The system is broken
There's a new "good" Bush approval number out in a Gallup /USA Today poll, 44%. I think it's an outlier, but I wanted to talk about the larger process.
Nothing in reality has changed over the last month except presentation. In August, when the president and congress were on vacation, the news actually dominated the news, and with Iraq actually receiving coverage, Bush poll numbers fell. Since Bush came back and started campaigning, the media discussion has moved away from this unpleasant reality.
This has been the secret of the Republican electoral success of late, their understanding of how the "news" works. Controversy, argument, outlandish statements or allegations supplant reality. Washington politics is covered as a combination sports event and celebrity gossip show, and because it's politics, the "news" can, without guilt, lead with the salacious.
George Bush attacks his critics? We'll have Kate O' Beirne, Jon Fund, Pat Buchanon, and Bob Shrum to discuss. The fact that 6 US soldiers died in Iraq that day doesn't even make the broadcast.
That's the secret of Republican success. They recognized that the "news networks" don't really want to be "reality based." Their true interest is in ratings, not news, and controversy, even if its ginned up, draws viewers. Real news is about as broadly popular as McNeil/Lehrer.
This is the true result of the rise of Fox News. It's not so much the crooked point of view as the rise of the host/opinion show which put ratings pressure on the other 24 hour networks.
(Also, with some evidence that the US forced the British to break up the British airliner plot before the Brits were ready, was that the first Republican event in the campaign?)
Nothing in reality has changed over the last month except presentation. In August, when the president and congress were on vacation, the news actually dominated the news, and with Iraq actually receiving coverage, Bush poll numbers fell. Since Bush came back and started campaigning, the media discussion has moved away from this unpleasant reality.
This has been the secret of the Republican electoral success of late, their understanding of how the "news" works. Controversy, argument, outlandish statements or allegations supplant reality. Washington politics is covered as a combination sports event and celebrity gossip show, and because it's politics, the "news" can, without guilt, lead with the salacious.
George Bush attacks his critics? We'll have Kate O' Beirne, Jon Fund, Pat Buchanon, and Bob Shrum to discuss. The fact that 6 US soldiers died in Iraq that day doesn't even make the broadcast.
That's the secret of Republican success. They recognized that the "news networks" don't really want to be "reality based." Their true interest is in ratings, not news, and controversy, even if its ginned up, draws viewers. Real news is about as broadly popular as McNeil/Lehrer.
This is the true result of the rise of Fox News. It's not so much the crooked point of view as the rise of the host/opinion show which put ratings pressure on the other 24 hour networks.
(Also, with some evidence that the US forced the British to break up the British airliner plot before the Brits were ready, was that the first Republican event in the campaign?)
posted by mikevotes at
6:46 AM
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