You are missing one big fact, O'Riley is not the press. He is not exercising his right under freedom of the press, but rather freedom of speech. There is nothing wrong with taking your guard down, that was the only beef I had with your first rather insulting post towards those that do. I am extremely open minded and I'm sure if you asked any of the regulars here they would agree. I just see it as a strength do be able to listen to the entire range of views in order to form my own opinion.Shopvac wrote:
Here's my point . . . Freedom of the press was instituted so that the press could fulfill it's watchdog role without the danger of being thrown in jail.
Obvious I know.
As I interpret this freedom I submit that the press is an organized institution meant to safeguard the rights of the people. In other words, the media is responsible for delineating information about the actions of the government so that we as citizens may hold them accountable in the next round of elections if not sooner.
While Olberman often goes too far, and undoubtedly takes liberties in his "telling of the story" I find his brand of journalism less offensive. The reason is that he is taking the position of questioning the policies and decisions of our administration. While on the other hand, O'Riley is trying to strong arm his viewers into agreeing with him. He does this by saying that only idiots would disagree with his point of view. The problem with this is that O'Riley often borrows the talking points of the administration and its larger political party as his televised platform. He is a second press secretary who goes out to defend the administration every week night. This is not the job of the press, and it is in fact an insult to the pioneers of televised news like W. Cronkite.
That's the problem I have.
Last thing. I'm pretty sure Olberman doesn't refuse to show his political leanings. I know that none of them are supposed to say what their convictions are in an attempt to appear more independent. Even O'Riley calls himself such. Again, it's a very thin mask.
Also if you did watch O'reily consistently you would see he has no problem with attacking this administration policy on a variety of subjects. Something I think you would find a press secretary never does.
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