Agenda-setting no more

The Wall Street Journal (link is to Opinion Journal = free) today salutes the death of the liberal media monopoly and its ability to set the nation's political agenda. As CBS retreats somewhat, the WSJ notes that the liberal media's ability to set an agenda and steer the course of public debate is now checked by the ability of bloggers to investigate its claims and the strength of new media outlets (talk radio, FOX News) that do not fit within the liberal media aegis. No longer is dissent only found in the WSJ editorial pages, National Review, Weekly Standard and Commentary; instead, it is widely available and at the fingertips of anyone with a computer.

What the WSJ does not say is what The Monk will claim: the new dissenting voices, and their relative strength, has made the mainstream liberal media MORE strident and open in its partisanship.

Examples:

(1) CNN's transformation into the Clinton News Network in the 1990s as Rush Limbaugh rose to become the #1 radio talk show in the country.

(2) ABC News' handing the reins of its flagship Sunday TV news show This Week from the nonpartisan and studiously professional David Brinkley to liberals Sam Donaldson and Cokie Roberts and then to George Stephanopoulos who "Prior to joining ABCNEWS, Stephanopoulos served in the Clinton administration as the senior advisor to the president for policy and strategy. He was a key strategist in both Clinton presidential campaigns and was involved in the development of virtually all major policy initiatives during Clinton's first term in office." (see here for the quote's source).

(3) The NY Times' attempts at agenda-setting by continually pumping the story of Augusta National Country Club's exclusion of women from its memberships.

(4) The LA Times' hit pieces against Arnold Schwarzenegger on the eve of the California recall/gubernatorial election.

(5) The media's coverage blasting the Supreme Court after its correct decision in Bush v. Gore (and the media's evasive reporting of the fact that SEVEN justices found a constitutional violation, the 5-4 split was on the remedy).

(6) The media's coverage of Enron, until it became obvious that Bush had nothing to do with Enron's collapse or the conditions that caused it.

(7) The feeding frenzy over Joe Wilson's yellowcake claims (70+ stories) -- compare that to the silence when those claims were ultimately debunked (3 stories, none on the major networks).

This is just a short list. But the fact remains that the media has become more shrill in support of its liberal agenda even as its influence wanes (or perhaps that influence wanes because the liberalism has been exposed by Limbaugh and others).