Okay.... pay close attention to this material as there WILL be a test at the end of the blog! Now that I have your attention let's examine todays main stream media and, using a current hot topic item, see how their bias affects how they report.
We've all been beaten to death these past several months about the "housing crisis" by the media. Day after day some doe eyed reporter gets almost tearful as she recounts some horror caused by evil predatory lenders who caused some poor family to lose their home. Okay... granted that makes a lovely human interest story but it barely ranks as news.... unless one has an agenda they are trying to advance.
I've discussed the sub-prime loan issue previously but for those who may have missed it a brief recap: Congress mandated that lending institutions make mortgages available to lower income people. Please note that this was NOT the idea of the lenders! Congress felt it was "unfair" that some people could afford to buy a home but others couldn't.... so they mandated that financial institutions make loans available to people who could not otherwise qualify. Prior to the Congressional meddling the lending institutions operated using a risk assessment model which calculated which potential mortgage clients were acceptable risks and which were not.
Using that same logic Congress should also mandate that States make drivers licenses available to blind people since it's unfair that they not be permitted to drive. In support of their argument they could point to the fact that drive up ATM machines already have braille instructions thus the blind should be able to drive to them. (an oddity that I've yet to figure out)
At any rate the lending institutions had no choice but to comply or have Congress bring the full force of government to bear against them. The ARM (Adjustable Rate Mortgage) came into existence as a result. In theory people with low incomes could now get a housing loan with an interest rate that gradually increased over time. This permitted someone to buy more house than they could afford because the initial payment was so low.
The rest of the theory was that these people were suppose to improve their positions in life, through education or other means, so as to make more money.... so when the rate increase came they would be in a financial position to afford it. Obviously that did not happen. (Perhaps Congress should have mandated it)
Okay.... so with that background we fast forward to the present where, all of a sudden, it's all the fault of the lending institutions and their greed. Notice how Congress isn't even mentioned? As usual they are all standing around like innocent bystanders pointing fingers at the banks. The press totally ignores their roll in this entire matter. What you end up with is an evening news story that goes something like this:
"Today in sunny southern California the American dream came to a tearful end for yet another struggling family as the bank foreclosed on their home. John and Mary X had dreams of watching their three children grow up in that home... but their dreams are all shattered now as they are forced out by the bank. And across America the story is the same as thousands of other families face this same looming crisis."
John and Mary are the "victims" of the evil bank. It's all the banks fault that they are loosing their home. Would John and Mary have qualified for a home loan prior to the Congressional meddling in the industry? Probably not. Banks are in business to make money. [SHOCK!] Thus if they felt that John and Mary were a high risk couple they probably would have been denied a home loan.
Is that evil? Of course not.... it's business and nothing more. Not everyone can afford everything. [yet another SHOCK!] You can afford to buy a car but you probably cannot afford that car to be a Rolls Royce. That's neither fair nor unfair.... it's life 101. Same with housing. Some people can afford a house... some cannot. For those who cannot there are the options to rent, lease, or live in an apartment. You are NOT being denied housing..... that is still available.
Due to the bias of the Media this non-story continues to be painted as nothing more than the greed of evil corporations who have nothing else to do but figure out ways to destroy average American families. Of course because George Bush is President.... and he's a republican... it's all his fault. George Bush wants to destroy average American families and deny them the American Dream. Horse hockey!
Let's suppose, for a moment, that suddenly a democrat is President. (that scares the hell out of me but we need this for the sake of illustration) There is historical proof that the way news is reported changes based solely upon the political affiliation of the person in the oval office. On November 4th 1992, Bill Clinton defeated George H. W. Bush to become the nations 42nd President. All during the Bush years the economy was painted as being a quagmire. The Clinton campaign hammered at the "poor economy" as a reason to elect him and Gore. "It's the economy, stupid!" was a slogan coined by adviser James Carville.
What is amazing is that while the economy was said to have been in the toilet for the entire Reagan and Bush era... less than a week after Clinton won the election suddenly the economy was being reported as doing much better! Bear in mind Clinton wasn't even in the white house yet.... nothing of his administration was even in place..... but the very fact that he was going to be the next occupant of 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue somehow caused the whole US economy to do a 180 in a matter of days.
So if we suddenly had a democrat in the white house today.... how might this housing "crisis" be reported? Well.... every coin has two sides. Kinda like the earth and the sun.... which, now that I think about it, makes the perfect illustration! (Sometimes I'm so good I scare myself!) If a republican is in office what is reported on is the side of the earth away from the sun. Day after day story after story about how the darkness persists... gloom everywhere... no end in sight. Put a democrat in the oval office and suddenly the sun is shining and everything is warm and wonderful. And now.... the evening news:
"The good news for home buyers just keeps getting better as prices for existing homes continue to drop. "It's truly a buyers market" says one housing analyst we spoke with today. "The positive fall out of the sub-prime market problem is that we're now seeing a lot of quality houses coming on the market at very reasonable prices." the analyst said. With interest rates near all time lows it looks like the perfect time to consider buying a home. The White House issued a statement saying it was pleased that the American dream was now an affordable reality for more average Americans."
It's the same economy folks and the very same story. The only difference is the political spin put on the subject matter dictated by which party holds the Oval Office. With the main stream media being little more than another wing of the democrat party (and not even apologetic about that any more) it's little wonder that the vast majority of the news being reported carries a negative slant.
Notice how Iraq isn't front page anymore? Ever wonder why? It's because things are going SO well over there that the press has nothing to report! If they did honestly report the situation in Iraq then that would make President Bush and his administration look good.... and they simply can't have that. It's not a part of the news template and it doesn't advance their story line.... so it never sees the light of day.
Mark my words though. IF by some cruel twist of fate a democrat makes it into the oval office we will start to see news of Iraq again. Suddenly all the good news that they are spiking now will find it's way to the front page. It's not the news.... it's what party is in the White House.
END OF COURSE TEST:
Todays main stream media is generally bias in their reporting.
True or False
ANSWER:
If you selected True then give yourself a score of 100 and take the rest of the day off.
If you selected False please go back and re-read this post.... and for God's sake pay attention this time.
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