Media contempt for Palin is contempt for us
...There is so much hypocrisy in that contempt. The same people who look down in contempt on Sarah Palin give Joe Biden, who is a dufus, a pass. They seem to hold him in the same esteem he holds himself, regardless of the facts and the record. Why should we trust their judgment of Sarah Palin when they can't see Biden's obvious flaws?Love her or hate her, Palin has done for media ratings what she did for the Republican base. Her debate with Joe Biden was the most-watched cable TV show for viewers ages 18 to 34, according to Jonathan Klein, president of CNN/U.S.
Obama has had a similar effect.
Jim VandeHei, executive editor of Politico, reported that traffic on politico.com is "exponentially higher" for Palin- and Obama-related stories.
Whereas the mainstream media (MSM) are widely viewed as being pro-Obama, the same MSM are viewed as being hostile toward Palin. It is possible to be critical of Palin's lack of qualifications and experience without conveying contempt, but that hasn't always been the case. Early attacks on Palin's personal life and family values were perceived as unfair by those who already viewed the media skeptically.
To those folks, it is laughable when the media ask themselves, "Are we too elitist?" The answer seems to be implicit in the question.
As a self-described spy for Bubba who moves between home in the rural South and inside the Washington Beltway, I get more than an off-the-bus glimpse of the Palin phenomenon. Inside the Beltway, I've often felt like Jane Goodall, summoned from the hinterlands to explain the behaviors of the indigenous peoples.
We're not talking disconnect, but worlds apart.
Back home at my local grocery checkout counter, most of the other folks in line don't know or care how Tina Fey totally owns Sarah Palin. They only know that their food costs too much and gas prices are making the trip to work prohibitive.
So how do the media win back the trust and respect of this segment of the population? Klein said media folk need to get out of their bubble and find out what people think. Indeed.
...These are the folks who have found light in Sarah Palin and who have been a major part of the Palin frenzy. They will vote the McCain ticket regardless of whether Palin can rattle off Supreme Court cases with which she disagrees. They recognize themselves in her. To them, her lack of polish and knowledge feels like an absence of slickness and glibness.
McCain's hunch that Palin would catapult him into the White House ultimately may prove wrong, but the Palin phenomenon and the mainstream media problem are of a piece. Therein lies the answer to the media's self-inquiry.
Contempt for one's audience is not a sure way to its heart. Palin's people feel that contempt and they have identified its source as the enemy.
Why don't they see the same inadequacies in Obama who has even less experience and what experience he has had has been exemplified by inept failure. His education program with terrorist Bill Ayers was fortunately a failure since it attempted to radicalize students into Ayers' world view. He has been dead wrong on the war in Iraq, but so have most of them so they ignore that failure too.
The media seems so hurt that they are not loved, but they show so little respect, much less love for their audience.
Comments
Post a Comment