The 4th estate is in foreclosure

"I felt this thrill going up my leg."

That phrase, spoken by Chris Matthews about a speech that Barrack Obama had given while campaigning, sounded the death knell for objectivity in the media. He may not have spoken for the majority of media outlets but he simply said what they were all feeling as the election drew near. They had chosen their horse in this race and were going to set about seeing that it won, at the expense of their own credibility.

Media bias is nothing new and certainly does not rise to the level of a crisis in America but the steady decline of objectivity snowballed out of control in direct proportion to Obama's impending nomination and subsequent victory. He's more media creation than substantive personality. They cherry picked those facts that would help propel him to glory while ignoring things that would have brought Edward R. Murrow to his feet to demand a reckoning of the facts.

Granted, Matthews and some of his more outspoken colleagues like Keith Olberman and Sean Hannity are typically termed "opinion journalists" so they tend to infuse their "reporting" with a great deal of bias. What they do can no longer be called reporting though. By it's strictest definition, a reporter goes to places where the majority of us can't go and tells us about an event or news story. Ascertaining the who,what, how, where, when and occasionally, the why of a story.

I cite Edward R. Murrow here because he is the epitome of the dispassionate observer to world events. One never knew Murrow's political leanings because he found them of no value and injurious to basic reporting. He was fierce in his questioning at times but only insomuch as it served the dissemination of the facts. He wanted the whole story, not just the bits that conformed to his world view. I viewed Tom Brokaw in this same light for many years. He seemed fair and honest and willing to lend a critical eye to most of what he reported on the nightly news. Since his retirement he is more able to lean a little and rightly so. He is no longer charged with dispassionate observance. God speed to him in fact. It is his due after all. Brian Williams, on the other hand, has proven to be a less than credible replacement for Brokaw. Williams' recent "Day in the life" of the Obama presidency turned out to be a shameless plug for for the Democrat party. It looked less like news and more like a reality TV show. Williams breathlessly "reported" the events of Obama's day with all the objectivity of a pit bull talking about a raw steak. You knew he was loving every minute of this piece. I think the word "man crush" can be used here quite aptly.

The vast majority of what churns out of journalism schools today are eager, young minds who feel it is their duty to change the world by exposing the truth behind the curtain of politics and society. They seem disproportionately interested in bringing down only one side of the aisle though and that is where the line in the sand has been crossed. Journalism schools teach opinion and not reporting these days. They are more indoctrination camps for the rich and snotty than they are schools.

At one time, many years ago, I dreamed of walking the halls of the Columbia School of Journalism immersed in the ambiance of free and open debate and discussion with students of all kinds. I imagined this would be the the ultimate expression of ideas and ideals. I was a Liberal Democrat back then and had the same idea. I wanted to change the world. To set the world right as I saw it. I voted for Clinton...twice. I railed against Limbaugh and Gingrich as hacks who had no sense of decency or honesty between them. I had grown up with the mantra of "evil, rich white people" all my life and it narrowed my view and discolored my thinking.

Around the time Clinton bombed a tent to cover up or at least minimize the damage from the Lewinsky scandal, I began to see things differently. It was a slow, painful process for me as I began to see the media's complicity in the whole sordid affair. They weren't telling me the whole story. They were only telling me the parts that they thought I needed to know. I took this to mean that they did not trust my innate intelligence enough to let me make up my own mind. They had an agenda and it became more obvious as the days and weeks progressed. I began to question everything I heard or read in the news. It was then that I began listening to talk radio. It was the only place to go at the time to hear an opposing viewpoint as it was obvious that the big 3 and CNN had already made their minds up.

These days, I gather my facts from as many sources as I can. CNN, Fox, Slate, Drudge, The Huffington Post, the NY Times and the Washington Post. Yes I listen to Limbaugh as well. He is iconic and plain spoken and makes no bones about his own bias. At least he's honest about it. Brian Williams and Katie Couric aren't honest. They peddle an agenda and disguise it as "news". They have no faith in my own ability to ascertain the truth of a story. They simply boil it down in little bite size morsels and then attempt to tell me how to feel and think about it. So did Dan Rather for that matter. His insistence that a candidate's military service had no bearing on his character seemed like preaching when he began to investigate Bush' military service. Suddenly, it had all the bearing in the world and he chased a non-story, a lie essentially, to the gates of hell and it eventually proved to be his undoing. Good riddance to shoddy reporting. He deserves the pariah's cloak he wears now.

I will admit that the vast majority of media outlets don't lie outright when they give me the news. They simply omit those facts that clash with their own ideas and ideals. I can't watch Sean Hannity for the same reason I can't watch Chris Matthews. I have my own opinions and I don't need Matthews describing the thrill up his leg or to hear Hannity beating the drum of "radical friends" while wrapping himself in the flag at the same time. Neither has any credibility with me. I just want all the facts, even the uncomfortable ones. Don't wash the story clean of the parts you don't like.

I was raised Catholic. A sin of omission... is still a sin.