Bottom line: The Washington press corps is our enemy.

[kentuck]

And when you turn on the cable networks, it is mostly the Washington press corps that you hear and see. They report with the Capitol in the background. Seldom do we get reports from average Joe Reporter from middle America. The "news" is produced and fed to the rest of America from the politicians and their supporters in Washington. In other words, pure propaganda.

So, it is a natural reaction to turn up their noses and sneer and smirk when someone confronts them with the truth. What do they do? They ignore it. Make no mistake, they are the enemy of truth and they are enemies of the people so long as they refuse to tell the truth and to be honest with the American people. They were cheerleaders for the war in Iraq. We recall them sitting on top of tanks and APC's and reporting back the glorious news of the invasion.

That is why they stuck their fingers in their ears like little children when told to go and wash their hands and to brush their teeth. That is why they felt obliged to tell us all how "funny" the President was in his skit. No matter that he looked like a fool. But his "humor" did not slap the media. So they cheered him on.

And in so doing, they followed the script of the White House. Josh Bolten had already said what their strategy was before the WHCD. They wanted to bring the President more to the "people" and to create better relationships with the "media". So the media played along. They followed their script perfectly. And here we are two days later, back to square one, in denial of the facts that confront us: the lies, the wiretapping and spying, the robbery of our Treasury, the disaster of this Presidency.

[thereismore]

1. most of them are. they are too cozy with the abuser. nt

[leveymg]

2. It's not monolithic. There are some more or less honest people.

Everyone -- Left, Right, Center -- has some sort of agenda. Usually not too hard to figure out what that is on any given issue.

You really have to worry about the ones that have so little self-awareness that they really believe they have no agenda. A good percentage of the middle-brow reporters are like that. Scratch their surface, as Colbert did, and you'll see that their allegiance is to the status quo. And, we all now how extremely stuffy, self-serving and self-interested that conventional view has become.

Also, few of them have any ability to laugh at themselves. Quite obvious from the majority of blank, puzzled stares in the audience.

[kentuck]

4. Right. There are still two or three that have not fallen under the spell..

But it's damn close to monolithic.

[xchrom]

3. they are indeed the enemy.

part and parcel of the oppressor class.

[tabasco]

9. The propaganda branch of war profiteering corporations.

Damn right they are the enemy.

[stray cat]

5. I like David Gregory and what about Helen Thomas

Such blanket indictments does them and those like them a disservice

[kentuck]

6. OK...so that makes them balanced...

Gregory and Helen Thomas have been demonized and minimized by the others and most of America see them differently than we do. They see them as the rest of Washington reports on them. Helen has been more or less ignored for years.

[democrank]

7. Some of the truest words ever written at DU, kentuck.

I`ve often wished that DUers (and others) would get behind a serious boycott of MSM`s drivel...by emailing our intentions to hit the OFF button. Who cares what Chris Matthews says? If he`s civil toward a Democrat on Monday, you can bet he`ll make up for it by Tuesday. For the most part, these high-powered, highly-paid mouthpieces aren`t going to rock the corporate boat. If anyone is uncertain about that statement, they should review the "reporting" during the run up to the Iraq War or umpteen segments on this great, booming economy.

MSM starlets are like trained seals. They`re thrilled to catch the Bush administration`s ball and roll it out for all to see because they know they`ll be thrown a fat fish for doing so. Why report on Darfur when you have this juicy shot of Tom Cruise to air? Why not atart a big national argument on the Spanish version of the national anthem? It`s SOOOOOOOOO much more controversial than Bush ignoring 750 laws. Torture planes? Puhleeze.....let`s not aid the enemy.

Who cares if Katie Couric goes to CBS? I`d like to see us start supporting independent news outlets and wean ourselves off this mindless MSM crap which does nothing but make for a 24/7 detour.... something we can hardly afford during this time of national crisis.

[Uncle Joe]

8. It is a crying shame, our so called fourth estate sold the people out. n/t

[Jacobin]

10. How long has it been since anyone has heard the press

refer proudly to themselves as "The Watchdog of the Government"?

Been about 15 years for me

[Supersedeas]

11. old school journalists know that Barbi & Ken Doll transciption is not

journalism