Docugate and CBS Provide Catalyst for Resurrection

As fiscal conservatives, many of us are frustrated with the mainstream media and have completely tuned out.  

But as the feeding frenzy heightens, it is difficult to sit on the sidelines.  And we would be wrong to do so. Dan Rather may be toast and CBS is discredited. Even the CBS producer appears to be complicit in coordinating with the Kerry Campaign. 

Many Americans realize that while CBS may be the culprit here, mainstream media has earned a reputation of having such liberal leanings that few of us are surprised at the CBS debacle. 

We conservatives believe in a free press, but is it free if run and operated by self-proclaimed liberals? Most of us believe that our perspectives on the issues don't get equal play (or even a mention) in many press reports.

Has the mainstream media become irrelevant? 

I started my professional career as a journalist.  (I found that I had none of the attributes necessary! I didn't drink or smoke nor did I have an abundance of talent.) But newsrooms have changed since I was a token conservative reporter. They don't all drink, most don't smoke, and many don't have talent for ferreting out the truth. And most newsrooms have scant few conservatives, if any at all.

I don't know reporters who intentionally mislead the readers or who have so rocked the foundation of media credibility as has Dan Rather. 

Dan Rather had a story he wanted to tell and was not going to be deterred by the facts. He could have gotten away with spinning his tale had the Internet bloggers not stepped in and called CBS' hand on the story.  And the Internet is precisely where many Americans are going for the news.

Will mass media become irrelevant? Or can they reincarnate themselves to gain public credibility?

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Not as long as most mainstream reporters are self-admittedly liberal. Maybe it's time the media hire some conservatives to balance the news.

The opportunity still exists for mainstream media to do some damage control, and build their credibility one story at a time.  But the only way to bring credibility short-term will be to restaff.

All we conservatives ask is for equal treatment. If newsrooms would not allow producers to serve as surrogates for a conservative candidates' campaign, then don't feed the liberals. 

The public has been duped. Legitimate questions remain. 

Did CBS News need to insult our collective intelligence in the manner they mishandled the Rather debacle?

Why did CBS News call someone with Bill Burkett's problems an “unimpeachable source?

Why did CBS News claim that experts had authenticated the documents when they had not? 

Why did CBS News provide forums only for individuals who supported their story, and none who disputed the authenticity of the documents and/or the perspective of the individual who supposedly wrote them?

Why did CBS News put a lobbyist on camera to claim he gave preferential treatment to George W. Bush when he had previously denied that Bush got into the National Guard on his own?

Why did CBS News reportedly have a producer searching for five years for a story to discredit President Bush (and was this their best shot)?

Why would anyone at CBS News consider an apology as including a statement that they stand behind the story they cannot substantiate?

And why is CBS News continuing to put Rather on air, reminding the public that CBS is the station that mislead the public and used our public airways to further his own political agenda.

The latest CBS Docudrama could be the saga to either provide a media wake up call, or the impetus for viewers to tune out completely. Will this soap opera provide a brief freefall for the slow death of network news or will mainstream media use this to begin a resurrection?

Will mainstream media make necessary changes to provide their viewers, readers and listeners with balanced news coverage? Will more conservatives be courted to enter the newsrooms, the boardrooms and editorial board staff meetings?

Now, that' s a story mainstream media can write, and they can determine the outcome. 

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For an interesting Texas Media Watch perspective on how the Texas media handled (or failed to handle) the story, go to this review.

Peggy Venable was the White House Liaison for the US Department of Education the first term of the Reagan Administration. She is currently Texas director of Americans for Prosperity. AFP is proud to partner with Texans for Texas.

Americans for Prosperity Foundation educates and AFP mobilizes grassroots citizens committed to limiting the size and scope of government and preserving individual freedom. AFP focuses on policies and how they impact the average American's ability to achieve prosperity.

Peggy M. Venable, Texas Director
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