Reply #1: Unlike MoveOn, Limbaugh Directly Impugned Antiwar Soldiers' Service

[Joanne98]

http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/09/unlike_moveon_l.php

Unlike MoveOn, Limbaugh Directly Impugned Antiwar Soldiers' Service
September 28, 2007 -- 2:28 PM EST // //
John Aravosis:
When MoveOn legitimately called into question General Petraeus' honesty (he's lied before), the mainstream media dutifully covered the Republicans' crocodile tears. But when Rush Limbaugh -- Dick Cheney's favorite interviewer -- attacks the integrity of American troops dying in Iraq for our country, the most the media can muster is coverage in their "blogs." Whether it's CBS blog, the Baltimore Sun blog, or the Chicago Tribune blog, there isn't a lot of coverage of this issue in the real CBS News, the real Baltimore Sun, or the real Chicago Tribune, or anywhere else. Why the double standard? Senior Democrats have called out Limbaugh for his venom, which is usually what's needed to make a story "real" in the eyes of the MSM. So why the double standard -- when Dems are accused of dissing the troops, it's a front page story for weeks. When Republicans actually diss the troops, it's no big deal.
This is key. MoveOn's ad on Mighty Scholar-Warrior Petraeus questioned his credibility, not his service. Republicans successfully sprinkled their Deception Dust all over the story and turned it into an attack on the troops. And the media bit -- hard. As usual, the justification for covering and punditizing about the story was that Dems are vulnerable to charges that they are anti-military; therefore, the GOP's demand that they condemn MoveOn was scoring political points; and perversely, this is what made the GOP assault news.

By contrast, Rush Limbaugh actually did impugn the service of soldiers who favor withdrawal from Iraq. But because Republicans aren't vulnerable to charges that they're anti-military, this doesn't give Dems as clear an opportunity to score political points by demanding that Repubs condemn him. Therefore, it isn't as newsworthy. Yes, the Limbaugh story is getting some traction today. But it will get nowhere near the attention that the GOP attack on Dems over the MoveOn ad got.


And it's all because one party is presumed by many in the media to be vulnerable to charges of being anti-military, and the other isn't. There are plenty of people at the big news orgs who don't play along with this, of course. But in general, this presumption -- rather than the actual substantive content of the remarks themselves -- is what colors decisions about what's news and what isn't in situations like this.


The final insult is that this is a self-reinforcing phenomenon. The constant imbalance in coverage in situations like this means Dems continue to be slimed in the media as anti-military, which reinforces the presumption of Dem vulnerability on stories like these, which leads to more unbalanced coverage, and so on.


That's how this works. Sorry.
http://www.talkingpointsmemo.com/horsesmouth/2007/09/unlike_moveon_l.php