everyone should read:

Fools for Scandal: How the Media Invented Whitewater by gene lyons

and

What Liberal Media?: The Truth about Bias and the News by eric alterman

Turkana,

My favorite is the riveting NYT bestseller "The Hunting of the President: The Ten-Year Campaign to Destroy Bill and Hillary Clinton" by Joe Conason and Gene Lyons. The book was later made into a documentary - which is OK but barely scrapes the surface of what was in the book:
http://www.thehuntingofthepresident.com/

eriposte-

yeah, that one's also great. should have included it.

okay, everyone- that's three books for your post-holiday shopping!

Another well researched post eriposte. The power of the media to set a narrative is astounding. I think that the personality driven nature of news in the US is partly to blame. The opinions of the pundit become more relevant than the news itself. The facts tend to get mired in opinion. When I think of news and news analysis in the UK and in Ireland (where I am from) I recall the names of the programmes, Question Time, Prime Time, Questions and Answers, Newsnight etc., and the news RTE, TV3, BBC, Channel4, UTV etc.(all denoted by time, the 9 o'clock news etc) and contrast that with the US...where the names of the pundits appear in the title of the news programme, e.g. NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams, Hardball with Chris Mattews etc. The style of programming is very different. The pundit and their opinions tend to be in the foreground. The tradition this side of the pond is much different, (they on the surface) are impartial, they are obliged to ask tough questions of both sides when moderating debate and they are replaceable...they show will go on without them. The news is integral not the commentator. Opinion driven news is a large part of the problem.

Apologies for the obvious typos above.

Excellent article... Too long by 80%... Trim it down, 1,2,3 rather than 1,3,4,5,6... You made and supported you points very well, and I have long agreed with your observation and also see the importance of discussing it now... But you lost us about half way down. Facts are important, attribution is paramount, but you have to remember that you need to tell a story...

I began emailing Somersby when he was the voice in the wilderness that you now quote, but the message didn't get through because it had no sizzle, it had no more point than the schoolyard cry of "No fair!" and no more resonance either.

In order to right the playing field you have to call the Media on its bias and to do that you have to get past the drumbeat of the Right as to the nature of that bias, what you need is a moment that can be presented where it is clear and obvious that the Media is bought and paid for, that they filter the news to benefit the wealthy and sell the Kool-Aid to the masses. You need someone of stature to come forward and confess or you need that someone to turn the spotlight on his peers, wear a wire and then turn coat.

You have to tell a story...

An informed electorate is essential to the restoration of the Republic... As long as we can communicate freely there is still hope, we will know when to run when we can no longer be heard.

RGJ/Dallas112263
Deadlock in Denver!
Gore 2008!

J, you are correct - opinion has become news is the U.S. unlike other parts of the developed world and you can thank the decades long strategy put in place by the highly funded conservative machine for it.

Dallas, I know this is long but I wanted to really make a compelling case - and that meant not just including one or two anecdotes but showing how broad the issue is (and has been).