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- iHaveNet.com: Politics
by Jules Witcover
As the dust settles in the wake of the latest presidential election, where can the open-minded voter turn these days for reasonably unbiased analysis and commentary on the state of political affairs?
It's a challenge in this era of talk radio and cable chatter in which committed partisan political operatives, with an occasional allegedly nonpartisan journalist thrown in for cover, are given free rein to spread their slanted pitches and propaganda.
The problem was emphatically illustrated in the appearance of conservative Republican guru Karl Rove on
This muddying of the waters of political commentary was only the most glaring example of how such broadcasts, of both conservative and liberal bent, have diluted what used to be fairly balanced presentation of political discussion on the air. The loading up of panels and talk shows with partisans peddling their biased wares is now geared to attract like-minded listeners and viewers in an intentional polarizing of the electorate.
Today's world of political commentary has thus been divided into the conservative universe of
Radio rabble-rouser Rush Limbaugh long ago started mocking his followers with the monicker "ditto-heads" in recognitions of their willingness so readily to fall in line behind his frequently smarmy slanders against liberal political figures. On the liberal side, MSNBC's Rachel Maddow, with considerably more erudition but also a good dose of condescension to those who disagree with her, provides a left counterforce to the ranting right.
On the major old networks, the panel show pioneer,
Of these,
But all these shows are a far cry from the old
Inevitably, a major infusion of entertainment as opposed to enlightenment turns too many of these exercises, both cable and network, into verbal sparring matches among professional political consultants, with print journalists along for the ride. Some of the latter, such as Dan Balz and David Ignatius of the
No doubt radio and television commentary will never return to relatively nonpartisan discussion of political events, free of the bias that marks so much of the mindless punditry of the world of radio talk, cable chatter, the Internet and social-media offshoots.
But a welcome start would be the weeding out from the mix of airwave commentators the most blatant political hucksters who offer their bias for free, while selling their talents in the arts of public persuasion for big bucks. As long as entertainment and celebrity remain entwined in the business of conveying information, however, don't hold your breath waiting for it to happen.
AMERICAN POLITICS
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The Pollution of Political Discourse | Politics
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