I fully AGREE with journalism professor Jane Hall that the media are divided ideologically in cable news and that Obama has NOT figured out how to deal with FOX, frankly. I also agree with Eric Deggans about partisan media and division: transcripts.cnn/TRANSCRIPTS/1312/08/rs.01.html CNN RELIABLE SOURCES Media Talent Takes Off; Interview with Ryan Seacrest; Blame the Press Aired December 8, 2013 - 11:00 ET BRIAN STELTER, CNN HOST: Well, joining me from Tampa, Eric Deggans, TV critic for NPR. And here in Washington, Paul Farhi, reporter for The Washington Post, and Jane Hall, journalism professor at American University... STELTER: Welcome back. President Obama gave Chris Matthews an extended interview on MSNBC on Thursday. The appearance raised a few eyebrows, given the recent trouble the liberal news channel has had with Alec Baldwin and Martin Bashir, and it also riled up some media types. Heres why: (BEGIN VIDEO CLIP) OBAMA: The American people are good and they are decent. And yes, we get very divided partly because our politics and our media specifically tries to divide them and splinter them. (END VIDEO CLIP) STELTER: Yes, President Obama as media critic. I personally love when any president jabs the press because it gets us talking about fairness, both the medias and the administrations. Well, lets bring in our panel and see what they think. In Tampa, Eric Deggans is the TV critic for the NPR. And back with me at the table, Paul Farhi of The Washington Post, and Jane Hall of American University. Jane, you used to be a long time FOX News contributor. So, I wonder, do you think the presidents right? JANE HALL, AMERICAN UNIVERSITY: Well, I think that -- yes, I think hes right and I think he believes it. I mean, he was speaking to an audience of young people at my university, and he was saying that the idealism of young people was a great thing. Clearly, he wanted to address that audience and it is true that the media are divided ideologically in cable news. And I think he was making a point he believes. You can disagree, but I think didnt want to call out FOX necessarily because they havent figured out how to deal with FOX, frankly. STELTER: Interesting. HALL: But his point is theres a split in the media. And, yes, theres splits in the media. STELTER: Eric, I wonder if you think its hypocritical to come on a channel thats known for catering to liberals and criticizing the press, criticizing the press for being divisive. ERIC DEGGANS, NPR: Not at all. I think thats a great place to do that kind of criticism. And as you know, I spent 250 pages in my book that came out last year, Race-Baiter, talking about this exact issue, that there are cable channels and other media outlets that segment the audience. And one way they do that is by pitting people against each other. And they may use race, they may use class, they may use other hot button issues to divide people... But the idea is to segment an audience and super serve that audience their world view in your coverage, and sometimes that can be very harmful whether youre talking about FOX or MSNBC or even, you know, a radio show or a Web site. STELTER: Im going to change gears here, because the end of the year is coming up. And one of the my favorite media digests, IWantMedia, has completed its 12th annual poll to pick the media person of the year. I mentioned this at the top of the show. Two years ago, it was Steve Jobs. Last year, it was the BuzzFeeds founder Jonah Peretti. And this year, lets cue the cheesy drum roll, it is the head of Amazon and the new owner of The Washington Post, Jeff Bezos...
Posted on: Mon, 09 Dec 2013 11:38:43 +0000
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