I've never attempted a diary before, but here goes:
My idea is this - despite years of whining by the right and the far right, the "liberal bias" in the MSM either doesn't exist at all, or maybe it just isn't liberal enough for me. I get it that the NYT is left of center on some things, but they have Bill Kristol on the OP ED page for god's sake. I don't see any "liberal bias" in television "journalism".
This election cycle has me more focused on the media than I ever have been before. I have always been a reader, but during this election I have spent hours with the TV on - and not one of the news outlets suits my need for rational discourse with a liberal point of view.
On the traditional networks and cable news, some ridiculous notion of "fairness" (which isn't fairness at all) has morphed them all into some ridiculous imitation of what "unbiased" reporting is all about. Each of the networks, night after night after night, display a blue talking head with a red talking head, each being questioned by a moderator of some sort. The moderator, or host, almost always listens to each talking head bloviate about said question, with little follow-up, and then acts like, no matter what shit was spewed, that the statements were equivalent. In the extreme, it goes something like this:
Brave Moderator to Senator McCain: Over 180% of the people think that your campaign has been despicable and negative.
Senator McCain: Well, if Barack Obama had only agreed to the town hall meetings that I suggested, it never would have gotten so negative.
Whimpering Moderator: Thank you Senator McCain for speaking with us tonight.
WTF????? If your kid came home and said "I beat up Joe the Wimpy Kid because he wouldn't play football with me," you'd set him straight immediately. It's a nonsensical statement. But no one calls him on it!!
Or my current favorite:
Network News Anchor to Right Wing Pundit: Today we heard about the horrifying robocalls from the McCain campaign, saying that Obama is a friend to terrorists and that he is unamerican and that he is a socialist and he eats white babies for breakfast.
Right Wing Pundit: Why Joe the Newsman, that is all TRUE! We want all the good kind pro-american people to know everything there is to make up about Barack Obama.
"Other" Pundit (not usually too left): That is ridiculous! How can a rational human being say such things.
Network News Anchor: Well thank you both for joining us tonight, Joe the Right Pundit and Joe the Left Pundit. We appreciate your time.
WTF?????????
There are exceptions, of course - Rachel Maddow can be amazing, sometimes, but you have to weigh that against the fact that Pat Buchanon is constantly on the show... Both Keith Olberman and Chris Matthews (bless him for letting Michelle Bachmann bury herself) have their moments, but too often it is just the same as described above.
I digress... so what I want is a liberal network that doesn't play that bullshit media "fairness" game which isn't fairness at all. A Faux News of the left, if you will, only we'd do it better, with more honesty and integrity. I want news, and I want ideas, and I want rational debate about ideas - but not one talking head from each side spouting the day's talking points.
As donors to the Obama campaign, in the Orange to Blue movement, we have shown our strength in numbers. And ratings (and therefore ad revenue) is about numbers, right? So why can't there be a dailykos tv or somesuch, that provides insightful, current, interesting journalism.
Having said all that, I have no idea how you start a cable channel, but surely it is possible - or am I too naive?