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March 31, 2004
LOOK OUT, RUSH
Of course you knew I wouldn't let this go by without mentioning it... fellow liberals, after a decade plus of having to listen to conservative blowhards misinform the AM dial, we're about to take back the airwaves. Ok, so maybe we're not going to. Who knows if it'll succeed? But AirAmerica, the liberal talk radio network, signed on today. (If you're not a liberal, too damn bad. You've had AM all to yourself for 15 years... and you have your very own biased, thoroughly subjective, throw-out-all-precepts-of-journalism TV network in Fox "News." Go hear only the stories you want to hear -- complete with biased presentation - on that network.)
Actually, I'm not 100% sure I like this. I mean, don't get me wrong, I think it's great that liberals have finally gotten sick and tired of being painted as enemies of the state, and are going to fight back with the same tools the conservatives use. But as someone with an M.S. in Communications, and who's worked with or around the media for most of his career, I still have this silly idealistic belief that true journalism is supposed to be as unbiased as possible. Now, of course a reporter's worldview or outlook may seep into his/her coverage - I guess that can't always be helped - but to me, journalism should always strive for as objective a presentation as possible. Granted, AirAmerica admits that it is trying to entertain nearly as much as inform, so we're not talking pure journalism here... but I still am not 100% comfortable with any network, or any journalist -- on either side of the spectrum -- that goes into a story or goes about its reporting deliberately intending to be biased. That's the biggest reason why I have a huge issue with Fox, and if AirAmerica develops that same kind of pretense of being a news network and not an entertainment organization that happens to focus on the news, I will have a problem with them too.
However, for now I am willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. Check out AirAmerica if you live in one of the areas where they have an affiliate -- if for no other reason than because Al Franken is very funny.
