Full disclosure: I work in the media and have for the past four years. I worked as a news anchor and reporter for two years at 1480 WSAR-AM, and for the past two, have been the production director at the same place. I know, I know...I don't know how I got here either. Basically, I used to harrass politicians for comments on local issues (if you don't know what LNG is...congratulations. I know more than I'd like.) now, I write and produce commercials and promotional pieces. What my new(er) position has given me is a very unique front-seat view to the world of the media, it's inner workings, and maybe most interestingly, the way the rest of the world uses "us."
Unlike a lot of people, and I've worked with or around many of them, I'm actually pretty down the middle in terms of politics. In the end, we all wind up voting for politicians based on really stupid logic.
"I liked the way his wife wore her dress!"
"She said 'hi' to me at a fundraiser!"
"My uncle went to school with his cousin, and he said he was a good dude!"
Conversely, we also vote against people for the same stupid reasons.
"Sean Hannity told me he wants to kill my baby!"
"He voted with Bush. He must be a dumba**!"
"I heard she once went to school with a brown person!"
So what does any of this mean to the media? Well, in my experience, you'd be surprised how seriously the people you get your information from actually take themselves. 1480 WSAR services the greater Fall River area which, for the most part, is mostly consistent of elderly, conservative, Portuguese immigrants. We have our fair share of blue staters, of course, but we're really more red than a rare steak on most days. What local voters like is consistency. Which is to say, they'd vote for the same person for 50 years if they could just...well...because. They fear change.
Which is why it always amazes me when a Republican politican comes through my studio.
In this area, "liberals" are kind of quiet. Not in the "I'm better than you, I know what the words carte blanche mean" but in the "I'm probably outnumbered, I think I'll keep my mouth shut" kind of way. On the other side, when a Republican comes through they are typically quite impressed with their "guts" of being a conservative in Massachusetts. Maybe if we were in Brookline this would be true. But down here, your no more of an outsider than a Sox fan would be at a Bruins game.
Secretly, yes...most news media personalities (shock!) has political leanings. In fact, from what I've seen: they're the most extreme. Take for example the past two news directors I have worked with. Both were, and are, extremely dedicated and professional people who would go to the grave defending journalistic integrity. But stick them behind a microphone, and suddenly the word "moderate" becomes a linguistic version of the dodo bird. For one, journalism meant discovering the truth using pitbill-Democrat tactics. Which was fine, until the moment Barney Frank was the guy left with his pants down after the financial collapse. For the other, it's the ideal that Republican beliefs must be upheld because being amongst an imaginary sea of liberals was a noble, richeous stand to make.
On the air? It shows. It shows just like we all know it does. We know Sean Hannity is a Republican. We know Jon Stewart is a Democrat. We know most modern media personalities are not journalists but rather opinion boxes set up for our pleasure should we agree with their beliefs. No hardcore conservative is going to Jon Stewart or CNN for their news. For them, these outlets are biased, unfair and liberal. Just the same no liberal is going to FoxNews for information, because all the talent is right wing.
But don't we all know this? At this point, expecting political leanings and self-pity from those who think they're the lone sheep in a pack of wolves is par for the course. Maybe it's just time we uproot all the media like this into two divisions, which is how they like it anyway, and square them off in a opinion-news version of "WWF v. WCW" Monday Night Wars.
Then just round up all the honest, hard working, fair journalists left on TV and stick them on a network too.
Nah...nobody would watch that.
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