While John McEnery IV is vacationing on the beaches of Tahiti this week with his harem and entourage of personal attendants, we thought we would give our bloggers an opportunity to sound off about the San Jose Mercury News. Has anyone noticed anything different as the paper has gone through the changes of ownership? How are they doing covering local issues? Does the paper seem biased in any way in how they present stories or write headlines? What about the quality of the writing? Is there anything you would like to see them do that they are not doing? And what about the ownership’s performance so far in supporting community arts and events, especially in comparison to Knight Ridder?
San Jose Inside
San Jose Inside (https://www.sanjoseinside.com)
I’ve read the Merc over lunch for as many years as I can remember. In years past I would have to hurry to thoroughly read the entire paper within an hour. Over the past three years it has taken progressively less time to read because of the drop in the quality of articles and news worthiness of material. On a good day it now takes me 20 minutes to read. The Merc began its dramatic decline before the sale, but it is now in free fall. I’m not sure how much longer I will bother to subscribe.
The Mercury has changed for the worse. It has taken a nosedive in terms of relying on slanted adjectives, name-calling, racial bias, and stereotyping to tell the story of the news.
It has moved much more quickly since Singleton and MediaNews took over to express the underlying ideologies of its editorial and writing staff in what can only be termed a rush to embrace divisiveness in our community. We don’t have a paper anymore so much as we have a peculiar kind of Pravda where the most minor sorts of stories are adjusted to reflect the world view of the local editors and writers.
Apparently Ridder did restrain some of the wilder applications of the staff’s extreme sixties class and ethnic warfare ideas, because the paper has been able to fully express those sentiments since Singleton took over.
Maybe with a new owner the Merc will start to report the news with at least some degree of fairness and get away from the totally biased reporting with KR. For the most part the readers have a brain and will use it. The Merc and all KR papers have been extremely one sided (left wing) and maybe now we will get some news and not just some one’s one sided opinion.
2 and 3—Any actual examples?? Usually, those who claim a left wing bias to the media like to get their “news” filtered by such pseudo-news organizations like Fox. Too often those who claim bias prefer the Pravda like presentations of talk radio and think those folks are actually presenting the facts. Just because you don’t like the news doesn’t mean it is biased. But I’d be glad to look at any examples you have of this so-called leftist bias.
I cancelled my Merc subscription years ago when it ceased to be our “local” paper. Once it started to take a regional bias and abandoned the local news and sports I used to subscribe for, the paper became a waste of time and money and recycling space.
I miss local news. Maybe that’s why San Jose has no sense of identity anymore. We’ve lost both our hometown newspaper and our hometown TV station. We’re now truly nothing more than a suburb of SF (with a bigger population).
So far I haven’t seen much change but agree with George’s post #1. It started taking a lot less time to read through the Merc when they made all of those big changes to what each section of the paper contained a while back. That format change also gave us the likes of hangar one and fire pit hating Patty Fisher who actually thinks there are people in Palo Alto who read the Merc instead of the Chronicle. She’s one columnist they could get rid of today and you wouldn’t hear a single complaint from readers if they did.
My beef with the Merc for quite some time is that the editing has become way too sloppy and has been this way for quite a while. It’s also been clear for many years that reporters are not familiar with the area, referring to streets such as “San Carlos Blvd.” or like just yesterday in an article on the SJ Flea Market described it as having its western boundary on Hedding Street, a street that runs east/west. With Media News at the helm we can only expect more of this disconnected type of reporting.
I sure hope the lone stockholder who instigated the sale of KR is feeling pretty stupid right about now, considering his stock isn’t doing any better that it did under KR, and isn’t likely to either.
If the caliber of The Mercury reflects the caliber of San Jose, we’re worse off than I thought.
I can think of more than one story that The Mercury elevated to the scandal status. I’m not going to mention specifics because there is no good use in dregging up the past that may be hurtful to people who have already suffered due to The Mercury making a buck. I can recall the local story that knock Alghanistan off the front page, never to return to front page status. That particular story was a scandal, however, it didn’t deserve the type of scandalous coverage The Mercury seemed to enjoy. To see the way The New York Times covered the same story was very interesting. By that time, I had already cancelled the family subscription. That decision is frequently reinforced. I do admit, that I read the obits in the paper, those would be pretty hard to bungle, but for the most part the news delivered is so diluted, it’s hardly worth the effort.
$4 above, P. White, asked for examples of my criticisms at #2. As long as you asked, here is a recent example.
On Wednesday, just two days ago, a news story was written about an African American Christian woman named Star Parker who apparently spoke in Santa Clara on Tuesday.
The last two paragraphs of the news story were dedicated to referring to her message as “intolerant.” The reporter (with approval presumably from the executive editor, Susan Goldberg) contacted Rick Callender for a comment.
He admitted that he “had not heard of Parker” and obviously had not read her book or heard her remarks, but he was willing to comment on the “black conservative moment (sic)” to characterize it as “not in sync with the black community, but is intolerant and out of sync with the majority of Americans.”
That Rick Callender feels that way is entirely his right, but for the Mercury to attach such uninformed and irrelevant comments to a story about a specific person was right out of the sixties playbook.
It was exactly the use of the “links & ties” approach to put the subject into an ideological camp (in this case, “the” black conservative movement, no diversity allowed here), and then the “smear” technique on the pages of the Mercury of the entire movement as intolerant without the quoted person’s having any knowledge whatsoever of what Parker was saying or writing.
Again, no one can object to Callender’s opinions on the subject.
It is the use by the Mercury of his “links & ties” and his “smear” of the group that is a relic of campus newspaper in the late sixties and early seventies. No reasonable reporter would have used such an irrelevant comment to seek to provide a legitimate alternate view of Parker’s remarks, of which I imagine there are many.
8 – Good example, but I would say it is more an example of poor journalism than bias. The Merc is certainly guilty of using a very small pool of people as their “go to” folks for quotes. Callendar is one of them and your criticism is on target. The Merc does do this far too often where it quotes one of their regulars as if they speak for all humanity. Until the Merc realizes there are others in this community who are articulate and have expertise, they will continue to be open to this type of criticism.
I agree
#1…Less local news
#5…No Hometown Paper or TV Station, but don’t hey own the Resident and some of those other neighborhood papers?
#6…Most people from Palo Alto do read the Chronicle.
I disagree
#6… I’m not sure that I get your referance to Hangar One, but if you don’t feel that it is a part of the San Jose Area, all you have to do is look in that direction from any highrise in the area. It is the most recognizable structure in a 50 mile radius of SJ. I see it up there with the Golden Gate Bridge, Lick Observatory, TransAmerica Building and San Jose’s BofA Building. These large structures visually impact citizens beyond city boundaries and truely serve as landmarks.
10—You didn’t mention our new City Hall among the landmarks that you mentioned. Must have been an oversight. How could you not include the domeless civic building with the freestanding kiosk next to it? And don’t forget the lovely concrete plaza that serves as a solar heat reflector in the summer and will serve as rain-soaked slippery causer of accidents in the winter. You will reconsider adding this disaster to your list, won’t you?
#8&9
I agree. Who is the guy they keep quoting from S.J.S. on local politics? They need some new “experts”.
#11
I put the “New City Hall” right up there with the Titanic and Hindenburg. All made history,
people payed dearly and none lived up to their hype. Just think, if the hot air generated from our City Hall could have been used in the Hindenburg, rather than hydrogen, or been used to melt the iceberg, hundreds of lives could have been saved.
#8. It’s always easy to pick apart a specific point in a specific story, but does it prove a larger truth? The irrelevant quoting of Rick Callendar does not begin to support the original assertion of “slanted adjectives, name-calling, racial bias, and stereotyping.”
While there is no question the Merc is much lighter in terms of local news these days, the cutbacks began several years ago with layoffs, reporter contract buyouts and other KR cost-cutting moves. The real test will be in how Media News lives up to it’s promise to build the paper back up.
Meanwhile I give the Merc credit for still doing some excellent work. Their coverage of Hewlett Packard’s “pretexting” mess has been good. The “Tainted Trials” series may have tweaked many official noses, but it forced a long-overdue look at an insular local justice system. I enjoy Purdy, Mr. Roadshow, Herhold and many of the columnists although I can’t figure out why they waste the ink on Sue Hutchinson.
On the negative side: Why does are the Merc’s letters to the Editor so heavily weighted toward national and international issues? I find it hard to believe that the local newspaper does not get substantial mail regarding local issues. I also don’t think the Merc’s editors would be so short-sighted as to shut out opinions contrary to their editorial positions. Including more local opinions would be an easy way for the Merc to add more “local” to it’s content.
I have to disagree with you all on this one. I don’t think you have ever read a truly bad major city newspaper before. I have and I got as much news from a small town daily as the big city one. And all they had for the most part was stories other papers had written. Read some of the Gannett Newspapers and get back to me on that one. The Merc has some very good writers most espeically(SP) Phil Yost. I do wish they had some more stories about San Jose but I think they do a good job of covering what they do. Just my opinion.
Does anybody else remember the West Sunday magazine that the Merc used to publish?
Instead we now get the slick Silicon Valley Homes magazine with advertisements disguised as articles about home decorating ideas.
What about the local weekly inserts that disappeared a year or so ago? These seemed to be a defensive move against the Palo Alto, Los Gatos, etc… Daily News. Once Knight Ridder purchased the group, there was no need for any more local news for neighborhoods in San Jose.
While my complaints go back before Knight Ridder was purchased, over time the Merc is becoming less relevant.
15 – I read a lot of different papers (on line) from a lot of different market sizes. Most of them concentrate the bulk of their coverage on their local area. The Merc isn’t concerned with covering news in its local area, it’s concerned with selling papers to a regional audience. It’s trying to compete head on with the SF Chronicle, a well established regional newapaper. And it’s failing miserably on all counts.
#16. Steve – Yes, I remember West Magazine. In particular I remember a story they did describing the presumed effects of a nuclear bomb on Silicon Valley in which the Blue Cube was ground zero, with the effects fanning outward. It was really chilling stuff. (I wonder if there is a reprint available?) There was some very good writing in West magazine.
#14—Explain what you mean by the larger truth.
My reference is not to just one story, I can think of several, but it would take too long to write. The disintegration of quality of this paper has been long standing, it’s just getting worse. The business section does appear to be the most worthwhile, but the paper hardly compares to publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal.
I still agree with #1, you can get through the paper in record time, and it’s not because of a speed reading class. I must confess I actually bought two Sunday editions recently and will never again. Ads comprised the majority of the paper; I understand how ads keep the price reasonable, I can put up with that, however, there was no substance in the paper. It used to be that a person could look forward to reading the Sunday paper, well no more, at least not the papers in our area, I include San Francisco Chronicle.
The thing that concerns me is that most people automatically believe what is in print. The Mercury has truly taught me, ” Don’t believe everything you read.” Maybe, #14, you’re just naive.
And, just for the record, I don’t think much of The Metro papers either. Must admit, however, the stategy of the owners to buy small regional county papers was a smart one. They’ve positioned themselves to be a strong local influence.
19—So, just where do you get your local news?? Do you just listen to what one campaign says and assume that is the truth? It is easy to trash the local paper, and some of it is deserved, but if you don’t read it what other source do you use for local news?
#10, Yes of course I recognize Hangar One as a local, actually a Bay Area historical landmark. What I was referring to is Ms. Fisher’s column advocating its demise. She really needs to move to Bolinas and write for the Point Reyes Light or something with the crazy s**t she spews.
Also agree that the trouble started before KR was purchased. Totally tacky to have a full page Fry’s ad on the back side of section A, especially when Fry’s has its own section at least one day out of the week, and pages of ads elsewhere in every issue. The Merc abandoned the great convenience of flipping the paper over to continue reading an article from the front page. Now we turn to page 17 or whatever and at least in my case, go back to page one to find the key word associated with the article because I can never remember I have to know the key word to continue, because the header on the continued story is usually way off the subject. Couldn’t they at least just go back to saying page and column number? Total disrespect for the readers. I don’t care how much Fry’s might be paying for that back page. There’s a level of integrity issue here and the Merc has pretty much sunk to the gutter just like a cheap whore the way they are selling space. Now we get post-its with ads on them stuck to the top of every front page. Hell, why not just turn the front page over to Fry’s too Merc? When you put stories about Barry Bonds there you’re already demostrating the unimportance of the material you think is news anyway.
As for #15, of course USA Today shouldn’t even be classified as a newspaper, but the Merc is supposed to be a home town paper with in-depth articles, especially on local issues. What we get now is a bunch of Media News gloss-overs. It’s not as bad as USA Today, but it seems headed in that direction.
#20 – I keep my ear to the ground. I forgot to say what a relief week it was without RR’s dribble. Guess he’s off on his own site funded my the Metro.
The SJ Mercury prints the news in pretty much the same biased, unprofessional manner found everywhere else in the news media. The paper has an absolutely dismal record of informing the public about key issues, unless one interprets the word “inform” as a synonym for brainwash.
For instance, based on its treatment by the newspaper a reader would think that the WWII internment of Japanese Americans is an ongoing news story. It is not. It is a story that belongs to the study of history. However, because it is a story that supports the newspaper’s particular victimology doctrine, readers are treated to excessive and very selective coverage of this piece of history. By repeatedly exploiting this event for its tragic impact on individuals the paper achieves its goal of awarding disproportionate prominence to the suffering of a minority group. In truth, when compared to the suffering of other groups—including the many American workers captured by the Japanese at the war’s start, the suffering of Japanese-American internees pales by comparison. But, of course, the newspaper has no interest in historical context; what it wants is victims of color and bad white guys.
All minority issues are treated thusly. Readers are well informed about illegals doing jobs “Americans won’t do,” but how honest has the paper been about the serious impact illegals have had on our government? Are readers not interested in the fact that one out of every two Hispanics in our state’s prisons is an illegal? How about the cost to our schools—the extra rooms, resources, and teachers needed for foreign speaking kids? Any chance of there being a single illegal immigrant student who doesn’t qualify for free meals? Why no interest in the unexpected recurrence in our schools of medical problems once thought eradicated (e.g. lice, scabies, TB)? Where are the in-depth stories on how Valley Medical Center and the various Habla Español satellite health facilities have expanded at a rate and cost that would’ve frightened even Sarah Winchester?
Instead we get depictions of hard-working immigrants but no mention of how their presence undercuts wages and benefits in service industries and the trades. I guess those jobs that “Americans won’t do” now include retail and the construction trades. To be sure, the presence of illegals hurts many working Americans, but don’t expect the diversity worshippers at the Mercury to say anything until MediaNews Group starts looking at illegals as a way to keep costs down.
Anyone out there want to venture a guess what our area homicide rate would be if murders committed by African Americans and Hispanic gangs were subtracted? I imagine the result would surprise Mercury readers, as it would probably rival that of Disney World, and possibly make folks a bit more skeptical when reading op-ed pieces about how guns, not people, are at the root of our America’s homicide rate.
To understand this disparity maybe we should consult Rick Callender, a man who is treated by the newspaper as if he were an expert on something other than how to bash in the head of an innocent man and keep the media quiet about his conviction. Callender has no expertise; he has no real credibility (unless you count, as the paper apparently does, his skin color); yet he is treated by the press with more reverence and respect than is any government official who ever stood for election or earned an appointment.
The paper’s treatment of Mr. Callender is either evidence of the its liberal bent or its cowardice.
Four or five years ago there was an absolutely outrageous crime committed in the city of Wichita. Two young African American brothers robbed, raped, and murdered five young adults (the sixth, shot and left for dead, naked in the snow, survived). The victims were, as were the brothers’ earlier victims, white. They were also highly sympathetic victims; honest, accomplished, church-going innocents. Thanks to the internet the case became a litmus test of sorts for media bias, as Net news junkies slowly became aware that this holiday season mass murder had been almost universally ignored by the media. The Mercury News, uniquely positioned to cover the story due to its Knight Ridder partner in Wichita, published not a word. Not a word! Apparently kidnapping, rape, robbery, and murder committed on a Manson-like scale is not news if the race element doesn’t fit the paper’s bias.
http://www.rense.com/general30/shamls.htm
Ought to be enough to make one wonder what else they aren’t telling their readers. Any chance they’d ignore a case where a youngster was so horribly abused at the hands of two child molesters that he died? Absolutely, in a case where the child was an innocent boy and the two molesters were gay men.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Dirkhising
I guess the paper didn’t want to undermine the great strides it made in its cause the year before when burying readers with Matthew Shepard coverage.
Mal #14,
Regarding letters to the editor, whatever happened to the “Silver Pen Award”? The Merc used to give these out throughout the year and print a recap at the end of the year.
Disgusted,
Sorry to have so upset you. Beings capable of accessing only the reflex level of cognition are easily agitated, known to lash out at even those who mean to help. An analogy you might be able to follow would be that of the trapped dog who will bark and bare his teeth even at his rescuer.
In my post I cited two national stories in which the suppression of news had been the most obvious. In the first year or so after these events there were numerous websites detailing them, however as time passed many of the links to those stories have disappeared (or gone deep inside Google). The links I cited were top-of-the-first-page search results. I cited them because I know the stories are true and don’t care a whit about the sites that preserve them.
But not you, Disgusted, you care deeply—not about the truth of my claims, or even the danger posed by a news media that manages public thought. What you care about is finding an angle you can use to attack the messenger.
Calling me an anti-Semite reveals more about you than it does about me. My post contained not a word about Jews. You called me an anti-Semite because it has proven so effective a tactic in silencing those with divergent views. As Joe Sobran, a columnist whose career was ruined for having a divergent view, once said, “An anti-Semite used to mean a man who hated Jews. Now it means a man who is hated by Jews.”
If you don’t know who Joe Sobran is, check out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joseph_Sobran
For anyone still reading this, be assured that the Disgusteds of this world are having their way. Reality deemed not fit for public consumption continues to be relegated to the internet, where those who post it face smear and ruin, and those who dare cite it are dismissed or insulted for the high crime of using “discredited websites.”
Oh, how Joe Stalin would’ve loved the “Information Age” and its herd of Disgusteds.
The Mercury News is still the most powerful entity in our community.
Recent political polls have shown a decline in their influence, but the paper remains influential, especially as an echo chamber.
There has been a dramatic decline in local news reporting—especially for cities other than San Jose, mostly due to layoffs and a new direction for the paper.
Newspapers, as a business, are being scooped constantly by the internet—especially in the form of blogs. SV411.com, for whom I post, often takes pleasure in scooping the hometown newspaper.
But the Mercury News remains the main source of information about San Jose. TV and Radio stations routinely get their information from the newspaper and that echo chamber allows it to be a potent political force.
The remaining reporters at the Mercury News are professional and, whether you agree or disagree with their coverage, provide accurate information on the stories they cover.
The editorial bias has made its way to the news department and that in unfortunate.
In addition, the editorial department crossed the line when they published their “investigation” of Terry Gregory. That should have been left to the news department, I think they now recognize that was a mistake.
But there is no denying their influence on the body politic.
Simply put, they are the most powerful political entity in the Valley—bar none. No lobbyist, company, elected official or private entity comes close to its influence.
For most of its history, the Mercury News has used their power responsibly. There have been aberations, but if you have ever read the SF Examiner or Chroncle, you come to really appreciate the Mercury News.
Its new ownership does have a hill to climb. Newspapers are losing influence, power and—importantly—revenue all over the nation. To compete they must adapt and change.
But let us hope they proceed with journalistic integrity, keep their own ethics higher than those they cover and continue to provide a sense of responsibility to the community they serve.
It’s a tall order, here’s hoping. . .
Way to go, FinFan. Leave it to you to once again bring the discussion down to your racist blathering. Ideally we should just ignore the crap you’ve written, but since you’ve managed to offend virtually every group with your anti-semitic, anti-asian, etc., etc. diatribe, I couldn’t let it go without commenting.
The crime you cite was terrible, although the links to neo-Nazi websites in the article hardly make it a credible source of news. If only you used your energy and words to work to improve our community, but instead you seem to delight in stoking the fires of racism and blaming the “Jewish run media” for all the ills of the society.
Your comments are disgusting and what small thread of truth you have woven within your canards is not worthy of the standards of this blog. If this is the best you can do to try and make your pathetic case, then it is time for you to take a long rest and go back under the rock you and others like you came from.
#23 – Steve: I remember the Silver Pen Award. I think the Merc should bring it back. The current Letters to the Editor section sucks.
#24 – RR: It’s interesting that you cite the Terry Gregory editorials as evidence of editorial bias.
Those editorials revealed Gregory’s misconduct. The facts presented in the editorials were never in dispute. The result was that a corrupt politician is no longer in office and stands convicted of a crime for his abuse of the public trust.
That’s a bias I can live with.
Finfan
You and Reed were made for each other. You forgot about the Irish run blogs ruining this cowtown.
Isn’t this blog moderated?
FF – You do have a way with words. I follow a link from YOUR posting that is filled with attacks against Jews and you somehow twist that to make it my problem not yours.
I have no problem with getting information from a wide range of sources, which is why I looked at the link you provided. Aside from its anti-Jewish tone, it was also linked to the National Alliance site, whose slogan is “News for White People…By White People.” Seems to me if you link to anti-semitic and racist sites to support your case, it is not a big jump for someone to place your sentiments with those groups.
I do care deeply about the truth, something you seem to feel you have a monopoly on. Because I question the validity of the sources you provide, you somehow twist that to say I do not care about the truth. I know I would not link to sites to prove my case if I didn’t believe what they were saying. You have not disavowed the tripe published on those sites, so I can only assume you agree with it. Therefore, I place little validity in you or your sources.
We may disagree on many issues and that is fine. But when you twist your own words around to blame me for seeing them for what they are, you then change the playing field and there is little room for a rational discussion.
It’s too bad. You seem intelligent but ignorant. You write fairly well but you just can’t pull yourself away from the edge to have a discussion without racial overtones and blaming everybody else but you and those who believe like you do. We’ll never solve anything that way—those of us who believe in true, undistorted information, and those of you who believe only in slanted, biased information. It’s hard to find common ground there, but I’ll keep trying. Don’t know if you will.
Disgusted,
Common ground? Understand this: the only common ground I’m interested is the truth.
For forty some-odd years there was a great controversy in history regarding just what FDR knew prior to the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. Had that controversy been treated the way many issues are today it would: never have appeared in a mainstream publication, websites addressing it would’ve been hounded by complaints to their advertisers and threats to their service providers, and the only place (quite possibly) one could follow the issue would have been on a website operated by a member of the obstinate fringe.
Thankfully that was not the case and the issue was accorded fair treatment. As a result, many divergent sources were accessed by motivated historians and we now know the extent of FDR’s deception. This subject may not seem important to some but, from an historical perspective, the bigger picture of WWII could not be properly understood until this issue was clarified.
As a matter of fact, no part of history can be properly understood if it is deemed off limits. However, as I write this, there are accomplished academics imprisoned in a number of European countries for doing nothing more than stepping on someone’s sacred version of history. Remarkably, this Dark Ages-like travesty has failed to get a rise out America’s usually frisky Free Press crowd or even the tantrum-prone academic elite. Makes one wonder what they’re all so afraid of?
The two stories I cited as suppressed were factual and so horrific as to qualify as significant from a news perspective. But the suppression of these events by our nation’s media was even more significant. Why were they ignored? Why hadn’t you heard of them? If not in your newspaper, news magazines, or network news, certainly you should have encountered them through your internet news sources.
But you didn’t. And you really don’t seem to care. You care more that someone, somewhere on the internet, might be hating something.
I cited two stories. There are countless others. Some of them concern international issues, but many involve domestic issues of public perception—especially about those social matters people like you don’t like to see addressed by people like me. We are, as a nation, being misinformed by an arrogant elite who believe they should do all our thinking.
Well, thanks, but no thanks.
#29
If it was black on black in Oakland, do you think your examples would have made national headlines? How many black children do you think get killed every day that don’t get the coverage of the Ramsey case? I don’t think it is an issue of left vs. right, it is a case of what sells papers.
Gee, #31, in your post you forgot to challenge anything I said. Is it too hard to think when holding your breath?
#29,
The crime in Oakland is black on black, however, the idea that selling papers by exploiting one victim’s status or beauty is anything different—or more sociologically significant—than what PT Barnum used to do is absurd. Oddity sells. Beauty sells. I’m not going to scold the media for responding to proven human interests, but I will shake my finger at them when they pick and choose what they cover based on a political agenda. Had the Carr brothers (Wichita) lined-up six black college kids and executed them it would have made all the papers, made Dateline and Primetime, even made Oprah. The public would know the victim’s stories, the victim’s family and friends, the monstrous murderers.
The Wichita case was a crime more horrific than the St. Valentine’s Day Massacre (where the victims were thugs), yet it went unreported.
Significant blame for the current, seemingly unsolvable problems in cities such as Oakland resides with the media, its coconspirators on campus, and our pathetic, pandering political leaders. For decades the liberal media has used its power to undermine critical family/community values while emphasizing the intoxicating message of minority victimization. Personal failure—to get an education, job, obey the law—became the fault of the teachers and employers and cops, all convicted without trial of pushing The Man’s racist traditions and standards. It was a dogma that made failure feel right; a dogma that has become doctrine on the campus; a dogma that convinced our government to effectively treat a class of people as if they were recalcitrant children.
A baby born out-of-wedlock used to bring shame to a family. So did parental indifference and neglect. But they don’t anymore in many Oakland neighborhoods where shame has been eradicated, replaced by a value system dictated not by tradition or wise elders, but by those who are bold, ferocious, and young.
Choosing as the father of your child the most colorful, cocksure male strutting his stuff is a good strategy—if you’re a chicken. But if you’re a young black female in the inner city, making that choice usually means you and your baby will be abandoned, and that baby, if a boy, will be raised without limits and a firm hand and will very likely to mature into something just as bad as his father.
And he will likely die on the streets or grow old in a prison.
Gavin Newsom, driven so desperate by black violence that he actually said something factual, revealed the other day that of SF’s sixty-three murder victims, forty-seven of them have cumulatively close to eight-hundred felony arrests.
In other words, the successful efforts of liberals to keep felons out of prison has now morphed into a new form of the death penalty. Now the mayor wants to cover entire neighborhoods with “safety cameras”—hoping to instill with expensive high-tech cameras a level of neighborhood civility once achieved with nothing more than simple values.
Liberalism: the shortest distance between freedom and totalitarianism. But that’s a story not fit to print.
Again, in three posts (22, 27, 29) finfan manages to use an inordinate amount of words to say nothing. These frequent forays into his non-existent fantasy world are becoming repetitive, and appear to be a cry for help, or attention. Of course, by being a racist and a social conservative he is beyond help.
Since he appears unable to use his excessive words to develop a cogent, rational, reasonable, intelligent thought, then, other than to highlight his ignorance, he should be ignored. Thus increasing his frustration, and hastening his demise.
It’s a shame that we can’t discuss this reasonably.
But, for some reason, no conservative is permitted to talk about race without being called a racist and an anti-semite.
Then we hold big public events calling for a dialogue and openness.
A conservative is certainly permitted to talk about race and will not be called a racist or an anti-semite. If a conservative, or anyone else, talks about race and uses racist and/or anti-semitic rhetoric, then they will be called what they are.
As you say, it is a shame we can’t discuss this reasonably, but when folks like FinFan try to make their case by extolling the virtues of someone who denies the Holocaust ever happened, it pretty much takes reasonable off the table.
Present a reasonable argument and you will get a reasonable discussion. Present racist and anti-semitic nonsense and you will get what you deserve. Should be pretty simple, unfortunately for some folks it is an insurmountable challenge.
I don’t think I want to go where #33 is taking us. In an effort to get back on topic, is Alan Hess still writing for the new Mercury News. I find his articles on local architectue quite informative.
Here’s a summary of the Carr case from the Wichita Eagle.
http://www.kansas.com/mld/eagle/news/special_packages/carr_trial/
I couldn’t find a word of it on the New York Times or mercury news sites.
Kid Ng,
You write as if there is a universally recognized definition of racist rhetoric. There isn’t, and what that means is that it can be pretty much anything anyone says it is. That’s a problem. In our society being accused of racism can bring ruin to even the innocent and well-meaning, and that ability to bring ruin is directly proportional to the political power of the accuser.
Possession of the ability to silence or condemn the words of another is one of the most powerful political weapons attainable. In nations under totalitarian rule, the people are typically silenced by death squads. Utter an unacceptable phrase and you or a loved one disappear. In nations not fully in the grip of totalitarianism, the penalty imposed might be loss of a job or unending harassment. (If you’re having trouble imagining the kind of country I’m referring to, here’s a clue: one of them has the initials USA.)
Free speech is not only the most important protection against tyranny, it is the only one that can wither away unnoticed. Using the examples you provided, for the alleged use of racist or anti-Semitic rhetoric, or denying the holocaust, many Americans have been condemned and suffered real damages, all without benefit of due process. Political pressure—to employers, professional organizations, or the government—by organizations such as the NAACP or ADL or a host of others can get professors fired, immigrants deported, and bring financial ruin to people who’ve committed no crime.
If you think this is a healthy situation then either you haven’t thought it through or you are one of the many in the politically correct crowd with a reeducation camp mentality.
You accused me of extolling the virtues of a holocaust denier. I’d appreciate it if you’d refresh my memory. My recollection is that I made note of the persecution of Joe Sobran, a professional journalist, and how academics are being imprisoned in Europe for stepping on someone’s sacred version of history. Where was the extolling? What ever happened to the idea that people such as those I mentioned had the right to say controversial or unpopular things?
Though I shouldn’t, I can resist providing you with a link to another of totalitarianism’s victims. This one saw his university position evaporate after he criticized Israel. Maybe you can call him an anti-Semite and get it over with now, before even hearing the story of… Professor Norman Finkelstein:
http://www.counterpunch.org/finkelstein1.html
Mal – Thanks for bringing some clarity and common sense to this. You are right, it won’t change any minds, but it is good to know there are others who don’t see the grand liberal, left-wing, etc. bias that FinFan and his group does.
Kid Ng,
Absent significant evidence, suggesting that Professor Finkelstein’s harsh criticisms of Israel and its powerful American lobby might be the result of psychological issues reads like an excerpt from a KGB dossier. If you recall, the Soviet Union filled its asylums with people whose only symptom of mental illness was that they voiced their disagreement with the Politburo.
What kind of world do you want to live in? How can you think you’re on the right track to freedom when you’re so quick to smear? No matter your personal reaction to Professor Finkelstein’s scholarship, it is scholarship richly documented, and as such it is deserving of objective, thoughtful evaluation, not a cheap, calculated slur campaign designed to get him fired. Using your template for evaluating scholars, and considering our changing demographics, we could someday see Evolutionist’s branded as heathens and dismissed from their teaching posts.
As for Mr. Sobran, I used him for one simple reason: his career was ruined because his analysis of the State of Israel angered a powerful political lobby. He wasn’t ruined for misstating fact or violating a journalistic code, yet his ruin was met by a very disturbing chorus of silence from his peers. Silence that, to me, smells of fear.
– –
Mal,
Court TV had some level of coverage of the Carr trial, coverage which began two years after the crime. There are allegations that Court TV backed-off from its originally announced level of coverage, but that’s off-point. As for national coverage of the crime itself, Accuracy in Media records coverage of the actual crime was limited to the Chicago Tribune and the Washington Times.
http://www.aim.org/aim_report/A454_0_4_0_C/
Your asking “how many murders make the news in Wichita” is not, as you suggest, worth consideration—or reaction.
– –
P. White,
Vague speculations and half-truths equal clarity and common sense only to foggy half-wits.
What’s Jimmy been putting in your coffee?
Finfan is an extremist. Right there his credibility is compromised but where he boldly makes statements that are perceived as racist even though crime statistics confirm them as factual, I do find myself agreeing with him.
Let’s face it. The monicker “Baghdad by the Bay” definitely belongs to Oakland these days. Thing are way out of hand there and there is no denying who is perpetrating all of the violence. I don’t see anything but a hardball approach as a way of stopping it, but instead there’s no end in sight to the wet noodles.
But don’t take this as a defense of FF. Not anymore. I wouldn’t even click on the link he provided on the supposed gay murder/molesters when I saw it was coming from wikipedia. No credibility there.
FF your extremist colors are blazing at this point and your own credibility level just took a serious nosedive with me, you angry arrogant loser. I’m sure there’s a much more affordable home with far more hospitable neighbors waiting for you in Ruby Ridge.
Mal- how many San Jose murders make the news in San Jose anymore?
I’m not a journalism expert, just a former customer. I (and many of my friends) have canceled subscription to the Mercury News for one simple reason: They don’t limit printing their opinion to their Opinion pages, but routinely slant “news” stories with their biase, which often misleads the reader. I think that the “news” reported should be, like Jack Webb used to say, “Just the facts”. Some Merc reporters, such as Mike Zapler, write in a cheap, tabloid style that is routinely approved by the editors. Many readers find that style to be cheap and unprofessional.
finfan,
You need to love more and hate less.
1. Nobody said the people you mentioned didn’t have the right to say controverisal or unpopular things. Just as I have the right to disagree with them and say so;
2. Just because someone is Jewish doesn’t mean they can’t be an anti-semite. Prof. FInkelstein may be deeply troubled and guilt-ridden and have problems far deeper than I can help him with—and he may or may not be anti-semitic. If your point was because he is Jewish and espouses ideas you like then he can’t possibly be anti-semitic. Of course, you are wrong. If he is anti-semetic he wouldn’t be the first Jew to be so labeled. But thanks for bringing him to my attention.
3. Since you used Sobran to support one of your many arguments, it would seem unlikely you must appreciate what he says and does. If you are not a fan of his it seems peculiar that you would use him to try and bolster your case.
Not that this will change anyone’s mind but quick Google search reveals the Carr case was covered nationally, if not internationally, by Court TV. Also, Wichita TV station KWCH received national recognition in the form of the prestigious Edward R. Murrow Award from the Radio Television News Directors Association for it’s coverage of the court trial.
Beyond that it’s hard to say how much national coverage there was based on Google as their news archives aren’t the best.
Another thought that won’t change minds but is worthy of consideration: perhaps the Merc did not think a crime in Wichita, Kansas warranted local coverage in San Jose and the Bay Area? After all, how many San Jose murders make the news in Wichita?
Dear San Jose:
I believe that the Mercury News deserves quite a bit of the blame as it relates to San Jose’s problems. A great newspaper would have stood up to Gonzales years earlier than it did. Also, the paper missed one of the biggest stories in our city’s history, and to this day continues to supress the truth.
As recently as two months ago, I sent a copy of the city memo on the alternative sites study for the new city hall to Susan Goldberg’s office and to Steven Wright. Goldberg’s office never responded, and Wright responded by referring me to the newsroom. The city memo states clearly that the authors of the alternative sites report assigned the high construction costs of the Meier design to their “analysis” of the existing city hall site, then rejected the option as being too expensive! the city solicited bids for 18 other sites, but none were solicited for the existing city hall site! (Why? propbably because they knew that they would be given a much cheaper alternative…ie two Sobrato towers could have been built for around $200 million!)
To refuse to print this information is borderline censorship. The Mercury News Editorial Board endorsed the building of a status symbol that will undermine city services for decades. And whether by omission or design, they refuse to publish the language of a city memo (may 8,2002) that demonstrates that the people of San Jose were duped once again by the current administration.
Pete Campbell
#45 – RIP: Touche’!
#44 – FlimFlam: OK, I’ll take your point. We will add both the Chicago Tribune and Washington Times to the list of major news organizations covering a story that you tell us did not receive news coverage. Got any more?
first, thanks to mal for his post. It’s well reasoned and it helps.
The court tv point is interesting. It shouws that some national media covered the case heavily, albeit in a niche market. It doesn’t illustrate much about the choice of topic for the front page of major papers, which was the original point.
The Murrow award says more. It says that a national organization of media people thought the case coverage was worthy of an award. That’s a long way from a coverup.
As to “how many murders get covered”, I don’t think that is the point. It is pretty clear that the media finds hate crimes more newsworthy than non-hate crimes. Most murders are not racial, and therefore do not get covered as widely. (This is not a racial bias in the media, just a statement that the media finds racial hatred a newsworthy event.)
The question is whether the Carr case was an example of racial hatred, and therefore something which falls into the same category as the dragging death in Texas.
On the face of it, it seems to.
46 – Any examples? Are the stories actually biased or do you just not agree with the content? There is a big difference. Can the Merc do a better job with some of their stories? Of course. Is there room to improve how they do or don’t cover certain stories? Sure. Does that make them biased in their coverage. Hardly.
I’d like to know what stories you are talking about—I think it would be helpful to all on the blog.
Who is frustrated finfan? And why doesn’t he / she use their real name along with their long winded opininated and name calling comments ?
Victimization is a topic frustrated finfan frequently argues against but seems to believe that his / her group of white people are also victims, being discriminated against and regularly attacks Rick Callender, NAACP, Chuck Reed and ” diversity worshippers at the Mercury”
Are these hints as to who is angry victimized frustrated finfan?
#42 C’mon Mal – you can’t be serious.
The reason this didn’t get picked up by mainstream news is that it doesn’t fit the newsmedia’s oppressor (white) / oppressed (non-white) template.
Flip this story around. 2 white men sexually assault and then kill several black men and women.
All of a sudden we have a sensational story.
Why?
Because it now fits the PC newsmedia’s social justice template perfectly.
Do you really doubt that this white perps. / black victims story wouldn’t be front page on the NY Times or that a Hollywood movie based on the same wouldn’t be made?
How about a seperate blog for FinFan and Novice? Then they can compare conspiracy stories and how the Jewish run media and the liberal left wing contorl everything we see and hear in the press. Meanwhile, the rest of us who are grounded in reality can discuss the real issues before that need addressing. I know the response we’ll get from FF—we’ve gotten it over and over again before. I know the value of free press and know the task of gathering the news and disseminating it is not an easy one. I do want the truth—not FinFan’s truth or my truth, but THE truth. People will disagree on what is news and how it should be covered. That is one reason not to rely on any one source for information. It is also a reason that the fringe sites that FinFan enlightens us about are not the place to get your news either.
So, I would like to see us move on. FF is not going to change his mind and he (or she) is not going to change any minds on this blog. I’ll get my information from a variety of sources—FF will get his from his usual biased sources with an obvious axe to grind.
Mal,
Thanks for once again coming through. I can always count on you to employ slight-of-hand tactics when faced with a reality that violates your belief system. What I am not sure of is whether your respect for the truth is really so shallow or if it is simply a matter that your hatred of my posts drives you to such low-brow trickery. One thing is for sure, you are a gifted contributor who is absolutely at his/her worst when attacking me.
I really do hope that you are not so foolish as to take comfort from the weaklings who call me names, question my motives, and cheer you on—all the while dancing terrified around the substance of my arguments.
My decision to make use of the Wichita case did not materialize out of thin air. The media’s mysterious disinterest in the case created a stir on right-wing radio in the months following the atrocity, and the matter eventually became so well-known amongst journalists and media watch dogs that many newspapers—the Mercury included, if memory serves me—eventually addressed the issue not as a news item, but as an ethical matter in op-ed pieces.
In other words, when confronted with its own malfeasance the industry dealt with it the same way Ted Bundy offered to help the police understand “the murderer.”
The fact that the media suppressed the murders is something that you can not make go away. It was, as crimes go, remarkable for its level of brutality, the innocence of its victims, and the fact that it was one family that produced the two monsters responsible for the rampage. To believe that the media machine that gave us inning-by-inning of BTK coverage (where the religion of the perpetrator was sensationalized), or the recent, very unremarkable Black Bear Bed and Breakfast murders, found nothing of interest in the case of the Carr brothers requires a level of naiveté that should embarrass any adult.
At the end of the day, there is only one explanation for the media’s conduct that stands up to hard scrutiny, and that is that given the race of the murderers and the innocence and whiteness of the victims, reporting on the crime might have impacted the public in a way contrary to their political aims. It was a case that, given the DA’s decision not to pursue hate crime enhancements, just might make news consumers take notice of, among other things, how the application of hate crime laws are often little more than political decisions.
Mercury is better than most newpapers but not as good as a few (LAT, NYT, WSJ, WP, ) or it could be
Newspapers are going through major restructuring especially in weak local economies with TV, cable and Internet competition
1) Silicon Valley economy has not recovered and the future looks dim due to high business operating and housing costs, excessive business regulation and costs for startups and growth companies which encourges them to send new jobs to other areas, high taxes and low local job formation, unreasonable environmental restraints and weak local politicians that lack basic understanding of what drives local economy, how to encourage local job formation and how excessive government regulation kills jobs and economy San Jose is the worst example
2) McClatchy who only wants papers in growth markets quickly decided to sell Mercury days after purchasing it from KR to MediaNews Group who buys troubled newspapers in down markets and cuts costs and staff to achieve profitability.
2) Revenue determines newspaper page count – ad revenue is down due to slow economy, job ads are now on internet sites and subscription revenue is down so Mercury page count is down
3) International, state, national and local reporters were cut and Mercury’s investigative journalism was reduced resulting in lower quality paper
MediaNews Group could provide lower quality Mercury state, national and international news coverage and unless you are one of the 4-6 very large national newspapers is a financial loser for mid market struggling newspapers like Mercury due to competition from national TV and cable news and internet news / information
Mercury could rebound if it heavily foused on local news and investigative journalism since we certainly do not lack for city / county government, local company and non profit / community news and scandals
#55. FlimFlam: Thanks for the update.
Once again I will take your point and add “right wing radio” to the growing list of media that covered this story for which you claim non-coverage.
Assuming that these talk shows are syndicated into multiple media markets that would extend the availability of information about this story to a very large area of the country and perhaps beyond.
Add to that such major media as Court TV, the Chicago Tribune, the Washington Times plus all the local coverage by print and broadcast reporters in Kansas you might conclude that as media coverups go this one kinda sucks!
Still, like I said at the outset, I don’t expect to change any minds by inserting factual data (“slight of hand”?) into this debate.
#53, Novice: The problem with your theory is there are too many examples of white-on-white crimes that have recieved major coverage. Jeffery Dahlmer, Son of Sam, the BTK killer, Zodiac, etc. Too many to mention. It seems to me the media had no problem beating the drums quite loudly on such stories. (Too loudly? Another discussion for another time perhaps.)
Regarding black-on-white crime there was a story in the news a few years ago about a guy called OJ. As I recall it got a bit of coverage…
But, at your invitation, let’s turn this around even further: Had the Carr case been two white guys killing several white people, and it received identical media coverage, would the neofringe of conservative America be yelling about coverups?
frustrated finfan states
how the application of hate crime laws are often little more than political decisions.
What proof or studies do you base youer statement on? Or is this just your opinion?
Mal,
The Chicago Tribune coverage immediately following the crime was one-time, and consisted of 135 words. Not exactly in depth. The Washington Times first mentioned the case two months later, with a piece that focused on the local controversy over the hate crime angle.
That’s it.
Now, you can dodge and weave, and give us some more junk analysis, but the facts remain…
and I don’t.
Mal,
Another sterling example of you at your worst. In your desperation to steal victory from the jaws of embarrassment, you now seek to tally into the media coverage of the crime itself the subsequent reaction on conservative radio to the fact that the media ignored the crime. What’s next for your ledger? The discussion of the case on this blog?
Once again, with the exception of local coverage, this crime was mentioned in two significant newspapers. Period. Court TV was not involved in coverage of the crime; their coverage began with the trial, as I recall some two years later.
I have been as honest as possible in carrying out this discussion. You have not, and that is clear to anyone but the brain-damaged. You dispute issues the way creationists dispute evolution.
Keep it up. Maybe someday you really shall overcome.
#55,
If I provided you with firm statistics on so elusive a matter as the impact of race-politics on district attorneys operating in every nook and corner of the United States I’d have to join the ACLU or some other collection of professional liars.
But since you have an interest, here’s an account of a case that might interest you. It’s titled, Justice Should Be Color-Blind.
http://www.nationalreview.com/comment/comment061900c.html
The horse is dead. Lets stop beating it.
#56 You said exactly what I was thinking, only much, much better. And you are right about the other newspapers being better, they are all at the top of the class. The remedy for the Merc is just as you said, more local news and investigative reporting.
Has anyone actually read the Washington Times? It’s a rag for sensationalist stories, like the New York Post. Only not as good at what it does. It’s no surprise they would cover a story like that.
#33 I’m with you, FF has a real agenda of hate, reminds me of a fellow that comes in front of the council all the time.
#63 FF: Now you’re counting words?
It’s amusing to see how carefully you avoid the other point: Fox and other conservative media could also have covered this case for which you claim a media cover-up. Apparently they did not. Then again, if they did it would not exactly be a cover-up.
Goodbye FlimFlam, and thanks for playing.
finfan and Novice,
As I read your postings on 9-11, it is clear you are filled with the same kind of hate as those who boarded four planes with box cutters five years ago. No facts given here will ever change the way you hate. Only you can chose to open your hearts. I promise you that if you direct your efforts to doing good deeds for your fellow man, black and white, Christian and Jew, conservative and liberal, you will find yourself a lot less frustrated and the world a whole lot better place to live. I wish you the best of luck in those efforts.
#59, FlimFlam: Don’t be silly, if you can help it.
Presenting information about the case in any media forum during or after the fact is coverage. The information is put forth and people have the opportunity to form opinions.
I would think that you agree that ConTalk radio is a form of media with a substantial following. The talk shows cannot react to an alleged media cover-up of the court case without also discussing the facts of case. As such they too provided coverage, albeit after the trial.
Of course ConTalk radio could have used it’s powerful media presence to present information during the course of the trial. By your suggestion, which I accept, they did not. Perhaps they too are a part of the big cover-up conspiracy?
As I have said I don’t expect to change your mind. You obviously have an unshakeable belief that despite all evidence to the contrary there was a massive media cover-up of this court trial. I only point out the numerous instances of why that is not true.
But for the sake of argument let’s go with your statement: “…with the exception of local coverage, this crime was mentioned in two significant newspapers.” That alone would mean the information was presented to an audience measured in the multiple millions, metro Chicago and suburbs, metro DC and the surrounding area and Kansas media. Interestingly, both the Chicago Tribune and Washington Times also provide news services to numerous other publications throughout the country. To be fair I cannot say if this particular story appeared elsewhere through those services. That is an aspect of the coverage that your Accuracy In Media citation does not mention.
Add to that the later coverage by Court TV, and talk radio stations and there is no rational basis for your claim that “media ignored the crime.” Did the Carr trial get the play you apparently think it should have? Obviously not, but to say it did not get significant coverage is indisputably incorrect.
By the way, do you happen to know if Fox picked up the story? If so we should add them to our growing list of major media that covered the case. If not, I suppose Fox would have to be part of the liberal media cover-up conspiracy.
# 66, I agree with you assertion that Novice and Fin Fan are so full of hate, it flows from them like lava from an erupting volcano. I would bet the farm they have a his and hers white hooded outfit in their closet. How can someone who is not royalty think so highly of themselves, and so little of other ethnecities?
If they don’t like waking up to a diverse community, they should consider moving back to Mississippi or Alabama where they still have surprise midnight bon fires on other people’s front yards. This way they could get some use out of their outfits
I think JTF is on to something.
Ideas and opinions that challenge the underpinnings of liberal… er progressive world views are just as dangerous as box cutters wielded by throat slashing terrorists.
You should seriously consider a campaign to launch Bay Area education camps for those found guilty of ‘thought box cutters’.
Only through ‘re-education’ and ‘opening of hearts’ can this thought menace be vanquished.
JTF – my guess is that there are enough of your ilk around that you can get some traction on this one.
Just Wondering (with an IQ of) II
“they should consider moving back to Mississippi or Alabama where they still have surprise midnight bon fires on other people’s front yards. This way they could get some use out of their outfits”.
That is out and out hate-speech if I’ve ever heard it. Your capacity to spew forth accusations of racism at the drop of a hat is unparalleled – you have to go all the way up to the ranks of professionals like Vincente Fox to find more proficienct race baiting.
But you’re quote is still a great segue nonetheless.
You have to love the way that Americans who want the borders secured (you know for national security, that sovereign nation stuff, etc) are continually beaten about the head and shoulders with the racism stick.
But those playing the race card on behalf of illegals are stone cold mutes when it comes to the racist and homophobic attitudes of the Mexicans flooding into the US.
Consider…
“Latinos bring negative stereotypes about black Americans to the U.S. when they immigrate and identify more with whites than blacks, according to a study of the changing political dynamics in the South”.
http://dukenews.duke.edu/2006/07/racialpolitics.html
Apparently these racial attitudes aren’t a new phenomenon but rather an integral part of Mexico’s history. Who knew?
“New Spain—as Mexico was then called—probably had more enslaved Africans than any other colony in the Western Hemisphere. Blacks were present as slaves of the Spaniards as early as the 1520s. Over the approximately three hundred years it lasted, the slave trade brought about 200,000 Africans to the colony. Many blacks were born in Mexico and followed their parents into slavery.”
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html
“The dominant cultural attitude towards homosexuality has changed little since the time of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs executed males … reserving the most brutal forms of execution for cuiloni, the passive, effeminate partners.”
http://www.worldpolicy.org/globalrights/sexorient/1997-Mexico-gayrights.html
And to think we have a statue, a monument to a primary Aztec god right here at tolerance ground zero – the Bay Area. Captain Fallon’s surely having a good laugh about that one.
Mexican hypocrisy vs Bay Area hypocrisy.
Who will win this titanic struggle and become the undisputed North American champion? ..what’s that? ..there’s a self imposed media coverage blackout?
Ay caramba!
Refugio,
Hypocrites in glass houses should not be casting racist stones.
I truly love the way Americans who want the borders secured are continually beaten about the head and shoulders with the racism stick.
But what’s even more fascinating is that these very same advocates for Mexican illegals are mute when it comes to the racist and homophobic attitudes that accompany the mexican illegals as they flood into the US.
Consider…
“Latinos bring negative stereotypes about black Americans to the U.S. when they immigrate and identify more with whites than blacks, according to a study of the changing political dynamics in the South”.
http://dukenews.duke.edu/2006/07/racialpolitics.html
(For some comic relief, note how the author of the Duke article repeatedly tries (in vain) to pin Latino racist/anti-black attitudes … on whites. )
But apparently this isn’t a new phenomenon and is an integral part of Mexico’s history…
“New Spain—as Mexico was then called—probably had more enslaved Africans than any other colony in the Western Hemisphere. Blacks were present as slaves of the Spaniards as early as the 1520s. Over the approximately three hundred years it lasted, the slave trade brought about 200,000 Africans to the colony. Many blacks were born in Mexico and followed their parents into slavery.”
http://www.smithsonianeducation.org/migrations/legacy/almleg.html
But wait … there’s more.
“The dominant cultural attitude towards homosexuality has changed little since the time of the Aztec empire. The Aztecs executed males who engaged in anal sex, reserving the most brutal forms of execution for cuiloni, the passive, effeminate partners. These first had their colons ripped out through “the conduit that had been used for sex,” then were burned to death.”
http://www.worldpolicy.org/globalrights/sexorient/1997-Mexico-gayrights.html
And to think we have a statue, a memorial to a primary Aztec god right here, at of all places, tolerance ground zero – the Bay Area.
So Refugio, let me ask you – do Mexican death squads wear tricolores sheets and hoods when dealing with people of color and LBGTs?
The conservatives are not in favor of hate, racism, lynchings, or blowing up buildings. The liberals are not part of a vast coverup conspiracy, not do they have an IQ of II.
Is there any chance that we can agree that the opposing side is attempting to find solutions to common problems?
Or is it more fun to throw insults?
Mal,
Here’s all you need to know about mainstream newsmedia media’s liberal bias.
Has a nice quote from the Merc’s very own David Yarnold.
In national news outlets, only 7 percent of journalists call themselves conservative.
“We should acknowledge that maybe the biggest problem is that most of us think too much alike and come from the same backgrounds,” says David Yarnold, editor of the opinion pages at The (San Jose) Mercury News. “Find the pro-lifers in a newsroom. That’s harder than finding Waldo.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0603/p02s01-usgn.html
Game, set, match.
71 – It’s a nice sentiment and maybe there is a chance, although given Novice’s tirades it looks unlikely.
Maybe the conservative bloggers here could enlighten us on why the conservative argument (and not just on this blog) must resort to insulting attacks on those who believe different from them.
“Talk” radio, Fox commentators, etc. seem to have to resort to insults to try and make their points. Why? They don’t even do it with a sense of humor. Maybe that is the problem—they need to lighten up as do some of us here.
Good luck to us all.
The only place I can find real news, unfiltered by editorial bias, is through the BBC World Service reports on NPR.
What passes for news these days is mostly recitations of disasters, large and small—fires, killings, the daily, yes daily, homicide count in Bagdhad. That’s worse than Oakland and Richmond combined.
Today while working out I watched bemused as Fox spent a few minutes on a story of a big rig crash in BROOKLYN. Why is that news anywhere but Brooklyn..well, perhaps The Bronx & Queens. But a NATIONAL news story? Jeez.
But that’s what you get on virtually all broadcast newscasts these days, and much of what you get from most newspapers.
So, has the Murky News declined in everything except Fry’s, Macy’s and Western Appliance ads? Yes. Is the same true of virtually all US newspapers? yes.
#69 Novice
I am a conservative Republican and hope you don’t think your words of hate and raceism speak for the party. If they do, I’m looking for a new party. Regan once said about changing from Dem. to Rep. “I did not leave the party, it left me”
74-
I think it is more the medium than the politics that leads to the insults.
Conservative talk radio contains its share of insults, but conservative papers like the Wall Street Journal do not.
Similarly, Michael Moore can be rude and abrasive, but the SF Chronicle is not.
Blogs are one of the worst. It’s just too easy to empty your bile and hit send.
#73 Novice: Sorry to disturb your neat little packaged view but I wonder if Yarnold’s ever spent time in the newsrooms of The Washington Times, Fox or other large media organizations that don’t fit the “liberal” stereotype. My guess is he would find a plethora of pro-lifers and possibly even the few remaining pro-Bushers although they are increasingly rare.
Mal – you’re really grasping for straws now – I’d even say the straw dispenser is empty.
“According to a new survey, only 12 percent of local reporters, editors, and media executives are self-described conservatives, while twice as many call themselves liberal. At national news organizations, the gap is even wider – 7 percent conservative vs. 34 percent liberal.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2004/0603/p02s01-usgn.html
An email I just received, a chuckle for finfan:
Humans existed as members of small bands of nomadic hunters and gatherers. They lived on deer in the mountains during the summer and would go to the coast and live on fish and lobster in winter. The 2 most important events in all of history were the invention of beer and the invention of the wheel. The wheel was invented to get man to the beer. These were the foundation of modern civilization and together were the catalyst for the splitting of humanity into 2 distinct subgroups: Liberals and Conservatives. Once beer was discovered it required grain and that was the beginning of agriculture. Neither the glass bottle nor aluminum can were invented yet, so while our early human ancestors were sitting around waiting for them to be invented, they just stayed close to the brewery. That’s how villages were formed. Some men spent their days tracking and killing animals to B-B-Q at night while they were drinking beer. This was the beginning of what is known as “the Conservative movement”. Other men who were weaker and less skilled at hunting learned to live off the conservatives by showing up for the nightly B-B-Q’s and doing the sewing, fetching and hair dressing. This was the beginning of the Liberal movement. Some of these liberal men eventually evolved into women. The rest became known as ‘girliemen.’ Some noteworthy liberal achievements include the domestication of cats, the invention of group therapy and group hugs and the concept of democratic voting to decide how to divide the meat and beer that conservatives provided. Over the years conservatives came to be symbolized by the largest, most powerful land animal on earth, the elephant. Liberals are symbolized by the jackass. Modern liberals like imported beer , but most prefer white wine or imported bottled water. They eat raw fish but like their beef well done. Sushi, tofu, and French food are standard liberal fare. Another interesting revolution! ary side note about liberals: most of their women have higher testosterone levels than their men. Most social workers, personal injury attorneys, journalists, dreamers in Hollywood and group therapists are liberals. Liberals invented the designated hitter rule because it wasn’t “fair” to make the pitcher also bat. Conservatives drink domestic beer. They eat red meat and still provide for their women. Conservatives are big-game hunters, rodeo cowboys, lumberjacks, construction workers, firemen, medical doctors, police officers, corporate executives, Marines, Paratroopers, soldiers,athletes and generally anyone who works productively. Conservatives who own companies hire other conservatives who want to work for a living. Liberals produce little or nothing. They like to “govern” the producers and decide what to do with the production. Liberals believe Europeans are more enlightened than Americans. That is why most of the liberals remained in Europe when conservatives were coming to America . They crept in after the Wild West was tame and created a business of trying to get MORE for nothing. Here ends today’s lesson in world history: It should be noted that a Liberal may have a momentary urge to respond to the above and a guilt feeling before simply laughing, denying and forwarding it. A Conservative will be so convinced of the absolute truth of this history that it will be forwarded immediately.
“Those are my principles. If you don’t like them I have others.”—Groucho Marx
What the hell difference does it make if a reporter is liberal, conservative, in-between, or just super??? Any true reporter will cover the news based on the facts not based on their political values. If any of you were trained journalists you would know that, but you cry-babies don’t like the news so you want it colored to fit your view. Doesn’t work that way folks. As Scoop used to say in the old days, “If you don’t like the news, go out and make some of your own.” Note that he didn’t say if you don’t like the news then change the facts to fit your view.
I know the responses that will come in from some of you so save your time and energy. If you want your news slanted there are known presenters of that type of coverage—you know who they are. Some of you will site the non-coverage of a well-covered story and try to make it a race issue. Give it up. Everybody has a different idea of what is news—just because you don’t agree doesn’t mean it is biased.
Before I came here from Krypton, I heard the same arguments (I was very sharp for a little kid.) It’s the same old story wherever you go except this blog gets a little nasty and over the edge from time to time.
So, everybody relax, read your favorite paper whatever it may be. Tune in your favorite newscast and of course, read the Daily Planet.
So just what is a conservative and a liberal?
Can you be a liberal Republican or a conservative Democrat? Which one is for fiscal responsibility, small government, childrens programs, education, health care, equal rights for all? 140 years ago, Lincoln was our first Republican President. Look what he did for African Americans. Most of the South then was Democratic. Republicans use to be big on small Federal Government, no Republican President has reduced the number of Fed. employees for decades. Reps. use to be big on seperation of church and state, no more. Reps. also were fiscally responsible, have you seen our deficit lately? Who stands for what these days? I ‘m not sure I know what a real liberal or conservative is these days, do any of you?
“Everybody has a different idea of what is news—just because you don’t agree doesn’t mean it is biased. “
Absolutely.
But then there’s…
– Dan Rather’s attempt to influence a Presidential election with “fake but accurate” reporting.
– CNN’s non-reporting on Saddam atrocities so they could curry favor and maintain their Bagdad office.
Do you consider CNN and Dan Rather “true reporters”?
The problem is there’s no accountability for journalists that knowingly violate the public trust.
Dan Rather should be given jail time for what he attempted (what did Dan know and when did he know it?) instead he’s the toast of the journalism town – accepting awards, giving speeches.
The takeaway? “That’s ok Dan, you gave it your best shot. We’ll get ‘em next time.”
Sorry Clark, blaming the news consumer for the failing of journalists is a non-starter.
BTW, is M.Dung on the radio anywhere? I also liked the sports guy they had – Cookie Gilchrist was it?
#83
I agree that Dan Rather did a one sided job of reporting, but to be fair, watching Fox News is like reading Cindy Chavez’s Mayors Watch.
#79 Novice: I guess you missed the point. These days there are so many ideologically-driven media options that the notion of The Liberal Media just doesn’t hold up. If you think CNN is too liberal, change the channel to Fox. They’re both owned by big mega-corporations that ultimately could care less about your politics and exist to sell advertising.
#81. Clark – Thanks for the flashback about Scoop Nisker. And, for what it’s worth, I think you are right that most reporters leave their liberal/conservative bias at the door and try to achieve objectivity. There are, of course, exceptions. You are also correct when you suggest that people often confuse facts with bias. That confusion seems to become more common with the growth of point-of-view journalism where “facts” are presented through an ideological prism. As my elderly neighbor once said: “I like that O’Reilly guy on Fox. I like the way he makes up the news.”
#82. You ask good questions. Here’s another: What ever became of moderates, those of us who are neither liberal or conservative? How come nobody ever bashes us?
#84 Novice (again): I saw an article a few years back, can’t remember where, that said M. Dung was out of radio altogether. Too bad, the Sunday Night Idiot Show was a classic. However, NOBODY will ever top Wolfman Jack.
We may be onto something here. Maybe we should have a column remembering the glory days of Bay Area radio. I realize that will not be an area of agreement but at least (hopefully) it would be a discussion of interest and void of insults.
I know some would say the glory days were the “real” KSFO with Sherwood, or KYA with Emperor Gene, or KMPX/KSAN with “Big Daddy” Tom Donahue. And that doesn’t start with when San Jose actually had its own radio identity – the old top 40 KLIV or the late, great KOME.
Sorry for digressing, but I thought a little change of topic might be refreshing.
What has happened to our homtown newspaper. Why did you get rid of Parade?
Why are puzzels in the classified section?
Why are you rearranging the newspaper so that we can never find anything? We are very disappointed with the Mercury and are considering canceling our subscription after 45 years. Many of my friends are also upset about the Mercury and the changes being made.