President Obama is a Muslim, Sharia Law is taking over, Health Care reform will mean death panels, crime is rampant on our borders, Americans don't want gays to serve in the military, Obama has raised taxes more than any other president, these are just some of the out right lies spread by the right wing conservative propaganda machine and believed by many Americans. These are clearly lies, so why do they seem to gain traction in the media and why do so many Americans begin to believe them? I believe it's the domination of news media by conservative cable news and talk radio. But how can that be? Haven't we all been told that the media is dominated by liberals? Read on.
For years I've watched the conservative right, howl about left leaning media. I've heard Rush, Beck, Malkin, GOP pols (I won't even mention the twit from Wasilla) and just about every person who votes Republican go on and on about liberal dominance in the media. Generally speaking I never really saw it. To be fair this could very well be because I lean liberal on many issues. Though I like to think I can be impartial it's possible that I see the world through progressive eyeglasses and therefore don't see the bias which they whine incessantly about. It wasn't until I started to see the huge ratings for Fox News and Rush Limbaugh that I began to really wonder if there is a liberal bias at all or if maybe the conservatives are playing one of their favorite games, "we're the victims, liberals are big meanies".
Over the past few weeks I've scoured the internet looking for ratings and polls concerning cable news. As you'll find the majority of Americans get their news from cable news so this was the logical place to search. With each poll or ratings or article, I'll have a link to the original for you to read and verify. Strap yourself in, it's time for a little myth busting.
A recent poll by Politco/GWU shows that 80 % of Americans get their midterm political news from cable news channels and their websites. This shows just how dominate cable news is over all other forms of media when it comes to politics. Fox news was the big winner with 42%, followed by CNN with 30% and MSNBC with 12%. Of the three, Fox is clearly conservative. If you doubt that than there's no point in me trying to convince you, please go to the Drudge Report and continue your indoctrination. MSNBC is the most liberal by far, but to be fair the network does have conservative show hosts and they do not run a 24 hour news cycle like Fox or CNN. The one in the middle here is CNN. Despite what extreme right wingers might say, they are apolitical. Meaning they do not take sides. No matter, for in this debate, Fox news is the clear winner when it comes to shear numbers. Their influence can not be denied.
Let's stick with cable news television. On a typical weekday night during prime time, here's the numbers, Fox News 2,270,000, CNN 343,000, MSNBC 867,000! Fox News dominates MSNBC almost 3 to 1! Even if you add CNN and MSNBC it's a 2 to 1 domination. So, can we all agree that when it comes to cable news, conservatives dominate? Again, if you can not see and concede this fact, please click on the link and continue to be zombieized.
Now we'll turn our attention to talk radio. Surely, liberals must dominate talk radio. I mean we've all heard conservatives crying about liberals all over the media. I've just proven that at least on cable news conservatives dominate, so surely it must be in radio where liberals and progressives reign supreme? Er, no. Sorry, it get's worse.
Of the top ten politically based talk radio shows out there conservatives hold the the first nine spots. There are a total of 15 radio talk shows in the top ten, this is due to several being tied in ratings. Rush Limbaugh leads the way with 15 million weekly listeners, followed closely by Sean Hannity at 14 million. It's not until you reach the tenth spot do you find progressive radio shows. There are four each with 2.5 million weekly listeners. That means the top four progressive shows still don't equal the number of listeners of Rush Limbaugh. In fact if you add them all up you'll find conservative radio reaches approximately 80 million listeners compared with just 10 million progressive listeners. Conservative talk radio not only leads progressive shows, it crushes them.
I think we've smashed the myth of liberal news domination once and for all. It is clear that conservatives dominate political news by an amazingly huge margin. What this means of course is they can with one voice get their message out to the public in a monopolistic fashion that I doubt anyone really understands.
In the first paragraph I illustrated several lies spread by the right and believed by many Americans. I also asked why. So far I've showed you how great and vast the right wing propaganda machine is. Now I'll attempt to show you why it's effective.
Obviously, if 100 million or more Americans hear the same message weekly that has to have some effect. If you generally only listen or watch conservative media and you hear the same message day in and day out, such as Obama is a Muslim, it's conceivable that eventually you will begin to believe it. If you hear anything often enough, the message becomes part of your subconscious. Let's try a little exercise to illustrate this point. Try to finish each sentence; "Have a coke and a _____" or "Baseball, hotdogs, apple pie and _____" or this last one, "Where's the ____?" think old lady. How did you do? Despite the fact that the oldest commercial was 35 years old and the youngest was 26 years I bet you got one or all of them, why? Being popular you were inundated with their message. You saw them on tv, heard them on radio and read them in magazines. You were exposed to these messages hundreds if not thousands of times and now, after at least 26 years they're a part of your subconscious. This is similar to what the conservatives can do. By dominating both cable news and talk radio and by sending the same message, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for months at a time their message becomes part of the subconscious and then the conscious mind of their listeners and viewers.
A recent study of smear campaigns by Michigan State University psychologist, Spee Kosloff, was conducted. Here's an excerpt from the article:
There's something beyond plain old ignorance that motivates Americans to believe President Obama is a Muslim, according to a first-of-its-kind study of smear campaigns led by a Michigan State University psychologist.
The research by Spee Kosloff and colleagues suggests people are most likely to accept such falsehoods, both consciously and unconsciously, when subtle clues remind them of ways in which Obama is different from them, whether because of race, social class or other ideological differences.
These judgments, Kosloff argues, are irrational. He also suggests they are fueled by an "irresponsible" media culture that allows political pundits and "talking heads" to perpetuate the lies.
"Careless or biased media outlets are largely responsible for the propagation of these falsehoods, which catch on like wildfire," said Kosloff, visiting assistant professor of psychology. "And then social differences can motivate acceptance of these lies."
Notice the last two paragraphs. He doesn't say Fox news or mentions conservatives and I'd agree. It starts with the conservative media machine and with their 100 million ears (and dollars) other news organizations pick up the story. Anyone remember what happened to Shirley Sherrod?
It's almost a form of brain washing. First they terrorize you with outrageous stories of how Democrats are going to let immigrants take your job, or let Muslims install Sharia law at ground zero or allow gay service members to wear pink hats while on duty or whatever ridiculous thing they come up with, then, using the massive media propaganda machine they possess they smother their viewers with the same message incessantly until the viewers believe it's true. Once that happens the lazy general media picks up the story until CNN has a right winger frothing at the mouth screaming about pink hats and the Democrat pundit stunned, asking, "I thought we were here to talk about job growth?"
The right wing conservative propaganda machine is real and it's terrifying. They can make reasonable Americans believe the unreasonable. It's real, it's out there and it's coming for you.
