Boehlert writes a total must-read summary of the extremely weird way the media covered the Schiavo clusterf*ck.
http://salon.com/news/feature/2005/03/31/schiavo_media/index.html
He points out how the media just turned themselves over to the right wing and let them control the entire coverage (pretty much like when Reagan bought the farm).
More after the jump...
Among the really, really weird things about the media's coverage of Schivo:
- The press let the right-wingers say just about anything about Michael Schivo and the judges on the case, they were never called out for being radical
- When the polls showed overwhelming support for Michael and against the Republicans, this was mostly ignored!
- The media never reported the revelations about the wingnut leaders, like Scott Heldreth being a registered sex offender! No mentions at all!!!
- This I didn't know before: " Schiavo's extremely conservative Roman Catholic parents conceded [in a 2000 trial] that even if Terri had told them she would never want to be kept alive with a feeding tube, they would not have honored that request!!!!!" Explains a lot, doesn't it? Never mentioned!
- Little mention in the media about the fact this was a big political blunder for the Repugs... instead we get a weird article about how loosened-up, fun, and impish Dear Leader is lately!
And there's much more at the article.
I think there is only one explanation for all this: right-wing media bias. The Democrats can't get a foothold in the media even when 2/3 of the country is behind them.
We need our own cable network... and I hear one is in the works.