Because I'm a member of the media, I am slightly biased, but I do feel we've been doing a bad job. We grab onto whoever hits the top of the polls; sing that candidates praises; and slam the rest of the contenders. In the process, we increase the lead of candidate #1, because of the many easily influenced TV viewers thinking, "I'll vote for him, he seems like a winner. I don't know what he stands for, but he's leading the polls, so he must be good (I say "he" because, at the present time the main candidates, that I'm aware of, are male... I'll express my feelings on "political correctness" in a later discussion). " The Alan Keys fiasco is a good example. WSB in Atlanta, decided to have a local debate with presidential candidates. For obvious and logistical reasons, they could not bring in every person who is running for president (like Cousin Bob down the street who raised the $1500 or so that's required to register as a candidate), but they arbitrarily set the cut off at 4 candidates, leaving out Alan Keys. Eventually Mr. Keys almost got arrested for trying to storm into the television station (not a real smart thing to do, either).

Who gives this television station the right to decide who the top 4 candidates are? Who gives us the right in the media to play favorites? Granted, these top four are the most finacially backed, and are making the most noise, but that shouldn't matter...

Very meaty topic, Kev. Yes, the media are our society's agenda setters. Producers choose what to cover, and how. Camera people choose what to shoot, and reporters choose their words. Editors decide what winds up on the cutting room floor. (And sometimes they have a PR person whispering suggestions into their ear!) While media people, like yourself, are all supposed to be neutral and unbiased, human nature dictates that we are all biased in some way.

So, the coverage of the Republican candidates is no different than any other type of reporting -- it has a bias. Unfortunately, I don't think the average U.S. citizen understands that and takes it for what its worth. Do we still have a public that thinks "if you see it on t.v. it must be true"? I think we do for the most part. And tabloid/sensationalist news shows only cloud the picture even more.

-Sharon Heath

Sharon brings up an interesting point about PR (or Public Relations) people who, if are good at what they do, can set a big agenda for the country. Too many of the stories that are covered by the media are not news, but rather "media events". It all looks the same to the people at home, but heavy direction and pre-plannng by the PR department can shape the look of a story. I was watching "American Journal" (while working at the TV station... I couldn't stand to actually sit down and watch it.) and Nancy Glass tagged out one the the stories on the Oscars by saying... "The Ocsar lunch is an annual event which is always a lot of fun for the media!" What? Why should it be fun for the media... they're supposedly doing their job!

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from November, 1996

My favorite example of how News and the Media are deteriorating is American Journal. I see this example everyday, because "AJ" falls between our 5 and 6 o'clock newscasts. This show is the cheesiest thing on television and makes members of true "journalistic" news programs look bad. From the five million teases for bikini clad women at the end of the show, to the "Team AJ" news team which re-enacts stories with the reporter as the main focus. (ok, some people think Duff is the best.)

"Let's never forget that we're the story...(from the movie Broadcast News)" I know I should look at these shows as "entertainment," but our news directors watch these shows and little bits and pieces of these tabloid-isms wind up in our "reputable" newscasts.

Long live Edward R. Murrow, Walter Cronkite, Ted Koppel etc. to put it simply the show should be taken off the air; it distorts reality. There are enough cases of bad journalism in everyday local news, the last thing needed is a national one.

-ThomasC600@aol.com

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