Sponsored Content




Intermarkets' Privacy Policy
Support


Donate to Ace of Spades HQ!



Recent Entries
Absent Friends
Bandersnatch 2024
GnuBreed 2024
Captain Hate 2023
moon_over_vermont 2023
westminsterdogshow 2023
Ann Wilson(Empire1) 2022
Dave In Texas 2022
Jesse in D.C. 2022
OregonMuse 2022
redc1c4 2021
Tami 2021
Chavez the Hugo 2020
Ibguy 2020
Rickl 2019
Joffen 2014
AoSHQ Writers Group
A site for members of the Horde to post their stories seeking beta readers, editing help, brainstorming, and story ideas. Also to share links to potential publishing outlets, writing help sites, and videos posting tips to get published. Contact OrangeEnt for info:
maildrop62 at proton dot me
Cutting The Cord And Email Security
Moron Meet-Ups

NoVaMoMe 2024: 06/08/2024
Arlington, VA
Details to follow


Texas MoMe 2024: 10/18/2024-10/19/2024 Corsicana,TX
Contact Ben Had for info





















« Playwright Tom Stoppard: "A Frightening Time" For Free Speech | Main | Is This Still America? The John Doe Raids and the Weaponization of Government »
April 20, 2015

For the Media, Democrat Scandals Can Never Be Reported Straight, But Must Always Be Controversialized/Partisanized By Noting that the GOP is "Seizing" on Reports of Scandal

Some time ago, Sharyl Attkinson introduced a new concept to me: that when she wrote about Republican malfeasance, her media employers were perfectly willing to run her stories straight, but when she reported on Democrat malfeasance, the left immediately began to "controversialize" her reportage, and her employers often gave in to their narrative.

She didn't say what "controversialize" meant, and I was left to guess.

But I think I know.

Let's look at the VA Scandal. The scandal involves dishonesty, forgery, fraudulence, improper taking of bonuses (as those bonuses are granted based on performance, the record of which has been forged), and, by the way, a lot of dead veterans, many of whom died while on the secret wait lists.

The scandal is itself controversial -- but surely the reporting on it should not be. There is no one who would admit to being pro-dishonesty, pro-forgery, pro-fraudulence, and pro-improper taking of bonuses.

Opposition to these practices should, in theory, be noncontroversial.

But extreme partisans make everything a partisan issue. And the VA scandal isn't just about the VA, of course-- it's also about Barack Obama's administration, and his personal vow to fix the VA.

Thus, it becomes useful to hardcore partisans including those in the press to "controversialize" what should be a noncontroversial, nonpartisan issue. No one should be arguing that the VA Scandal is not a scandal.

But Obama needs it to not be a scandal -- and thus, his administration pumped out a report claiming that they couldn't tell who actually died on the waiting list, so that conservatives claiming that people who died were liars.

The media ate this report up, of course, and ignored later proof that the report had been ordered to be written that way by Obama flacks.

This then is what I think Sharyl Attkisson meant by "controversializing" an issue. Partisanizing it, making it seem as if there is a Progressive Side and a Conservative Side and the Conservatives are of course liars and even if they're not, it's all just a big silly political food-fight anyway, and only an extreme partisan would take sides in a big silly political food-fight.

Therefore, anyone reporting on the VA scandal must himself be an extreme partisan. After all, if it's just a big political food-fight, who else but partisans would weight in?

Thus does the media turn all stories about Democrat malfeasance into mere political name-calling squabbles.

But stories about Republican malfeasance are not presented as political squabbles-- these, of course, are presented as Serious Matters of National Interest Which Should Concern Us All.

The latest example of this was discovered and documented by the Free Beacon.

You might imagine that a story about the Clinton Foundation taking millions in donations from individuals with an agenda, and then changing government policy based on that well-heeled donor's agenda, would be a Serious Matter of National Interest Which Should Concern Us All.

But Nope. It's a story about Democrat malfeasance, and thus must be transformed instantly from a story that should bother any patriotic citizen concerned with his country into a mere political squabble.

Not a squabble between Hillary and "investigators," mind you, and Hillary and "experts."

Those terms sound official and neutral. Those terms make it sound like something serious is alleged here.

No, the squabble must be between Hillary and "GOP critics" who "seize" upon reports of malfeasance, as if the GOP alone stands against the bribery of high political officials.

Thus is a serious story reduced in seriousness to yet another talking-heads shouting match -- something that readers who do not consider themselves above hardcore partisanship (which even -- or especially -- the hardcord partisans do consider themselves above) should completely ignore.

"Controversialize" is just a method of trivializing a story.

The Gosnell case, which involved the murder of seven babies (they were liveborn, and thus even extreme abortion advocates are forced to pretend they think these were murders) was similarly transformed from an important story into one that was merely about a shifty doctor and his "political critics," such as "abortion rights opponents" and even "Republicans."

Of course, this is just another example of a hardcore partisan media -- and not merely an ideologically biased media, but a partisan one, which will support the Democrats even when the Republicans agree with the media on ideology-- constantly "claiming the center," and claiming to represent non-political interests, a non-political POV, when in fact it is an institution more corrupted by cheap partisan advantage than the actual political parties themselves.



digg this
posted by Ace at 05:17 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
[/i][/b]andycanuck (2yu8s)[/s][/u]: "750-pound alligator seized from home near Buffalo, ..."

Ben Had: "Only 30 more years of these moronic statements ft ..."

2008 is calling: "Mahalia Jackson>>>>>>>>>>>Affimative Action Jackso ..."

BillyD: "[i]158 Mind you, a Moron claimed the car would sti ..."

Diogenes: "DEI in action, and that's a good thing! Posted by ..."

Piper: "Have we discussed KBJ and her gripe the 1sr amendm ..."

Commissar Hrothgar (hOUT3) ~ This year in Corsicana - [b]again[/b]! ~ [/i][/b][/u][/s]: "[i]257 Watching another Boeing United Airlines iss ..."

Loose Emergency Door Plug: "Return to Newark? I'd rather ditch. Posted by: D ..."

J. Random UA Flight: "[i]Return to Newark? I'd rather ditch. Posted by ..."

Diogenes: "Watching another Boeing United Airlines issue in r ..."

Truthbomb : "Watching another Boeing United Airlines issue in r ..."

Ciampino - on time: "About 43 minutes [b]SpaceX - Falcon 9 - Starlin ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64