Globe Jotter

24-hour news networks are built for one thing, and that’s (coverage of) 9/11 and the type of gigantic news event that the type of apparatus that exists in this building and exists at the other 24-hour (news networks) is perfectly suited to cover.

In the absence of that, they’re not just going to say, ”There’s not that much that’s urgent or important or conflicted that’s happening today, so we are going to gin up; we’re going to bring forth more conflict and more sensationalism because we want you to continue watching us 24 hours a day, seven days a week — even when the news doesn’t necessarily warrant that type of behavior.’

So here’s my example of what news bias is, in my mind: three networks — Fox, CNN, MSNBC — are going live to the Nancy Pelosi news conference, because they are sure, coming on the heels of Anthony Weiner resigning, that she is going to make some sort of incredible statement… and the whole time there’s hand-wringing. ‘Oh, I can’t believe we gotta go and do this. The American people don’t care about this. They care about jobs, they care about the economy… We’re about to go live to Speaker Pelosi.’

…She steps up to the podium, and says what? ‘I’m not going to comment about Anthony Weiner. I’m going to talk about jobs, and I’m going to talk about the economy.’ And what did everybody do?

(“Left,” answer Chris Wallace.)

So what’s your proof again about the ‘partisan agenda’ and what I do? That’s the embarrassment. The embarrassment is that I’m given credibility in this world because of the disappointment that the public has in what the news media does.