While Democrats rule, 20 things the press won’t report on

It’s sad to say, but American journalism is so heavily dominated by Democratic reporters and editors that, as long as Democrats hold power, we cannot expect our biggest news agencies to look for or report any big story that would cast our leaders in a poor light.

Just consider the muffled peeps of reporting on the Van Jones controversy, ACORN’s corruption and even the Tea Party rallies.

While Democrats rule, if these news stories occur, don’t expect to see them on any front page:

* The failure of Congress leaders to pay their taxes.

* Congress leaders accepting illegal campaign contributions.

* White House pressuring scientists to exaggerate global warming findings.

* White House claiming health care costs are going down when they are going up.

* White House claiming the deficit is not increasing when it is.

* The FBI wiretapping of Americans for purely political reasons.

* The firing of federal inspector generals for purely political reasons.

* The firing of U.S. attorneys for purely political reasons.

* The distorting of NSA, CIA, FBI or Homeland Security intelligence to serve a predetermined conclusion.

* The abuse of detainees by U.S. soldiers and contractors (unless Congress decides to surrender Afghanistan).

* Congress leaders accepting kickbacks from General Motors or Chrysler officials in exchange for laws giving GM or Chrysler an unfair advantage over other automakers.

* The continued paying of Congress leaders by officials of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in exchange for favorable regulations.

* The refusal by the Justice Department to prosecute Democrats who discourage non-Democrats from voting.

* The refusal by the Justice Department to prosecute Democrats who encourage voting by dead, fictitious or otherwise unqualified people.

* Subjecting Soldiers, Marines, Airmen and Sailors to poor health care at military hospitals.

* The failure of “stimulus” spending to create the jobs the administration projected.

* New health care regulations discouraging breakthroughs in drugs and medical procedures.

* The relaxing of banking regulations after the White House and Congress promised tighter banking regulations.

* The failure of alternative energy sources to reduce our dependence on foreign oil.

* A Democratic burglary of a Republican campaign headquarters.

Without delight. What I’m saying is, in most newsrooms, and particularly in America’s biggest newsrooms, these story ideas will be virtually off limits for the next several years. Reporters and editors won’t think to look for them, and even when one of these stories lands in their laps, our established journalists will resist giving it air or ink.

Yes, if the bodies pop up in the river with Democrats’ notarized confessions attached, the establishment journalists will do a story or two. But they won’t dig, delve and discover with one-hundredth the delightful dedication they have when Republicans are in control.

That’s just the way it is.

Sunshine super. Protecting Democrats might have been understandable when the Democrats were out of power, but now that they have full control of the White House and Congress, the Democrats need watching by a vigilant and skeptical press willing to challenge every dubious word and deed.

Our government has to be held accountable, and that can’t happen if a partisan press leaves its whistles and spotlights on the shelf.

Frank Warner

* * *

Afterthought: To put this another way, even if all 20 of these things happened on the Democrats’ watch, ABC, NBC, CBS, PBS, NPR and The New York Times would give better play to sideshow stories instead.

Comments

[Jim Durbin]

This is why it's so important for us to do that work.

Individual citizens have to step forward and dig out these stories without the help of the press.

Every major story that breaks without the press being there first is another nail in their coffin.

[Vito DiPaola]

and you can add: The refusal by the Justice Department to prosecute Administration-friendly liberal bloggers who violate drug laws, so as not to jeopardize their pending immigration applications.

[chucko]

Add this: The NEA enlisting artists to produce propaganda for the Obama administration.

[What I Think]

What do you mean IF all 20 of these things happened???

They DID happen. Even the body in the river (that conveniently didn't pop up) was glossed over as one 'Lion of the Senate' continued his brilliant carreer.

[Mikee]

I see that sexual infidelity scandals don't even make your list of non-reportable stories for Democrats.

Call me old fashioned, but I remember when Barney Frank was so embarrassed at having a male prostitution ring run out of his apartment by a gay staffer that he resigned his seat (oh, wait, he didn't), and when Bill Clinton was removed from office for lying under oath and divorced by his wife for serial infidelity (oh, wait, he wasn't and she didn't) and when John Edwards had a love child that derailed his campaign (well, he derailed it by being himself, and the love child was revealed later by a tabloid).

At least my memories of several Republican sex scandals where the perp left office are correct. Maybe the Dems just suffer from the soft bigotry of exceptionally low expectations by their supporters?

[Chris]

I am actually encouraged by all of this... it hastens the inevitable demise of these historic news organs because they are not providing the basic service which the public expects.

The media as an institution is at an all time low, based on current polling. They were just "pantsed" in the most public way possible here, by getting scooped by a couple of kids on a major national story...

At some point -- and that point is coming soon -- trust and confidence in the historic news organizations will get so low that ratings will plummet (it's already happening) and new powers will rise to question the political structure. You're seeing that power shift right now.

[4rc]

another thing they refuse to report
- quality of job, mostly flipping burgers
- poor job numbers

[M. A.]

And this, regarding health care:

[...]
"If enacted as scheduled on Jan. 1, 2010, policy changes recommended by the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – the government's insurer for the elderly and disabled – will severely cut current Medicare reimbursements to cardiologists and oncologists for critical care services that are provided to patients in physicians' offices or other out-of-hospital setting, such as chemotherapy to treat cancer, and various cardiac procedures to monitor and treat heart disease, such as nuclear imaging and heart catheterization."

"These cuts will force cardiologists and oncologists to limit care to their Medicare patients, withdraw from treating Medicare patients altogether or require their patients to pay more out of pocket to make up the difference in the cost of these services."
[...]

SOURCE: (written by an oncologist):

MEDICARE FACING CANCER, CARDIAC CARE CUTS
Reimbursements for oncologists and cardiologists are on the federal government's chopping block in the next six weeks.
By Arie Szatkowski, M.D. – Special to The Commercial Appeal September 15, 2009
http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/sep/15/medicare-facing-cancer-cardiac-care/?partner=RSS

[Porkov]

Regarding the postings of individuals who appear gleeful over the plight of the MSM - I for one would rather have traditional media that works than to see it die. For what it's worth, I also take no pleasure in having a health care system that abandons the dregs of society's children. Also I would like to be able to fly and see through clothes like Superman.

[Daniel in Brookline]

Porkov:

Have no fear. Nature abhors a vacuum, and Americans are showing just how much they crave a news media that actually does its job.

This is non-partisan. If the newspapers were covering for a Republican administration, would ordinary Americans go looking for the scandals that the press did not? You bet they would.

Think of it as evolution in action. Newspapers that can't do what they're supposed to do will die, as they deserve to do. Newspapers willing to do the legwork will remain, as will newer media.

We're on the cusp of a purging... and the new journalists will be the first to heap abuse on their predecessors.

respectfully,
Daniel in Brookline

[Jim,MtnViewCA,USA]

How can the media report on these issues? It would jeopardize their future job prospects in gov't jobs after newspapers fold...

[Vader]

"I for one would rather have traditional media that works than to see it die."

I don't care whether the media is traditional or not as long as it works. If the traditional media can get their act together, terrific. If not, and new forms of media successful fill the void, that's also terrific.

Given the inevitability of technological change, the latter seems more likely, though it is not a priori preferable.

[Texas Pete]

It is passing strange that at the precise moment in history that legacy media outlets find themselves under technological pressure from the Internet, they forsake their original business case and readership to pander to a small ideological minority.

At the exact moment when they should be giving their all to grow revenue and market share, so-called "mainstream" outlets are voluntarily ceding large markets to bloggers and Fox News. Amazing.

But I like it. I haven't watched broadcast news or read a dead-tree newspaper in years. Keep it up Oxbow Media. (Look up oxbow lake in the encyclopedia).

[AMR]

Let's see, when a million or so citizens peacefully, with respect for property and litter laws, take to the streets of the capital and the Capitol grounds, the media basically ignores us. So will the media report if we peacefully take over the Capitol building with the result being the stopping of health care and all other legislation along the lines as was done in Tennessee when the legislature tried to pass a state income tax bill in 1999 (see http://glennreynolds.com/?p=8). Note that TN still does not yet have a income tax. If the government responds as the Iranian regime did, we will know where this government stands.

A million or so people occupying the Capitol building and grounds demanding that congress reaffirm their oath to defend the constitution and remove their corrupt leadership might just prick the bubble of this cloistered congress.

[thomass]

"But they won’t dig, delve and discover with one-hundredth the delightful dedication they have when Republicans are in control."

They hardly did that with republicans. They just used innuendo and opinion in place of real digging.

i.e., was Joe Wilson's CIA wife a covert agent or not? Don't know, they never looked.

ie, was various deregulation related to the financial meltdown? Don't know, they never really dug in (they just 'knew' it was).

ie, did the nefarious neocons do half the things they were accused of in the pentagon? Don't know, they just sorta passed on lefty rumors as facts.

On and on. Lefty tropes are trotted out instead of reporting / digging / et cetera.

[John]

Never expect the propaganda media to defend or praise a republican.
Expect that any and all discontent about any DNC or Obama policy to be labeled Racist.
Expect the ussual comments about decreased civility to be only against the RNC and not the DNC (Demo's are always nicer).
Never expect to hear or read the whole truth (without massive spin)in any of the propaganda media.
"Grassroots" is only done by the paided DNC performer not the American people.
"Racist" is going to be a everyday word (with no real meaning) for the next 3 years.

[Ted Jarrett]

Reminds me of this parody: "New York Times to Reduce Costs and Increase Transparency By Not Using Ink and Paper on Reports Critical of Administration Agenda" http://optoons.blogspot.com/2009/09/new-york-times-to-reduce-costs-and.html

[jj mollo]

I hate to be a party pooper here, but there are plausible reasons other than character defects for the MSM to be slow on these stories. For one thing, its easier to sue the MSM. They have a vested interest in reporting stories that they can prove. (Obviously tabloids are an exception.) The MSM also tends to concentrate on the more egregious violations that have an interesting angle, like cold cash in a freezer. Since the public assumes that all politicians are crooks (low expectations), the MSM is not going to get anyone's attention by spotlighting some boring tax violation. They don't have the resources to waste on stories that bore the readers.

[yourmother]

I'm not sure what you're reading but these things were reported on, during the Bush Administration I might add. No one who is reading a wide selection of news sources (and not just Fox News or MSNBC) is unaware of the Walter Reed Scandal, the firing of the Attorney Generals, or the relaxing of the Banking regulations that helped encourage the financial crisis. Everyone and everything has a bias but the reality is that 8 years of viewing things from a Republican perspective increased the number of people living in poverty, the number of people killed in war, and a shaky future.

[jackson hale]

You are no independent if you've never voted for a Republican presidential candidate. That you have buyer's remorse about Obama is just too rich;nothing he or his minions have done was unexpected or not warned of. What did you expect? You and people like you must share the blame for what is about to happen top this country.

[Roga]

And somehow, the newspapers are failing and network viewership is tanking.... hmmm. Maybe the government will bail them out if they don't talk about those things.