Conservatives spent so much time, effort and money on the 2+2=5 idea of a "liberal media conspiracy" that this post is bound to go right over their heads.
But why is the media still so in the tank for conservatives in 2007? C’mon, folks. Katie Couric, who husband died of cancer, telling Elizabeth Edwards "some people" think her husband should quit his career over her sad diagnosis? ABC doing the same thing, only in spades and doubled? MSNBC telling Democrats to "back away" from investigations 70% of the people support? So-called "liberal" commentators spewing venom at war opponents?
Conventional answers miss the point. Conservative investment, as in Fox News. The reflexive corporatism of corporate-owned media. Let’s face it, Bush could be getting a hummer from Alberto Gonzalez in the Oval Office this very moment and all you’d get out of Chris Matthews is "isn’t Al Gore fat?"
Nope, this is a simple question of business models.
Conventional media business models, whether developed early in the 20th
century (newspapers), the middle (magazines) or the end (broadcasting)
are collapsing. Money is disappearing. It’s a Depression in the
newspaper business, folks, with sharks looking to grab the last few
hunks of meat. The audience for network news is older than Elton John,
and the cable news audience is shrinking.
It is perfectly natural in such an environment to resist change, to
strike up the band as the Titanic starts going down. It’s perfectly
normal, for instance, that CNN should rotate out Iraq correspondents
who have seen the reality, and rotate in Loyal Bushies like Kyra
Phillips, who hung on an Admiral’s shoulder today as he said "it’s
going to get better."
The real fight for the future isn’t playing out in the media at all. It’s playing out behind the scenes, as some sites drive new business models (merchandise, trade shows, advertising) while others beg for quarters on the virtual street corners.
It is the people who best monetize their traffic, and who most
effectively spread that wealth around, that will create the new media
world. That world has yet to be born. No wonder the old media world is panicking.
But the answer to the questions bloggers like David Niewert pose won’t
be found on any screen. They will only be found in the business office.
