Day: 7/3/2008

Philadelphia Radio Station Blocks Democratic Ad

Posted by on July 3, 2008 at 5:48 pm. 7 Comments :

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) has produced a radio ad for broadcast in 13 Republican held House districts. In the Philadelphia district served by Jim Gerlach KYW-AM is refusing to air this ad.

The advertisement features a George W. Bush impersonator pretending to be talking to the Republican representative and thanking him for standing by the administration’s agenda on behalf of Big Oil and the “Grand Oil Party.” But apparently that’s too much for the tender sensibilities of KYW’s audience, at least according to its general manager, David Yadgaroff.

“As an all-news station, we were concerned that our listeners would have been misled by usage of an impersonator in the creative delivery.”

Were I a Philly resident, I would be insulted by Yadgaroff’s condescension. Does he really believe that his audience is too stupid to figure out that this is a political ad? More importantly, does he have such disrespect for his community that he would engage in wholesale censorship based on such a disparaging assertion? Apparently so.

Chris Wallace OD’s On Fox News Kool Aid

Posted by on July 3, 2008 at 10:18 am. 1 Comments :

In an interview with the Martha’s Vineyard Times, Chris Wallace reveals that his re-education program has been successfully completed. Having been fully immersed in the Fox News program for attitude adjustment, Wallace has emerged a changed man. It took four and a half years but now he finally realizes that all the time he spent at what he calls the “mainstream media” was nothing but a delusional fantasy:

“…when I was in the mainstream media, when I was working at NBC and ABC – those were my big jobs for about 25 years – I thought we were fair and balanced. But since coming to Fox four and a half years ago, I have come to see things a little differently. And I, in fact, do believe there is a bias in the mainstream media and that is something I was only able to understand when I was outside of it.”

Wallace’s acknowledgment of media bias is a major breakthrough. And his repeated, mantra-like, references to mainstream media reflect the fullness of his indoctrination. He never bothers to explain how Fox, the number one cable news network and part of the vast Murdoch family of international TV, newspapers, and magazines, is not itself mainstream. But he does explain why Fox is an important player in modern media:

“…whether you like Fox News or don’t like it, it seems to me that it is a healthy development if only because it creates another view point.”

As we all know, it is essential that new viewpoints be “created” if we are to effectively manipulate public opinion. Even if that creation is the product of fiction writers at Fox headquarters. However, by conceding that Fox propounds a manufactured position, Wallace comes dangerously close to exposing the heart of the rightist conspiracy. He may need a little more Kool Aid after all.