In 2008, the Republicans nominated John McCain and the major media I believe was content to remain a strong supporter of Obama while trying to retain their stance that they still were reporting this election with some level of fairness, although that claim is obviously not true. I think the major media was certain of an Obama victory and the major media was therefore willing to let their current strategy of selected advocacy remain the policy they would follow.
However, events soon changed this decision and now the media has thrown away any pretense of fairness. What was the major event that changed everything as far as the media was concerned? That event was the introduction of Sarah Palin to America.
When Sarah Palin was announced as the Republican Vice Presidential Nominee, all bets came off the table. What the Republicans had done was to nominate someone who was a direct threat to the power of the major media and everything they now stood for. She was an independent political shooting star that owed nothing to the national media. She represented the average person. Some might not have agreed with all her political positions, however she was perceived as “real” by the American People. She became an instant threat to not just the Democratic Party but to Barack Obama and more important, she was a threat to the power of the major media. The media knew that with her down-home populist style, she would be able to circumvent the power of the media and draw power directly from the people. The media had everything to lose with a popular Sarah Palin and nothing to gain. So out came the personal, sexist and shameful attacks on a candidate whose only fault was that she was not a Washington insider.
The national media that we see in 2008 is not going to go away. If they are able to destroy their threat, not John McCain and the Republican Party but instead Sarah Palin, I predict the media will not go back to their old ways. I envision the major media becoming even more involved in one-sided political reporting and ensuring all political professionals that the only way to power is through them.
It is my opinion that the only way to stop the advocacy media juggernaut that is gaining tremendous speed and strength in America today and that is the election of John McCain, which would include the birth of a new political super-star in waiting – Sarah Palin. What she represents is everything the elitist media despises. She is our only hope right now to reign in an out of control advocacy media. She does not need them and they know that.
