But, unfortunately, you’d be wrong.
Campaign Analysis/Strategy dominated the coverage FAIR examined, appearing in 333 of the 385 stories overall (86 percent). It was the dominant frame in 252 stories (65 percent), and it was the only frame in 79 stories (20 percent). In other words, one in five stories in this sample touched only on the “how” of getting elected.
It’s not that campaign coverage should be devoid of analysis and strategic concerns; who’s ahead and why is of legitimate concern to voters, and this type of story can be informative and illuminating. But the emphasis on this type of reportage mostly provides news consumers with a lot of insignificant “insights,” like the January 2 CBS story “Hillary Clinton Needs Supporters to Show Up to Caucus.” So which candidates didn’t need their supporters to caucus?"
John McCain is “surging in part because the ‘surge’ in Iraq, which he has long supported, has shown signs of success,” ABC reported on January 2. The “progress in Iraq . . . put new life into the John McCain campaign,” CBS reported (1/29/08).
The supposed success of the troop “surge” became a lens through which to view the McCain turnaround, but his plans for what happens next weren’t covered. Rather, his “ownership” of the war issue in the media left viewers with very little specific information."
However, it’s quite another thing to launch a full-scale bullshit rock-throwing attack while your candidate is sitting in his own stinkin’ glass house.
You know, when the GOP first started grasping at straws here and twisting truth: feeling some loyalty to the party of my father, I didn’t say much. I had faith that the Tennessee Republican Party would figure out these tactics weren’t working locally.Surely, Faulk would realize this and reign in his unpleasant supporters.
Nope. Not so much - because apparently whatever Republicans lack in common sense, they make up for in sheer collective hatefulness - and this bothers me.
This leads me to conclude that it is no longer a question of whether consumers will have laws guarding an open Internet, but how those laws will be crafted. We strongly support this bill for rising to the occasion.
This bill simply places these agreed-upon consumer rights at the base of the Communications Act. It clarifies the authority of the FCC to protect Internet users from discrimination. And it tells the agency what rights Congress wants consumers to expect in an open Internet marketplace. It is a modernization of the principles that have long been in the Act. Simple and clear."
That was up from 48 percent who answered yes a year ago.
Those leaning towards the free model mostly came from 'emerging' newspaper markets in areas such as South America, Eastern Europe, Russia, the Middle East and Asia where 61 percent of respondents believed news would be free.
Respondents in Western Europe were less likely to believe in news becoming free, with 48 percent of news executives thinking it likely, while North American editors were on par with the average.
The newspaper industry has been hit in recent years by the push to move content online and executives still saw many problems ahead.
According to 704 senior news executives surveyed, the greatest threat to the industry was the declining number of young people who read newspapers while the increasing emphasis on speed meant only 45 percent of editors thought the quality of journalism would improve over the next 10 years.
More than a quarter thought it would become worse."
Last week I took some time to browse through a Borders bookstore in Knoxville, and made a few realizations - mainly that I seldom if ever buy a magazine or newspaper anymore since I can access almost all the information from nearly any publication whenever I wish via online services. It's a change I had not really noticed, but it is a major shift.
In years past, I would usually spend quite a bit each month not only for the publications, but also in the cost of reaching outlets where the info was for sale. No more. No matter how large or small the magazine or paper I seek, I'd say at least 90% is available for free online. I'm able to get it faster, too, and get it in pretty much the same way I did when purchasing the magazine itself, with plenty of graphics and photos. With the online access, I can also see video related to the topics I'm reading as well.
It's a change the public demanded and that publishers for the most part have been diligently working to make possible. Charging fees online or limiting the content available seems to be a dying trend, too. It is a massive benefit for those of us who read and seek information - but I'm sure the biggest challenge for publishers remains how to keep their businesses profitable.
Anyway, this really ought to be the liberal rallying cry: forget a windfall profits tax, let's work first on getting rid of the massive corporate welfare infrastructure we've constructed for an industry that really, really doesn't need it. Not as sexy as a gas tax holiday, maybe, but it makes a helluva lot more sense."
The congress tried to enact some repeals and have not been successful due to threats of a veto or a Republican filibuster. Much of the time, legislation simply moves the money around into different categories and the public awareness of how much goes to who for what is simply lost.
