WHY THE LIBERAL MEDIA WON'T DIE

Once again, in last night's Republican debate, we witness the spectacle of an obviously biased performance by the moderators at CNBC.

I'm pretty sure no one on the right side of the political spectrum is surprised at this, except maybe the RNC, but many of us probably still don't understand how leftist media keeps its hold on the news. Or so much of it, as is still the case.

After years of clinging to the claim of objectivity, it seems the major left-leaning outlets, both broadcast and print, have "come out", and are no longer attempting to hide their bias towards all things conservative. I find this interesting, but not surprising. They feel they are needed now, right now, because liberalism is perceived by liberals to be under siege, at this very point in time, perhaps now more than ever. That's why they've come out. Credibility and relevance were once both cherished by the media, they now perceive the situation to be so dire that all they can hope to retain is relevance. Credibility be damned, we have a job to do.

For clarity, let's name names. ABC, CBS, NBC are the network TV players. CNN, MSNBC, PBS, and CNBC the core cable representatives.  Many conservatives now see Fox News applying for membership, but that's a topic for another time.

On radio, we have NPR and a number of successful left-wing talk radio shows-oh wait!.....So strike that last one. Then we have the New York Times, LA Times, Washington Post, and the great majority of blue city rags across the country to represent the dominant print media.

I choose to look at this landscape through the eyes of a business owner, which requires it be viewed through the disciplines of marketing, mission, and making money. With the leftist media, admittedly it's not that simple, but indulge me for a while.

The money comes from ad revenue. Ok, that's simple.

The market? Well, eyeballs-viewers and readers, and ears. Eyeballs and ears. The more the merrier, right? One would think the product would be..... information. What kind of information? Just news, or is it more than that?

It's more than that.

But they all do sell news, so let's examine the selling of news in isolation for a moment.

Who wants news? Well, statistically, everyone. We all want to be in the know on events, and people and places in which we are interested. So, do the above-mentioned left-wing purveyors of news want the whole market? Everyone? Or do their actions reveal they are niche-marketing? It is obvious they are niche marketing because it is evident they are perfectly willing to insult those niches they aren't going after. And niche marketing is not a bad business model, quite the contrary.

So it must be that it's not just about the news.

Obviously, they consider what they're selling to be more than just news. So just what are they selling, if not just news and information?

A plurality in this country remains to this day, pro-life. A plurality of potential eyes and ears in America wants a balanced budget. A plurality of this huge potential market does not consider itself to be either victimized, or among the victimizers. So the left-wing purveyors of news begin by eschewing, or in business we say....writing off, more than half the potential market they could conceivably garner, in their willingness to provide only that which the target minority niche would be willing to purchase. It's worse than that, they're willing to insult and berate (and be caught lying by) more than half their potential market. So what do they perceive their mission to be?

I think they see themselves as educators. First and foremost, as educators.

Educators of the masses. Core product be damned. It's still selling, it's still marketing, and so it's still good business, that is, to attempt to change people's minds such that they become purchasers of what the business is constantly stocking and re-stocking on its shelves. And we'd all have to admit, they've had some success at this over the years.

Some of this is due to frustration with the actual education establishment. The schools and universities keep turning out more of the "non-converts" than the media would like. Though we on the right perceive that our schools are doing a pretty good job of enlisting our young to the leftist cause, the leftist media is just not satisfied. So they see it as their mission to fill the void. After all, their ideology is so right, and it should be so easy for everyone to embrace.


So, are the media selling indoctrination, or is it that their chosen niche market just happens to crave what they are making available? A combination of both?


No marketing thrust by any business could be complete without a market analysis. The business would analyze how customers relate to their product, what product segments are hot and cold, and why customers are buying their product.

Since we've attempted to establish that the leftist media see themselves as educators, what do they perceive in their "pupils"?

Liberalism, which is what these people are selling under the guise of news and information, is an ideology. If it weren't for history, and if it weren't for events on the ground (daily events, in the last seven years), which refute the supposed virtues of this ideology, then this belief system wouldn't be such a tough sell. But it is. Liberalism is actually under constant assault.  By reason, experience, and events. It's why history has to be revised. It's why news has to be "colored", it's why news events must be ignored, obscured, and cherry-picked. Opinion must be "shaped" or liberalism in America wouldn't last a month.

Having once been a liberal, I can tell you that this phenomenon, that is, the shaping of news and the revision of history and perceptions, is demand driven. Let me repeat that. Demand driven. The liberal tribe is a warm place. It has trappings, rewards-psychological ones and social ones.  It's a very difficult place to leave. Only significant emotional events will cause one to even want to leave, and the loss of everything and everyone you hold dear is usually the price of an out-bound, one-way ticket.

Those who hold liberal views have a difficult time maintaining their beliefs. Being infantile, chronically envious of others, and favoring emotion over reason helps. Have you ever noticed how liberals love polls? They cannot maintain the very fragile beliefs that liberalism is composed of, without the comfort of knowing that others hold these same beliefs.

They therefore require constant affirmation for these beliefs, find strength in numbers, and must, absolutely must, see themselves as permanent occupants of the moral high-ground.

And that's where the leftist media come in.

Take for example, abortion. Do conservatives realize how difficult it is, psychologically, to be simultaneously opposed to capital punishment while accepting as normal the killing of a fetus in the womb in the name of convenience? This my friends, is not a formula for good mental hygiene. It's a high wire act for the brain. Is it any wonder Sarah Palin literally drives them nuts?

How about maintaining the moral high-plain while defending the last 60 years of welfare policy? Do they not see the devastation it has wrought? The utter and complete devastation among precisely those communities they profess to care for? They do, and they really need help averting their eyes. Once again, this is where the leftist media come in. The product is a salve. It's a balm. It's a blinder. It's required. Constantly. I could go on, as I'm sure most of you could, with examples of failed beliefs liberals must juxtapose in their brains, and struggle to reconcile, but you get the drift.

So, the leftist media, what are they REALLY doing, and what are they REALLY selling? And why does this mean they will never die, never go away?

What they are really doing is filling a perceived void.

What they are really selling is affirmation. Constant affirmation. Constant affirmation for demonstrably failed beliefs. Affirmation required for their chosen target market's psyche to maintain not only the warped beliefs, but required to maintain psychological equilibrium, and their sense of self. Your liberal friend or relative? He or she NEEDS CNN.

And that's just their core market. Then there's the rest of us, which they will always believe to be susceptible to persuasion. They simply cannot understand, and will never understand, why their product won't be sought by all, once properly educated as to its virtues.

Pretty good business model that, whereby the target market comes to you willingly, not merely desirous of, but craving, for the existential purpose of maintaining their sanity, what you have to offer. No marketing needed to keep them as customers, just keep the product on the shelf. And as long as you have the core market locked up, why not at the same time try to increase market share with a little educating?

The leftist media. They're the drug dealer, and their customer has to have it. They don't have to pass the bag in an alley. They can do it out in the open, on Main Street. Passersby can partake if they wish. The authorities smile at them and nod. Pretty cool, huh?

So leftist media are going to be around awhile.

As long as there is envy among humans, as long as there are beliefs born of envy, as long as socialism  possesses an allure for the envious to gravitate towards, there will be purveyors of the required affirmation for these beliefs. And that's what the leftist media are providing. They are offering affirmation, they don't even have to sell it, but they do have to offer it in the morning, in the afternoon, nightly, weekly, monthly-constantly, because just like a drug, its effects wane, or, in the case of this particular ideology, the customers are finding their beliefs, also constantly, to be refuted by events and results no one holding these beliefs wants to see or hear about.

As I said, none of us are surprised that the mods at last night's debate were attempting to "color" the news. It's what they do. They have customers to satisfy.

It's business.