I'm disturbed as much as you are by the proliferation of right-wing
commentators over progressive ones on most news outlets (though
Faux's bias comes as no surprise at all). Having worked for one of
the major network shows (if only as an intern), I can say that
although I wasn't working during the inauguration (but was during
the election), that generally they do an okay job but that there
might be a sort of bias rightward.
But here's the catch. The problem, I believe, is with progressives
(and I'm a progressive, though one who believes that we need to be
self-critical in order to be effective). I think that there aren't
enough progressives who are really articulate about their beliefs,
or even ones who have really good convictions. Witness Congressman
Rahm Emmanuel on MTP a few weekends ago (Steve Clemons has an
excellent discussion on his
blog). The man is supposed to be a forward-thinking Democrat,
but he waffled under Russert. It's awful to read (almost glad I
didn't watch it).
There's a lot of talk among progressives for the need to correct
the right-wing imbalance in the media. Excellent work has been done
by the likes of Media Matters and my friends at the Center for
American Progress to uncover these biases. What progressives need
to work on now is a comprehensive media strategy. This starts with
putting the most articulate people in the movement out to tell the
world what we're about. As shown by Rep. Emmanuel's sorry display
on MTP, progressives have a long way to go in this vein.
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