Blast from the (recent) past:

Via Riba Rambles (here and here), we went and read a Molly Ivins column from 30 January 2003 about media consolidation and the (then) upcoming FCC vote. It contained this startling item:

Edward Monks, a lawyer in Eugene, Ore., did a report for the newspaper there last year on the prevalence of right-wing hosts on radio talk shows. "The spectrum of opinion on national political commercial talk radio shows ranges from extreme right wing to very extreme right wing -- there is virtually nothing else." Monks notes the irony that many of these right-wing hosts spend much of their time complaining about "the liberal media."

On the two Eugene talk stations, Monks found: "There are 80 hours per week, more than 4,000 hours per year, programmed for Republican and conservative talk shows, without a single second programmed for a Democratic or liberal perspective. ... Political opinions expressed on talk radio are approaching the level of uniformity that would normally be achieved only in a totalitarian society. There is nothing fair, balanced or democratic about it."

In a related vein, Riba Rambles makes the observation that:

"... the notion that there are two sides to every story can be abused to give credence to false information. This is how many Holocaust deniers try to gain attention -- by trying to paint their views as just another side of something that shouldn't be in dispute."

We are reluctant to agree with that (Holocaust and Hitler is normally considered too extreme a parallel), but in light of the most recent lies and outright fabrications (noted by Paul Krugman today), have to admit that she is correct.

posted by Quiddity at 6/03/2003 01:25:00 AM