Why the media is liberal
I have previously given this a lot of thought and offer you some ideas.
The root of this, I believe, stems from the very nature of the "profession" itself: you have to want to disseminate your ideas to others and convince them of the truth of what you are saying (or believe). Fundamentally, conservatives are too busy getting on with life to be concerned with what others think, except in the commercial sense of what it takes to sell goods and services. Liberals, by contrast, are not interested in goods and services, but political thought ... a large part of which is emotionally based and cannot stand up to the rigors imposed by the real world. That is, the typical person interested in journalism is not on this planet to provide goods and services, and nor is he/she really interested in the necessity of society being able to pay for said goods and services. The journalist is only concerned in convincing the public at large of the political "truths" they represent, irrespective of their viability given the reality of human nature.
Given this as the primary concern of the profession of journalism, and the fact that only the most strident and driven in any endeavor actually succeed, it is only natural that those most committed to their (leftist and idealistic) cause should rise to control the profession and its schools. The people less committed have long since moved on to more profitable pursuits seeking financial gain and comfort. Those who are committed actually gain their comfort and succor through spreading their social beliefs and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. In a disturbing replay of historical precedents, certain politicians today are using their own "useful idiots" to achieve power, primary among them, Hil-liar Clinton -- a committed Leninist.
You can't easily fight this. It is a rare person indeed who possess sufficient intellectual powers to debunk that socialist drivel that passes for political beliefs on the left and also the commitment to expose the simple lies and untruths used as "facts" by the profession of journalism. In fact, to be such a person is almost irrational: unless one already has sufficient financial means (commonly called "fuck you money" on Wall Street) that one can afford to launch the crusade, one has to choose between financial and creature comfort, and "the cause of truth" with corresponding relative poverty. Clearly, based on all economic theory, the rational person would choose comfort, i.e. "you're not crazy." So unless sufficient financial reward can be reasonably derived from the pursuit of truth, one would be, in fact, crazy to engage in it. Of course, this sets up the corollary: based on the above reasoning and rational economic behavior ... liberals must be crazy.
But there you have it: leftists gravitate to journalism as a means of venting their emotion-based "outrage" to the largest audience possible. Those with the most internal pressure to vent, seek the grandest stage on which to vent it. Those seeking to perpetuate the poison in their hearts (and brains), find ready and willing customers for their "Kool-Aid" at journalism school. You may discount the notion of an earnest seeker of truth graduating some liberal arts college, then attending Columbia to refine their skills: to follow the path from there to the mass print media, you must take the irrational path, thereby proving your unfitness for the position sought -- a reporter of fact, untainted by political slant or beliefs. Otherwise the graduate would take the path of a close friend -- from CSJ to the Institutional Investor, or Forbes, etc.
Then there are those interested solely in television "journalism." Maybe these are the worst of the lot: they are narcissists, seeking personal fame, financial windfall and yet try to justify their "profession" in the same terms as the newsprint/written media. Largely they lack even the feeble intellect required for that task, and to that hypothesis I submit: Katie Couric. My fingers thus sullied having typed the name, I remain your humble and loyal servant.
The root of this, I believe, stems from the very nature of the "profession" itself: you have to want to disseminate your ideas to others and convince them of the truth of what you are saying (or believe). Fundamentally, conservatives are too busy getting on with life to be concerned with what others think, except in the commercial sense of what it takes to sell goods and services. Liberals, by contrast, are not interested in goods and services, but political thought ... a large part of which is emotionally based and cannot stand up to the rigors imposed by the real world. That is, the typical person interested in journalism is not on this planet to provide goods and services, and nor is he/she really interested in the necessity of society being able to pay for said goods and services. The journalist is only concerned in convincing the public at large of the political "truths" they represent, irrespective of their viability given the reality of human nature.
Given this as the primary concern of the profession of journalism, and the fact that only the most strident and driven in any endeavor actually succeed, it is only natural that those most committed to their (leftist and idealistic) cause should rise to control the profession and its schools. The people less committed have long since moved on to more profitable pursuits seeking financial gain and comfort. Those who are committed actually gain their comfort and succor through spreading their social beliefs and will stop at nothing to achieve their goals. In a disturbing replay of historical precedents, certain politicians today are using their own "useful idiots" to achieve power, primary among them, Hil-liar Clinton -- a committed Leninist.
You can't easily fight this. It is a rare person indeed who possess sufficient intellectual powers to debunk that socialist drivel that passes for political beliefs on the left and also the commitment to expose the simple lies and untruths used as "facts" by the profession of journalism. In fact, to be such a person is almost irrational: unless one already has sufficient financial means (commonly called "fuck you money" on Wall Street) that one can afford to launch the crusade, one has to choose between financial and creature comfort, and "the cause of truth" with corresponding relative poverty. Clearly, based on all economic theory, the rational person would choose comfort, i.e. "you're not crazy." So unless sufficient financial reward can be reasonably derived from the pursuit of truth, one would be, in fact, crazy to engage in it. Of course, this sets up the corollary: based on the above reasoning and rational economic behavior ... liberals must be crazy.
But there you have it: leftists gravitate to journalism as a means of venting their emotion-based "outrage" to the largest audience possible. Those with the most internal pressure to vent, seek the grandest stage on which to vent it. Those seeking to perpetuate the poison in their hearts (and brains), find ready and willing customers for their "Kool-Aid" at journalism school. You may discount the notion of an earnest seeker of truth graduating some liberal arts college, then attending Columbia to refine their skills: to follow the path from there to the mass print media, you must take the irrational path, thereby proving your unfitness for the position sought -- a reporter of fact, untainted by political slant or beliefs. Otherwise the graduate would take the path of a close friend -- from CSJ to the Institutional Investor, or Forbes, etc.
Then there are those interested solely in television "journalism." Maybe these are the worst of the lot: they are narcissists, seeking personal fame, financial windfall and yet try to justify their "profession" in the same terms as the newsprint/written media. Largely they lack even the feeble intellect required for that task, and to that hypothesis I submit: Katie Couric. My fingers thus sullied having typed the name, I remain your humble and loyal servant.
posted by Zaphod at Thursday, December 13, 2007
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