward "balance" are so contrived as to be ludicrous.
It goes without saying that the Obama media-spin team have exploited this network support to their full advantage. Just this summer appeared this article by Will Brady, "Obama's media campaign - branding our consciousness" (guardian.co.uk, July 10, 2008) -- detailing "Obama's brand strategy is sophisticated and rapidly achieving cultural ubiquity. How precisely is it done?"
I am ceaselessly nonplussed at the intelligent, well-educated political liberals I meet who mindlessly parrot the media bites and 'factoids' they hear -- such as that Palin had books banned (including Shakespeare and Harry Potter) from the Wasilla library while Mayor (even though Rowling's book wasn't yet published!), or that she insisted on having rape victims pay for their own medical testing (even though nobody can document a shred of evidence to support the allegation), long after she had been exonerated of these sorts of accusations. I keep seeing images of Mildred Montag slowly being brainwashed in front of her state-programmed TV in the film Fahrenheit 451, based on Ray Bradbury's novel by that title. Remember, they were burning books for purposes of state security.
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