The Matter with the Media: TV edition

An election year TV series has come to a close on our screens. And this year someone on TV always seemed to be talking about the impact of the media. Too harsh on Sarah Palin, some claimed. Too soft on Barack Obama others accused. Sexist toward Hillary Clinton others shouted. Not friendly to John McCain others insisted. Free passes to Joe Biden chided others.

With all this ruckus about the media flipping channels has been like navigating through a conservative vs. liberal pass-fail course. But do any of these programs really pass? It seems like most shows have political leanings. In this environment how do you get non-bias, engaging news anymore?

According to a poll on this Majority Mind blog 66 percent of you said that the "mainstream media could do a better job," reporting on the news. (Please vote in the poll if you have not already)

With this being the case many people ages 18 to 34 get their TV news from sources like "The Daily Show" or "The Colbert Report" on Comedy Central. These programs hosted by Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert seem to have a humorous liberal slant. The Comedy Central duo is even held their own election night coverage in a program entitled "Indecision 2008."

On the other end of the spectrum Mike Huckabee, Republican Arkansas governor and former Republican presidential nominee, has a show on FOX with a more conservative vibe. After dropping out of race Huckabee has stayed in the news reel by becoming part of it. He has recently published a book that he will be surely cross promoting on his show.

And now CNN has a show, "D.L. Hughley Breaks the News" on which the comedian host a late night style show on socio-political issues. He is openly an Obama supporter.

Pundit and partisan press as news is becoming more prevalent, not just on these shows, but in media outlets in general. And there seem to be more analysts (who are normally permitted to lean left or right) filling segments with their partisan opinions. That seems cool, but then anchors and reporters on major networks seem to tilt too far off center that's not so cool.
That's just crooked.

Part of the solution is that since opinion seems here to stay in the media viewers should insert their voice into the discussion in order to heard. Ever been watching TV and started talking back to the anchor or reporter, disputing or agreeing with what they are saying?

Now TV show Web sites host blogs related to their programs and viewers can log on a post comments. One example is CNN anchor Rich Sanchez who uses Twitter, Facebook and MySpace as a conduit for dialogue with viewers. In the current media landscape, when viewers are going to get opinion with most stories, at least there are opportunities to share your stance.

In later posts we will address media bias in web content, newspapers and radio.
But in TV do you think news programs are turning bias? Why? And what would you like to see done differently?

Post a comment below

Color in America

CNN has aired its long form piece Black in America as reported by Soledad O'Brien. Tackling something like this is remarkable, yet foolhardy at the same time. Remarkable for trying to shed light on race issues the so often get swept under the rug on the cutting room floor of major TV networks. Foolhardy for trying to do more than scratch the surface by repeatedly setting off explosions in a field of stereotypical land mines.

Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Native American and Whites in America know what their experience is and members of these groups tend to know what the experience is like for others of their race who are in the same or different socio-economic, geographic and cultural groups. Oftentimes people of mixed race or those who have family members of different races have an understanding of navigating race in America from that perspective.

Series like CNN's Black in America try to explain race to those who do not understand and lack perspective, but it does so in a way that people may end up with a misunderstanding because the piece makes sweeping generalizations. But that is why we shouldn't depend on it too much. It goes back to the responsibility of parenting and other methods of socialization to shape our thoughts — not just the media.

At the UNITY journalist convention in Chicago on July 24 O'Brien said Black in America was done to start a conversation. Hopefully it has done that and hopefully the talking points draw from many references and sources other than CNN.

A lot of aspects of blacks in America were not covered in the piece. The best and most insightful interview O'Brien did in the piece was with Spike Lee. To get a more authentic, less staged insight into Black America don't forget that "good" art imitates life. I recommend Spike's movies, namely "School Daze" and "Do the Right Thing."

In "School Daze" Black men who are college students at Mission College are confronted by townies who question their "blackness" and they flip the question right back on them.

For more of the big picture on race in America "Crash" is a must see . . . a least twice.

The point is lets not wait until CNN does Hispanics in America, Middle-class White women in America, Homosexuals in America, Unemployed College Graduates in America for us to start trying to understand the intricacies of countless groups.