[Vision2020] Who Has More Influence in the Media? Was: Active Troops by and large

[Chasuk]

I posted this message several days ago, but I keep getting a "Mail
Delivery Subsystem" error, so I'm re-posting it in case it was never
actually delivered to the list.

************************************************************************************

On 11/4/06, g. crabtree <jampot at adelphia.net> wrote:

> The people on the list that I provided in my most recent post are celebrity
> liberals which I chose for their being in 180 degree opposition to the
> conservative radio personalities that you mentioned on your list.

No, you didn't.  A celebrity, by definition, is widely known, famous.
A few of the sixteen names you provided belong to celebrities.  Al
Franken is a celebrity, as is, arguably, Randi Rhoades.  The remainder
are minor players in an "admittedly, relatively insignificant talk
radio market."

> The fact that they have a rather anemic audience can be attributed, in my opinion, to the reasons I have stated previously.

As is revealed every election, there is roughly an even mix of
conservatives to liberals in the US.  Liberals don't enjoy slobbering
excess as much as conservatives apparently do, which is why we have
Michael Moore and you have Rush Limbaugh, Ann Coulter, Bill O'Reilly,
Mchael Savage, et al.  Conservatives seem to relish celebrity nincompoops, we
are embarrassed by them.  Yes, this is one liberal who is embarrassed
by Michael Moore.  Many liberals are embarrassed by him, but he is our
lone voice crying in the strident wilderness, so he is tolerated.

> Are you really trying to make me and two or three other poor souls who might be following > this sorry discussion believe  that conservative talk radio + FOX news = the lion's
> share of media influence? That their voice overpowers that of ALL the major
> networks, all the rest of the cable news channels, MTV, VH1, NPR, Pacifica,
> all the rest of the, admittedly, relatively insignificant talk radio market,
> and at a minimum 80% (a very conservative estimate) of all major newspapers
> and news magazines?

Yes.  I'm not claiming that the collective audience is greater, but
that the collective spewing is effectively "larger."  Most of the
media, in my opinion, is fairly neutral, with NPR and Pacifica being obvious
exceptions (no, I'm not going to pretend that I think NPR is neutral).
 I am saying that, collectively, the conservative roar is louder than
any the liberals have mustered, and I partly believe that this is
because liberals have greater self-respect.

> Now that you have made your triumphant return, coarseness and contempt has become a
> regular feature in a great many of your posts. Particularly when it come to
> Ms. Kraut but to a lesser extent most anybody who has the temerity to
> disagree with you.

I originally felt sorry for Pat.  I thought that she was a slightly
batty, but otherwise benign little old lady who was perhaps
housebound, and that Vision2020 was her sole outlet for expression.
Her inarticulate zeal was initially almost endearing.  However, then I
started to understand Pat, and I realized that she wasn't endearing at
all.  Sunil has been asking her one simple question for months that
she hasn't deigned to answer.  Pat doesn't shrug things off because
she is long-suffering and chooses charitable silence over conflict.
Instead, she ignores anyone who might reveal her incredible ignorance.

************************************************************************************