Media Bias or Censorship or Sour Grapes?

Election 2008 (USA)

The McCain camp has confirmed that an opinion editorial by Senator McCain was denied by the New York Times Newspaper, for publication.  Fox News, in a careful attack of innuendo, have linked the rejection by the New York Times Op Ed Editor as being political, as the man served in the Bill Clinton Administration. Naturally it doesn’t go into the actual ‘he rejected it because he’s a democrat‘ stuff, but the implication is clear.

The New York Times on Friday blocked an opinion piece submitted by John McCain to the newspaper shortly after it printed a piece by his Democratic rival, Barack Obama, McCain campaign officials confirmed to FOX News on Monday. (source - Fox News)

Frankly, after reading the article itself, the whole article, I have to wonder if perhaps both sides are simply trying to meddle? Is Fox News trying to gain readership by its defence of John McCain or is the New York Times trying to censor what news it prevents? There appears to be a lot who would support either opinion, however I myself belief that both sides here are missing a key issue.

The Media is not about News, but about taking sides, about convincing people where they should stand on issues that matter to their advertisers, not to their readers. Simple truth is that on the surface, the request by the Op Ed Editor for Senator McCain to define more clearly his policies, is about informing the voters, but let’s be serious here. It is a tactic to force the Senator to make a statement, that can come back to haunt him later, or be used against him. While it would be nice if ALL CANDIDATES would be clear, concise, and definite about their policies, we all KNOW that isn’t going to happen in our lifetime.

“It would be terrific to have an article from Senator McCain that mirrors Senator Obama’s piece. To that end, the article would have to articulate, in concrete terms, how Senator McCain defines victory in Iraq. It would also have to lay out a clear plan for achieving victory — with troops levels, timetables and measures for compelling the Iraqis to cooperate. And it would need to describe the Senator’s Afghanistan strategy, spelling out how it meshes with his Iraq plan,” Shipley wrote. (source - Fox News)

This is not the job of any Newspaper nor is it the job of any Media to censor what a political candidate has to say. Now some will disagree that any Media has the right, under its rules, and under the rules of editorial sections, but I wonder, if they aren’t simply missing the whole point here. Yes, this is not a NEWS section, but an OPINION SECTION, so why then is John McCain being censored for voicing his opinion? Why is any Editor working with the authors to better frame their piece, if this is about EXPRESSING OPINIONS?

What is needed is a clear law and stated guidelines in which ALL MEDIA are forced to provide ALL CANDIDATES a FREE FORUM to express their views, their policies, AS THEY SEE FIT. Not to have some editor MAKE THAT CHOICE.  This is part of the problem, with elections costing so much, and with the rampant polarization of the Media. Fox News for example is a clear organ for the Conservative Side, while the New York Times has the same reputation for the Liberal Side.

During an Election Year, both Candidates should have CLEAR FREE ACCESS to the other side Media Outlets, meaning that Obama should be given Equal Access to state his views on FOX or other Conservative Outlets, and McCain given the same EQUAL ACCESS on the Liberal side.

No matter how nicely the New York Times puts its argument forward, this smacks not of Censorship as it stinks of pushing a Political Agenda. That really isn’t the job of any media outlet, though that has long since fallen by the wayside, with 99.9% of all Media Outlets.

Ian @ July 22, 2008