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> Krugman: Reading the Script

 

>

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/opinion/03krug.html

>

 

Reading the Script

>

> *By PAUL KRUGMAN*

>

> Published: August 3, 2004

>

*E-mail:* krugman

 

>

> A message to my fellow journalists: check out media

> watch sites like

> campaigndesk.org <http://campaigndesk.org>,

> mediamatters.org

> <http://mediamatters.org> and dailyhowler.com

> <http://dailyhowler.com>.

 

> It's good to see ourselves as others see us. I've

> been finding The Daily

> Howler's concept of a media " script, " a story line

> that shapes coverage,

> often in the teeth of the evidence, particularly

> helpful in

> understanding cable news.

>

> For example, last summer, when growth briefly broke

> into a gallop, cable

> news decided that the economy was booming. The

> gallop soon slowed to a

> trot, and then to a walk. But judging from the mail

> I recently got after

> writing about the slowing economy, the script never

> changed; many

> readers angrily insisted that my numbers disagreed

> with everything they

> had seen on TV.

>

> If you really want to see cable news scripts in

> action, look at the

> coverage of the Democratic convention.

>

> Commercial broadcast TV covered only one hour a

> night. We'll see whether

> the Republicans get equal treatment. C-Span, on the

> other hand, provided

> comprehensive, commentary-free coverage. But many

> people watched the

> convention on cable news channels - and what they

> saw was shaped by a

> script portraying Democrats as angry Bush-haters who

> disdain the military.

>

> If that sounds like a script written by the

> Republicans, it is. As the

> movie " Outfoxed " makes clear, Fox News is for all

> practical purposes a

> G.O.P. propaganda agency. A now-famous poll showed

> that Fox viewers were

> more likely than those who get their news elsewhere

> to believe that

> evidence of Saddam-Qaeda links has been found, that

> W.M.D. had been

> located and that most of the world supported the

> Iraq war.

>

> CNN used to be different, but Campaign Desk, which

> is run by The

> Columbia Journalism Review, concluded after

> reviewing convention

> coverage that CNN " has stooped to slavish imitation

> of Fox's most

> dubious ploys and policies. " Seconds after John

> Kerry's speech, CNN gave

> Ed Gillespie, the Republican Party's chairman, the

> opportunity to bash

> the candidate. Will Terry McAuliffe be given the

> same opportunity right

> after President Bush speaks?

>

> Commentators worked hard to spin scenes that didn't

> fit the script. Some

> simply saw what they wanted to see. On Fox, Michael

> Barone asserted that

> conventioneers cheered when Mr. Kerry criticized

> President Bush but were

> silent when he called for military strength. Check

> out the video clips

> at Media Matters; there was tumultuous cheering when

> Mr. Kerry talked

> about a strong America.

>

> Another technique, pervasive on both Fox and CNN,

> was to echo Republican

> claims of an " extreme makeover " - the assertion that

> what viewers were

> seeing wasn't the true face of the party.

> (Apparently all those

> admirals, generals and decorated veterans were

> ringers.)

>

> It will probably be easier to make a comparable case

> in New York, where

> the Republicans are expected to feature an array of

> moderate, pro-choice

> speakers and keep Rick Santorum and Tom DeLay under

> wraps. But in

> Boston, it took creativity to portray the delegates

> as being out of the

> mainstream. For example, Bill Schneider at CNN

> claimed that according to

> a New York Times/CBS News poll, 75 percent of the

> delegates favor

> " abortion on demand " - which exaggerated the poll's

> real finding, which

> is that 75 percent opposed stricter limits than we

> now have.

>

> But the real power of a script is the way it can

> retroactively change

> the story about what happened.

>

> On Thursday night, Mr. Kerry's speech was a palpable

> hit. A focus group

> organized by Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster,

> found it impressive

> and persuasive. Even pro-Bush commentators conceded,

> at first, that it

> had gone over well.

>

> But a terrorism alert is already blotting out

> memories of last week.

> Although there is now a long history of alerts with

> remarkably

> convenient political timing, and Tom Ridge

> politicized the announcement

> by using the occasion to praise " the president's

> leadership in the war

> against terror, " this one may be based on real

> information. Regardless,

> it gives the usual suspects a breathing space; once

> calm returns, don't

> be surprised if some of those same commentators

> begin describing the

> ineffective speech they expected (and hoped) to see,

> not the one they

> actually saw.

>

> Luckily, in this age of the Internet it's possible

> to bypass the filter.

> At c-span.org <http://c-span.org>, you can find

> transcripts and videos

> of all the speeches. I'd urge everyone to watch Mr.

> Kerry and others for

> yourself, and make your own judgment.

>

>

>

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Guest guest

D convention...It was rather revealing to sit and watch on c-span and then

rapidly flip back and forth between Fox, CNN ,MSNBC, and later the regular

CBS, NBC and ABC stations and go back to c-span and see the convention with

out commentary!!!! You'd hardlly recognize from the *commentators* the

very same thing that you thought you were watching...INSTANT SPIN in

action!!! amazing....ng

 

 

-

" Frank " <califpacific

<alternative_medicine_forum >

Tuesday, August 03, 2004 7:58 PM

Krugman: Reading the Script

 

> > Krugman: Reading the Script

>

> >

> http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/03/opinion/03krug.html

 

> Reading the Script

> >

> > *By PAUL KRUGMAN*

> >

> > Published: August 3, 2004

> >

> *E-mail:* krugman

>

> >

> > A message to my fellow journalists: check out media

> > watch sites like

> > campaigndesk.org <http://campaigndesk.org>,

> > mediamatters.org

> > <http://mediamatters.org> and dailyhowler.com

> > <http://dailyhowler.com>.

>

> > It's good to see ourselves as others see us. I've

> > been finding The Daily

> > Howler's concept of a media " script, " a story line

> > that shapes coverage,

> > often in the teeth of the evidence, particularly

> > helpful in

> > understanding cable news.

> >

> > For example, last summer, when growth briefly broke

> > into a gallop, cable

> > news decided that the economy was booming. The

> > gallop soon slowed to a

> > trot, and then to a walk. But judging from the mail

> > I recently got after

> > writing about the slowing economy, the script never

> > changed; many

> > readers angrily insisted that my numbers disagreed

> > with everything they

> > had seen on TV.

> >

> > If you really want to see cable news scripts in

> > action, look at the

> > coverage of the Democratic convention.

> >

> > Commercial broadcast TV covered only one hour a

> > night. We'll see whether

> > the Republicans get equal treatment. C-Span, on the

> > other hand, provided

> > comprehensive, commentary-free coverage. But many

> > people watched the

> > convention on cable news channels - and what they

> > saw was shaped by a

> > script portraying Democrats as angry Bush-haters who

> > disdain the military.

> >

> > If that sounds like a script written by the

> > Republicans, it is. As the

> > movie " Outfoxed " makes clear, Fox News is for all

> > practical purposes a

> > G.O.P. propaganda agency. A now-famous poll showed

> > that Fox viewers were

> > more likely than those who get their news elsewhere

> > to believe that

> > evidence of Saddam-Qaeda links has been found, that

> > W.M.D. had been

> > located and that most of the world supported the

> > Iraq war.

> >

> > CNN used to be different, but Campaign Desk, which

> > is run by The

> > Columbia Journalism Review, concluded after

> > reviewing convention

> > coverage that CNN " has stooped to slavish imitation

> > of Fox's most

> > dubious ploys and policies. " Seconds after John

> > Kerry's speech, CNN gave

> > Ed Gillespie, the Republican Party's chairman, the

> > opportunity to bash

> > the candidate. Will Terry McAuliffe be given the

> > same opportunity right

> > after President Bush speaks?

> >

> > Commentators worked hard to spin scenes that didn't

> > fit the script. Some

> > simply saw what they wanted to see. On Fox, Michael

> > Barone asserted that

> > conventioneers cheered when Mr. Kerry criticized

> > President Bush but were

> > silent when he called for military strength. Check

> > out the video clips

> > at Media Matters; there was tumultuous cheering when

> > Mr. Kerry talked

> > about a strong America.

> >

> > Another technique, pervasive on both Fox and CNN,

> > was to echo Republican

> > claims of an " extreme makeover " - the assertion that

> > what viewers were

> > seeing wasn't the true face of the party.

> > (Apparently all those

> > admirals, generals and decorated veterans were

> > ringers.)

> >

> > It will probably be easier to make a comparable case

> > in New York, where

> > the Republicans are expected to feature an array of

> > moderate, pro-choice

> > speakers and keep Rick Santorum and Tom DeLay under

> > wraps. But in

> > Boston, it took creativity to portray the delegates

> > as being out of the

> > mainstream. For example, Bill Schneider at CNN

> > claimed that according to

> > a New York Times/CBS News poll, 75 percent of the

> > delegates favor

> > " abortion on demand " - which exaggerated the poll's

> > real finding, which

> > is that 75 percent opposed stricter limits than we

> > now have.

> >

> > But the real power of a script is the way it can

> > retroactively change

> > the story about what happened.

> >

> > On Thursday night, Mr. Kerry's speech was a palpable

> > hit. A focus group

> > organized by Frank Luntz, the Republican pollster,

> > found it impressive

> > and persuasive. Even pro-Bush commentators conceded,

> > at first, that it

> > had gone over well.

> >

> > But a terrorism alert is already blotting out

> > memories of last week.

> > Although there is now a long history of alerts with

> > remarkably

> > convenient political timing, and Tom Ridge

> > politicized the announcement

> > by using the occasion to praise " the president's

> > leadership in the war

> > against terror, " this one may be based on real

> > information. Regardless,

> > it gives the usual suspects a breathing space; once

> > calm returns, don't

> > be surprised if some of those same commentators

> > begin describing the

> > ineffective speech they expected (and hoped) to see,

> > not the one they

> > actually saw.

> >

> > Luckily, in this age of the Internet it's possible

> > to bypass the filter.

> > At c-span.org <http://c-span.org>, you can find

> > transcripts and videos

> > of all the speeches. I'd urge everyone to watch Mr.

> > Kerry and others for

> > yourself, and make your own judgment.

> >

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Guest guest

I got so annoyed with CNN that I emailed them and said I was going to stay with

C-Span. I told CNN that I was intelligent

enough to understand what I was seeing and hearing and I didn't need no stinkin'

commentator to tell me what I just saw

and heard! Of course, they could care less, but I took a stand! Glad to see

I'm not alone in my feelings.

Leslye Morrow

 

>D convention...It was rather revealing to sit and watch on c-span and then

>rapidly flip back and forth between Fox, CNN ,MSNBC, and later the regular

>CBS, NBC and ABC stations and go back to c-span and see the convention with

>out commentary!!!! You'd hardlly recognize from the *commentators* the

>very same thing that you thought you were watching...INSTANT SPIN in

>action!!! amazing....ng

>

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Media have become the most dangerous forces against our democracy. They

rule, they make and break Presidents. People like R. Murdoch, increasingly,

run the world.

JP

 

 

-

" Nora Gottlieb " <nwgott

 

Wednesday, August 04, 2004 7:27 PM

Re: Krugman: Reading the Script

 

 

> D convention...It was rather revealing to sit and watch on c-span and then

> rapidly flip back and forth between Fox, CNN ,MSNBC, and later the regular

> CBS, NBC and ABC stations and go back to c-span and see the convention

with

> out commentary!!!! You'd hardlly recognize from the *commentators* the

> very same thing that you thought you were watching...INSTANT SPIN in

> action!!! amazing....ng

>

>

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