Monday, July 30, 2007

As usual, your choices are criticized by those who think they know better

For electronic journalism, the main stream media (MSM) consists of the news departments of at least ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, NPR, Ganett newspapers, and their various feeds from the networks to local TV & radio stations. Many people believe that the MSM broadcasts a consistently liberal spin on all news and have turned to FOX and it's affiliates for an alternative. As evidenced by this article, some folks can't stand even a little heat in the ktichen:
Liberals Pressure Fox News Advertisers - washingtonpost.com:
"Liberal activists are stepping up their campaign against Fox News Channel by pressuring advertisers not to patronize the network.

MoveOn.org, the Campaign for America's Future and liberal blogs like DailyKos.com are asking thousands of supporters to monitor who is advertising on the network. Once a database is gathered, an organized phone-calling campaign will begin, said Jim Gilliam, vice president of media strategy for Brave New Films, a company that has made anti-Fox videos.

The groups have successfully pressured Democratic presidential candidates not to appear at any debate sponsored by Fox, and are also trying to get Home Depot Inc. to stop advertising there.
. . .
"It's a lot more effective for Sam's Diner to get calls from 10 people in his town than going to the consumer complaint department of some pharmaceutical company," Gilliam said.
. . .
Groups like the Sierra Club have targeted Home Depot because they believe it's inconsistent for the company to promote environmentally friendly products while advertising on a network that has questioned global warming.

The groups seem particularly angry at Fox's Bill O'Reilly, who has done critical reports on left-wing bloggers. On July 16, O'Reilly said the DailyKos.com Web site is "hate of the worst order," and sent a reporter to question JetBlue Airways Corp. CEO Dave Barger about the airline's sponsorship of a gathering run by DailyKos.

He'll never ride on JetBlue again, O'Reilly said.

Fox said JetBlue has since asked that its name be removed from the DailyKos.com Web site.

MoveOn.org is campaigning against Fox because it says the network characterizes itself as a fair news network when it consistently favors a conservative point of view, said Adam Green, the organization's spokesman."

What may be really bugging these folks is that FOX gets ratings - it usually has more viewers than any 3 of the MSM network news shows - perhaps an indication that some folks aren't prepared to swallow the liberal message without getting at least a glimpse of an opposing view.

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