This and That on the Media

Having studied Journalism I find it interesting to view it from afar. Speaking from experience, it is difficult to critique a profession when you are a part of it. When you are a part of the machine, it is harder to separate yourself from it. You tend to come up with excuses for certain actions or behaviors. When you are a part of the machine, you do have a perspective that outsiders do not have, but it rarely gives you the type of objective viewpoint that is needed.

I bring this up because I have seen some interesting things with the main street media (MSM). On a national level, we can see that they are starting to turn on the Obama administration. Don't fool yourself and think they are going to start espousing the ideals of the Tea Party or that they have become converts to fiscal responsibility. No. The MSM is still going to go after Rand Paul, Sarah Palin, Glenn Beck and such. But, they are now going after Obama and his minions because they are not being served the way they expected. Obama ran on an open government and led them to believe the press would have access like never before. That is not happening. Instead, they are seeing a president that is refusing to answer questions, a White House PRess Secretary that gets flippant if you dare question a policy decision or question administrations thought process, a bullying Chief of Staff and nonsensical policies. As I said back in January (article HERE) and before that October (article HERE) the media is biting the hand that fed it. The media, especially the national media, is a vindictive bunch who will sell their grandmother for a story that could win them a Pulitzer Prize. It is no great surprise that the MSM is going after Obama now.

That is why I had to chuckle when I saw this on DrudgeReport
And now, according to Breitbart TV, the WHPress Secretary, Robert Gibbs, is privately chastising reporters for going after the administration on the BP oil spill.

This all will not last, though. As the elections get nearer, the administration will reach out to the national MSM and do what it can to make them happy in hopes of using the MSM to sway public opinion in favor of Democrats. Obama and team know there are going to be losses and they know they need the press to help sway opinion.

My prediction is this - Barring any further scandal, the press will have a field day over a good part of the summer on the BP-Gulf Coast crisis. Many will compare it to Katrina with talk of it being called Obama's Katrina moment. Late this summer, after vacations and primaries, the administration will start to make nice with the press. Obama will probably do some one on one interviews and may well have a press conference or two. This will lead to the press and non-Fox News pundits, starting to speak highly of the president and his administration. They will try and take off the toxic image he currently has so that he can help with the November campaigns.

Possible Game Changer - All bets are off if Dick Morris is right and someone starts sniffing around and finds something with Joe Sestak's claim that he was offered a position in the administration if he did not run. IF this gets any legs, this will last a long time and could be big. Remember, the press will do anything for a Pulitzer and most papers and national news need ratings.

On the local front, I once again look at the St. Louis Post Dispatch and just shake my head in wonder. This paper bewilders me, yet I really should not be surprised as this is how they have been since I can remember.

All indications are that the Post is willing to let Russ Carnahan go down in defeat. While they are not actively pursuing Russ as much as some of our local bloggers and radio personalities, they are running stories that do not put Russ in a great light. That said, I find it interesting that they have not done anything on Lacy Clay. Lacy has a person within his own party running against him and a search on StlToday.com of Candice Britton yields no results.

If you do a similar search for Martin D. Baker, you will find 1 story from 2008. If you do a search on Robyn Hamlin, you will find press releases that her campaign has sent out. That is it. No stories or profiles on mentions of any of these candidates.

Add to that, why is it that myself and other bloggers are the only ones doing any reporting on Lacy and his associations with the Rent to Own groups as well as the large campaign payments to his sister. I know times are tough, but the Post could at least follow up to some of these stories much like they did the with Bob McCarty's story on Celeste Finkenbine. You can find the Post's version of the story HERE.

What is it about Lacy that the post is not willing to go after him. Is it a race thing? Is the Post worried about claims of racism if they legitimately go after him? That is the only thing I can think of. If that is the case, it is a sad state of affairs for our town and our only daily print newspaper.

What are your thoughts and/or predictions?