The Mainstream Media is Imploding!

It would seem the Mainstream Media, in the US at least, has lost its mind. With major broadcast outlets and print media rushing stories onto the air, or onto the printed page, without due diligence, they have forever tainted their vaunted professionalism and their much proclaimed accuracy in reporting.

Lately, the Press has made of itself ... a laughing stock. Most Americans will never look at, or read, the news, again, with the same assurance that what they are reading is true. How can they?

It should be clear, to anyone with ears to hear and eyes to see... the MSM in this country has an agenda. Simply put, it is to “get Bush and the GOP”. They are no longer even trying to conceal it! They are bending the rules of journalism right, and left, in their attempts to make the Bush Administration look bad in the eyes of the world. They have succeeded only in making themselves look foolish and amateurish. It is painful to watch the suicide of a once great American institution… the free press. Fast approaching is a time when the Congress of the United States will place restraints on the press… to one degree or another…with the support of the American electorate. Remember, the First Amendment was not part of the original Constitution. Do not think it is permanent! If put to the American people today, frankly, I doubt it's survival. It would deeply wound the press in this country. But, it would be a self-inflicted wound.

The MSM has forgotten that along with freedom, comes responsibility. They continue to abuse that freedom as they trip over one another to bolster the Left’s agenda in this country and tear down anything not to their liking… such as... anything Conservative. No longer are editorials printed on the editorial pages only. Now you will find editorial comment on the front page of major newspapers all over the nation. Oftimes, it is billed as “News Analysis”. It is, of course, editorializing... mixed into the hard news stories. It appears their hope is that at some point their readers will no longer be able to discriminate between the two.

Much, if not most, of the Media in the US, is supportive of the Left’s political agenda. Those of us on the right accepted that long ago, and we have begun to fight back with our own news channels and radio talk shows and the Internet. It is the Right’s way of bypassing the Left’s filters on the broadcast media. Now, we Conservatives take our message directly to the people. And it is working. Little by little we have gained a foothold among the listening, and reading, public and continued our steady progression of “getting the truth out” to the masses. The MSM has become so overwrought with our success they have panicked and, as a result of that panic; we see the major screw-ups of the past few months by both broadcast and print media. And this is only the beginning.

The left’s hatred of the Bush Administration, and anything to do with the "Conservative Movement" in this country, has blinded them to anything but their own desire to render harm, as often as is possible, to the source of their hatred. It is a bitter, visceral hatred. They are consumed by it. These are the folks who preach "tolerance", remember?

My own regional newspaper publishes, in the “A” section of the paper, every day, a rolling body count of the number of US soldiers killed in Iraq. They have often stated their view of the Iraq War. They have made it plain they do not support anything conservative. A large Northeastern newspaper owns them. Their parent company often acts wittingly, or not, as the mouthpiece of the Democratic Party in this country. If you wish to read a newspaper, in this part of my state, that is your only choice. There is no conservative source for the printed news. So many of us turn to the Internet. Oftimes, I find I have to go "offshore" to find an unbiased newspaper from which to get the news of events happening right here in the US. Often, I choose Australian Newspapers.

The time is fast approaching when the American Public will not only tolerate, but will insist upon a restrictions on the freedom of the press in the US. A curtailment, if you please. Those who abuse the free press must be held accountable. It is painful for me to admit that even I would support certain restrictions on the press’ freedom.

Great Britain has the "Official Secrets Act". The British press is barred from reporting on subjects the government decides fall under the auspices of that Act. I would support that for the American Press. They can no longer be trusted. The MSM has demonstrated itself to be untrustworthy and is no longer acting as an unbiased purveyor of truth. (If they ever were!)

My hard news comes from The Fox News Channel and the Internet. I do not have access to a newspaper, nor magazine, I trust. I am not alone. Millions of Americans find themselves in the very same position, as regards the news.

Newspaper readership is down. Way down. Need they ask why? Ratings for news on the Broadcast Channels of TV is way off. (Except for the cable based Fox News Channel.) The pioneer of Cable News is now a joke, barely a shadow of it’s previous self. The MSM has yet to learn that people are no longer dependent upon them to deliver the news. Now, any individual, with a PC, can go find the news, at any hour of the day or night. He can look, until he finds a source he trusts, and he will continue to support that source, leaving past loyalties to print and broadcast media behind. That is happening all over this nation.

There is a new day coming in the business of news reporting in America. It will not be that to which we have become accustomed. This will be different. It will take a few years to make the switch-over complete, but stunts, similar to those recently, by major broadcast and print giants, will hasten the day. For some of us, it can’t come soon enough!

Your Obedient Servant,

“Longstreet”