…and there is also a Conservative media. And everything else is between. This morning as I was reading the latest postings of family, friends and acquaintenances, I came across a familiar complaint largely stated by conservatives with a grudge against the liberal media. This acquaintenance was lamenting NPR’s social posting of the latest U.S. Labor Departments jobs numbers for December 2018. NPR reported the facts, with their spin:
Now in fairness, I went to the first local conservative news agency I could think of that would probably have this same story – with their spin. Afterall, the Sinclair group of TV stations is good for that. Not to be left high and dry, KTVO posted the story with the Sinclair spin:
U.S. employers dramatically stepped up their hiring in December, adding 312,000 jobs in an encouraging display of strength for an economy in the midst of a trade war, slowing global growth and a partial shutdown of the federal government. The Labor Department said Friday that the unemployment rate rose slightly to 3.9 percent, but that reflected a surge in jobseekers— a positive for growth.Average hourly pay improved 3.2 percent from a year ago, up from average wage growth of 2.7 percent at the end of 2017.
Now for the record, I don’t know for a fact or with absolute certainty that both news agencies from completely different perspectives on reality were told to spin the truth. But I have a strong feeling they were. I’ve worked for a couple of news agencies in my time – both conservative outlets and sometimes those views conflicted with what was and is in my heart. Most of the time such positions are not intended to be nefarious or deceitful – at least in the time period I worked in small-market radio. A lot of times it dealt with how we presented the weather forecast. You wouldn’t think something like that could be a big deal – but to farmers needing rain and a Country Club owner wanting dry weather so he can get more business on a Saturday is one example.
But we now live in an era of strongly polarized political views. A lot of bigots, racists and people with even a slight prejudice toward anyone not in their group started coming out of the woodwork when Barack Obama took the oath of office for the U.S. Presidency on January 20, 2009. I remember sending my congratulations via e-mail the White House website and then bragged about it on Facebook. A relative quickly IM’d publicly and said, “Why did you do that?” Regardless of political affiliation – I found it remarkable, and still do, that a country that was built on the backs of slave labor – including the White House – was now about to be occupied for the first time by a President who probably has slave ancestors. Instead though, this relative has no grasp of the irony of this bit of our history.
So getting back to the subject. NPR has a liberal spin. It’s been proven over the years even though their interpretation is fairly close to our collective reality. Maybe not so much in the Midwest – but I imagine they are harsher of what Trump does and does not do while he is President. And it should be. This President has repeatedly attacked the news media over the course of several years – especially calling them out when they paint an unfavorable picture of him. Well, Mr. President, the news media is not in place to flatter your ego – or of your devout followers.
Now you ask, “why did you get out of the news business, Joe?” Because I worked for an employer who had a policy in place in regards of how the news department is to deal with a newsmaker seeking public office. Thirteen years ago, the second district representative of the Missouri House of Representatives was running for a Senate race. He couldn’t run in the House anymore because of term-limits. My boss accused me of subtly endorsing this candidate even though he and I never ONCE talked about it while getting ready for our live interview spot. In fact, the only time we talked about his run for the Senate came a few weeks after the November election was over and he lost. And this was outside the radio station because by then I had a new job in a new field. We ran into each other at a grocery store.
When I first got into radio, I learned a lesson that has stuck with me. The news director told me that I could send ten people to cover the same event. You know what I’ll get when all ten employees come back? Ten different stories. The reason – because once you cast aside the facts of an article – you get the story. You get the culmination of the writers experiences, prejudices and so forth. But more importantly, how they handle fact and fiction.
Joe's Random Thoughts! 