More Media Manipulation: Sharyl Attkisson Blows Whistle on Media Bias

Later this month a new book is hitting the news stands just in time for Christmas. Journalist Sharyl Attkisson became fed up with media bias to such an extent that she decided to lift the curtain on how the news gets told in our current era. While reading a review about the book via Flipboard this weekend I was reminded of Bernard Goldberg's similarly well documented volume about CBS back in the 90s. No surprise for me that nothing has changed. Goldberg was a pre-eminent reporter for CBS during the reign of Dan Rather. His insightful book, Bias: A CBS Insider Exposes How the Media Distort the News, will give you indigestion when you read how decisions are really made in the news room.

Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism is Attkisson's hard hitting sequence of left hooks, straight rights and uppercuts, and though they may bruise, I don't see the Media Goliath changing its ways any time soon. 

Her aim, no doubt, is to open the eyes of news consumers so they are less gullible, more discerning. Some will get the message and others will close their ears or even deny. Like her colleague Goldberg, she was spawned at CBS. Here's an anecdote from the review:

Back in 1996, when media mogul Steve Forbes was running for president, the following assignment came down to her at the Washington bureau: “Do a story on why Steve Forbes’ flat tax won’t work.” Forbes was running for president on a revolutionary idea about simplifying federal income tax so that an entire family tax return would fit on the proverbial postcard. Attkisson wasn’t told, “Do a story on the pros and cons of this” or “Look into whether this would work.” She was handed a conclusion and told to pick whatever facts might lead to it..

We've all seen examples of this kind of thing or suspected as much. As Attkisson points out, "Any version of events that counters 'The Narrative' is called partisan spin.'

A little further on the article by Kyle Smith states:

Selecting and shaping facts to fit a predetermined narrative, rather than starting with curiosity about the way things work, is what used to be considered a tawdry approach to the news. Now it’s what virtually the entire media establishment does, from tabloids to buzztastic websites to the most prestigious newspapers to the cable news channels.

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Much more can be said, but this being a weekend I have other things to get done. Instead I'll just point you to the review:
https://nypost.com/2020/11/07/how-cbs-and-cnn-went-from-reporting-the-news-to-distorting-it/

Related Links
Slanted: How the News Media Taught Us to Love Censorship and Hate Journalism
Bias, by Bernard Goldberg
He Who Controls the Narrative Controls the People