Is Sarah Palin still in the news?

http://mediamatters.org/blog/201202010016

I read Robbie posted about the discussion we had in class last Friday, and I think that I want to go down that road a little bit as well.  In this article, we have a presidential critic, getting corrected and criticized for her critique.  Honestly, I think this is all getting a little out of control.  In my opinion, the news is almost getting in the way of itself!  This massive game of, "he said, she said" is almost blocking the real story itself: What is Obama trying to get at?  What is he saying?  If I want to know, I should probably just read his speech, or listen to it, there are tons of options for seeing and hearing this speeches.  But we now have a media that makes news stories off of other news stories.  Instead of reading about what Obama is talking about, I find myself reading a critique of Sarah Palin's assessment of Obama.  It almost seems to be a game of the media attempting to portray the political opposite the most out of context in the mainstream media in order to appease their respective politically dedicated audience.  This brought me to the point of our class discussion.

Are we as consumers caught in a vicious cycle of the mainstream media?  As congress polarizes, which data and much research shows that is has, I feel as though the media is dragging America along with it.  The TV feels like a voting booth, pick one or the other.  Except in the media, there isn't a write in, you have no other options than to go online and set out on a journey for unbiased reporting that will summarize and convey political news stories to you. Therefore, the average American ends up getting left and right news.  Now, we've got polarized congress, polarized media, and a polarized American public that gets fed the whole thing through either lens, given the option to choose one or the other.  So, relating to class, is this really the free marketplace that we so proudly fight for?  As a consumer, I feel let down in terms of being able to express my desire for a truly unbiased news source that reports American politics.  Yes, American politics, even the American left, are for the most part right of center for most of the world, but that doesn't diminish my desire for a politically neutral news source here at home.  Maybe I am a rogue consumer, but I feel as though my American free enterprise market is letting me down.  Even if I am a conservative, that doesn't mean that I want my news stories fed to me through a big conservative straw, leaving out key facts and figures.  Present the story to me, and I'll decide for myself. 


Instead of suggesting government regulation, or equal time doctrine, a public channel, or any other type of government intervention, maybe it's time that we as consumer concisely and intelligently articulate our dissatisfaction with the biased political reporting occurring in the U.S.  After all, that is the beauty of a free market.  We as 308 million consumers have a louder voice than we give ourselves credit for.  Way louder.  So instead of critiquing the news so much, or arguing about free marketplace vs. public news, maybe we should try voicing a shift in demand first, and if the market doesn't adjust, then we will know that there is a bigger problem.   That will drag us into the next portions of class, which I believe discuss censorship and true government control of the media.  Until then, let's place our faith in the marketplace that has never let us down, and demand some more neutral American political news.