06 March 2005
Randell Beck Dumps His Load
Eastern SD Soil Fertility Shows Sudden Increase!
note: No link to Randell Beck's massive column due to failure of Argus to post it online!
Link WAS finally posted here.
Sioux Falls Argus Leader Editor Beck has issued his latest screed complaining about the rise of the blogosphere, and the fact that it seems to be effectively affecting the ability to his part of the MSM to set the agenda of political discussion, and to bias news coverage of the same by means of selective coverage. This consists of softball coverage of what he and his paper inferentially favor (for instance, the re-election of the former Senator Daschle), and ignoring issues and stories that are NOT favorable to such outcomes (for example said former Senator's favoring of national Dem policies in D.C. over the SD view of the issues).
He goes into a very lengthy treatment of the Gannon/Guckert story, straining at gnats at an attempt to come up with some involvement with Sen. Thune. Let's see, a conservative web writer writes stuff with a conservative point of view, on a web site that is known as a vendor of a conservative viewpoint. Shocking! (Anyway, the whole Gannon thing is a red herring as far as SD politics is concerned. See previous post.)
Also, he seems to be exercised about known conservatives on-line being associated with known conservative candidates, and then continuing to publish a conservative viewpoint on self-identified conservative web sites. It seems to me that the real offense here is that conservatives are effectively getting their points of view out, in spite of the MSM's judgement that this point of view is less worthy of being in the public marketplace of ideas than their own spoon-fed version of events, subjected to their so-called (and pseudo-)"professional" (read more intellectual and elite) filtering. (After all, the MSM always knows more than we do about what's bestand true - just ask them if you doubt this!)
It looks like the REAL problem is that conservatives are becoming more effective at promulgating information, and at using it to achieve results that contravene the agenda of the comtemporary P.C. groupthink that sets the agenda for most of the MSM.
Mr. Beck's own biases in this sort of thing are showing in any number of comments in this exercise of journalistic spleen-venting. One example to illustrate: referring to "the conservative Fox news" he recapitulates the myth that Fox News is truly conservative. As a self-proclaimed conservative, this is a surprise to ME! I will admit that FNC give a respectful place to conservatives on the air, as they ALSO do to liberals. I think that Alan Colmes, Greta van Susteren, and other contributors like Mara Liasson (NPR) and Ceci Connolly (WaPo) would be surprised at finding themselves listed as conservatives. Hey Randall - IT'S ALL RELATIVE! FNC is only conservative when compared to CNN/CBS/MSNBC/ABC/NBC. All except FNC are to the left, admittedly leaving FNC on their right - from a position near the middle! And for Beck to claim some higher ground based on the journalistic objectivity of the Argus is laughable on the face of it.
Beck with the Argus, KELO coverage, etc. helping to circle the wagons at against the blogosphere on their front page, and Todd Epp's phonily proclaimed committee all acting at the same time with virtually identical talking points only effectively confirms the reality of the SD MSM deciding that they want no role for ordinary folks outside of their establishment having a significant place at the debate table, which has finally starting to obtained through the exercise of personal first amendments rights to free political speech. Too bad for them - my heart bleeds! (NOT!)
note: No link to Randell Beck's massive column due to failure of Argus to post it online!
Link WAS finally posted here.
Sioux Falls Argus Leader Editor Beck has issued his latest screed complaining about the rise of the blogosphere, and the fact that it seems to be effectively affecting the ability to his part of the MSM to set the agenda of political discussion, and to bias news coverage of the same by means of selective coverage. This consists of softball coverage of what he and his paper inferentially favor (for instance, the re-election of the former Senator Daschle), and ignoring issues and stories that are NOT favorable to such outcomes (for example said former Senator's favoring of national Dem policies in D.C. over the SD view of the issues).
He goes into a very lengthy treatment of the Gannon/Guckert story, straining at gnats at an attempt to come up with some involvement with Sen. Thune. Let's see, a conservative web writer writes stuff with a conservative point of view, on a web site that is known as a vendor of a conservative viewpoint. Shocking! (Anyway, the whole Gannon thing is a red herring as far as SD politics is concerned. See previous post.)
Also, he seems to be exercised about known conservatives on-line being associated with known conservative candidates, and then continuing to publish a conservative viewpoint on self-identified conservative web sites. It seems to me that the real offense here is that conservatives are effectively getting their points of view out, in spite of the MSM's judgement that this point of view is less worthy of being in the public marketplace of ideas than their own spoon-fed version of events, subjected to their so-called (and pseudo-)"professional" (read more intellectual and elite) filtering. (After all, the MSM always knows more than we do about what's bestand true - just ask them if you doubt this!)
It looks like the REAL problem is that conservatives are becoming more effective at promulgating information, and at using it to achieve results that contravene the agenda of the comtemporary P.C. groupthink that sets the agenda for most of the MSM.
Mr. Beck's own biases in this sort of thing are showing in any number of comments in this exercise of journalistic spleen-venting. One example to illustrate: referring to "the conservative Fox news" he recapitulates the myth that Fox News is truly conservative. As a self-proclaimed conservative, this is a surprise to ME! I will admit that FNC give a respectful place to conservatives on the air, as they ALSO do to liberals. I think that Alan Colmes, Greta van Susteren, and other contributors like Mara Liasson (NPR) and Ceci Connolly (WaPo) would be surprised at finding themselves listed as conservatives. Hey Randall - IT'S ALL RELATIVE! FNC is only conservative when compared to CNN/CBS/MSNBC/ABC/NBC. All except FNC are to the left, admittedly leaving FNC on their right - from a position near the middle! And for Beck to claim some higher ground based on the journalistic objectivity of the Argus is laughable on the face of it.
Beck with the Argus, KELO coverage, etc. helping to circle the wagons at against the blogosphere on their front page, and Todd Epp's phonily proclaimed committee all acting at the same time with virtually identical talking points only effectively confirms the reality of the SD MSM deciding that they want no role for ordinary folks outside of their establishment having a significant place at the debate table, which has finally starting to obtained through the exercise of personal first amendments rights to free political speech. Too bad for them - my heart bleeds! (NOT!)
