Oh the partisan to and fro can be fun, when it is carried out by the political parties themselves, oh what a zinger, yay my side is winning. Fine, and many on Kos are highly partisan for one of the two major parties, some of us less so.
Treating it as a horse race without actually looking at the form, has been the media's modus operandi for so long many tend to regard it as normal. This horse race mentality is a disservice but one that garners profit and ratings. So what we end up with is is screaming matches from the partisans arbitrated by those who don't seem to give a damn; or with little grasp of the facts. Real journalism has almost become defunct in the white noise of the race.
The one area that we really crave "bipartisanship" is in the accurate reporting of information, ie.e fact based discussion rather than partisan zingers and bravado. We crave an independent media yet even the so called fact checkers tend to use their own opinions when marking the scores, they too have been sucked into the noise.
The media due to the ever increasing pressure of "now" in the endless news cycle has firmly ensconced in the present, with little analysis of the past or future. The two parties are rarely asked what do you intend to do differently than you have always done before? Why do you think this time events will turn out differently if you apply the same tired old politics?
The way journalists can find comfort to start writing the facts and ignoring the actual race is staring them in the face: The reason that congress is about as popular as a plague epidemic is that they stopped listening to the people. The whole reason for the freedom of the press clause is so that it can do its job without becoming part of the clamor. To my mind this is why the printed media [even online] has lost its importance because it failed to take its responsibilities seriously and served special interests. As for the broadcast media, it has been by and large reduced to the lowest common denominator, with real critique all but impossible to find. In an election environment this lowest common denominator always hits new lows.
I love blogs, and I really do like Kos but we cannot if we are honest declare it anything but partisan by and large, and in an election season it becomes welded to one objective. It is a comfort zone if you like, and all the other well known blogs are the same, it's your choice for being here. This is the one reason blogs cannot replace the press, but the press now imitates the blogs, I had hoped for better. Sometimes the reality seems best handled by the comedians, whilst fun, its quite a sad state of affairs.
I love reading both sides of an argument, sometimes when well researched and well reasoned it will change my mind. Like most human beings I find reason and facts appealing, this has become all too rare. Sometimes the facts are discomforting and may even appear to be partisan, this in general is only because one side refuses to believe the facts. This discrepancy should not be reported as being just another side of the political argument; but flat out wrong. The Romney campaign has manipulated this absence of reason beautifully during this silly season.
I suppose I should just face reality, the press is there to make a profit, and if ignoring the reality is part of the business model the I should just accept it's by popular demand. Shame is, I still hope for better, and will continue digging through the dross for a rare gem.
At least I know when when of my CFD models is flat out wrong; when the pilot plant crashes and burns, sigh.
;-)
9:06 AM PT: I suppose i mean by "the media has failed" that:
The media has failed US, not its owners.