Yeah, I'm not a big fan of Klein's, either. But he makes what should be an obvious point, but an important one. And one that, obvious though it may seem, needs to be said to everyone out there who considers themself a serious journalist.
http://www.time-blog.com/...
There is a tendency in the media to kick ourselves, cringe and withdraw, when we are criticized. But I hope my colleagues stand strong in this case: it is important for the public to know that Palin raised taxes as governor, supported the Bridge to Nowhere before she opposed it, pursued pork-barrel projects as mayor, tried to ban books at the local library and thinks the war in Iraq is "a task from God." The attempts by the McCain campaign to bully us into not reporting such things are not only stupidly aggressive, but unprofessional in the extreme.
Sure, the sheep eat the "liberal media" meme up like ice cream. It drives the ignorant armies of the right mad. It makes them donate more, volunteer more. It makes them feel they are fighting a righteous fight against an all-powerful media determined to the work of the devil, ie. the Democrat Party.
They believe that Bill Clinton committed untold numbers of crimes and the media covered them up. They believe the media tried desperately to "steal" an election from Bush and give it to that media darling, Al Gore. They believe this evil liberal media was too tough on Larry Craig, too soft on Eliot Spitzer. And now they believe that Obama has gotten a free pass while McCain has been too harshly attacked. And, of course, that all the bad we've heard of Sarah Palin is because the left wing TV and Newspaper folk are terrified that her brilliance and charm will destroy the Obama candidacy they have so much invested in.
Again, this works brilliantly for the GOP. But, make no mistake, it's not even the main purpose of the "attack the media" drive of the last 30+ years.
No, the main point is the obvious "work the refs" strategery. Insulate themselves from whatever stories are reported about their misdeeds while trying to intimidate the media to back off those stories all together. And even if the reporting on the Republicans is 80% positive and reporting of Democrats is 80% negative, we'll still complain. Don't go after us AT ALL or we'll continue to drive the public's hatred of you up.
This was no coincidence tonight, folks: Palin repeated her de-bunked lie about saying "no thanks" to the Bridge to Nowhere. And, in virtually the next breath attacked the "media elites". The message was clear- "I will lie as much as I please. And if you dare call me on it, I will accuse you of bias. Those skeletons better stay in my closet and my BS better go unchallenged, or else." And the fact that she was virtually inciting a crowd against the media tonight, with all the big names of TV news sitting right on their edge, added a nice touch of physical intimidation to it, as well.
This is a test for the media. Do your jobs, or cower to the McCain/Palin mud-slinging against you. Frankly, I'm not optimistic. But at least Klein spelled it out correctly. I'll try to take some solace in that.