Ignoring Colbert: A Small Taste of the Media's Power to Choose the News

[Unmarked Poster]

From Salon's Daou Report:

http://daoureport.salon.com/synopsis.aspx?synopsisId=9567d0bb-390c-41f7-b317-2312cb69e096

The White House Correspondents' Association Dinner was televised on C-Span Saturday evening. Featured entertainer Stephen Colbert delivered a biting rebuke of George W. Bush and the lily-livered press corps. He did it to Bush's face, unflinching and unbowed by the audience's muted, humorless response. Democratic Underground members commented in real time (here, here, and here). TMV posted a wrap-up.

On Colbert's gutsy delivery, watertiger writes, "Stephen Colbert displayed more guts in ten minute of performance at the White House Correspondents Dinner than the entire Bush family. He, along with the ever-feisty Helen Thomas, deftly exposed the "truthiness" to the world (or at least those who were watching) that Bush AND the D.C. press corps are indeed a naked emperor and his gutless courtiers."

Mash at dKos says, "Standing at the podium only a few feet from President Bush, Colbert launched an all out assault on the policies of this Administration. It was remarkable, though painful at times, to watch. It may also have been the first time that anyone has been this blunt with this President. By the end of Colbert's routine, Bush was visibly uncomfortable. Colbert ended with a video featuring Helen Thomas repeatedly asking why we invaded Iraq. That is a question President Bush has yet to answer to the American public. I am not sure what kind of review Stephen Colbert's performance will get in the press. One thing is however certain - his performance was important and will reverberate."

It appears Mash's misgivings about press coverage are well-placed. The AP's first stab at it - and pieces from Reuters and the Chicago Tribune - tell us everything we need to know: Colbert's performance is sidestepped and marginalized while Bush is treated as light-hearted, humble, and funny. Expect nothing less from the cowardly American media. The story could just as well have been Bush and Laura's discomfort and the crowd's semi-hostile reaction to Colbert's razor-sharp barbs. In fact, I would guess that from the perspective of newsworthiness and public interest, Bush-the-playful-president is far less compelling than a comedy sketch gone awry, a pissed-off prez, and a shell-shocked audience.

This is the power of the media to choose the news, to decide when and how to shield Bush from negative publicity. Sins of omission can be just as bad as sins of commission. And speaking of a sycophantic media establishment bending over backwards to accommodate this White House and to regurgitate pro-GOP and anti-Dem spin, I urge readers to pick up a copy of Eric Boehlert's new book, Lapdogs. It's a powerful indictment of the media's timidity during the Bush presidency. Boehlert rips away the facade of a "liberal media" and exposes the invertebrates masquerading as journalists who have allowed and enabled the Bush administration's many transgressions to go unchecked, under-reported, or unquestioned.

A final thought: Bush's clownish banter with reporters - which is on constant display during press conferences - stands in such stark contrast to his administration's destructive policies and to the gravity of the bloodbath in Iraq that it is deeply unsettling to watch. This may be impolitic, but wouldn't refraining from frat-style horseplay be appropriate for this man? Or at the least, can't reporters suppress their raucous laughter every time he blurts out another jibe... the way they did when Colbert put them in their place?

(Reprinted with permission of the author)

[wtmusic]

1. What the evening really needed was some "looking for WMDs under the

tablecloth" jokes -- those really get the party started!

[ClassWarrior]

2. Then call them and demand they show it. A small taste of OUR power...

...to take our country back.

NGU.

[Tuesday_Morning]

3. thanks Unmarked

And welcome to DU.

Think I'll pass this around...maybe send it to some media types.

[Unmarked Poster]

6. Thank you

:)

[Gabi Hayes]

4. thanks! great, truthy review....disgusting how the media are ignoring

this

especially fawning twerps like that litte apostate Stephie, who supposedly played the ENTIRE bush duo BS, yet didn't even MENTION Colbert, despite having an alleged comix clip segment each week

thanks for the mention of Boehlert's book, too. didn't even know he had one

he's one of the few journalists still practicing his craft

[Dr. Death]

5. The media bends over, all right, but I'm not sure that it's backwards.

[Armstead]

7. Well, maybe the "Blogosphere" can amp it up

It's happened before. Maybe if there is enough reaction and passing around of the video, it cn gain sometraction.

[Gabi Hayes]

9. it's obviously going to have to happen there, cause the media ARE

ignoring it, while fawning over the graceless, humiliating spectacle of the president happily making himself the butt of jokes about what an IDIOT he is

what a face we present to the world

can you imagine of a Tony Blair roast where they made fun of his inarticulateness?

[Us vs Them]

12. If we're already seeing coverage of the lack of coverage

on an event that happened LAST NIGHT, expect this to be HUGE. I've seen the video linked in full from four different sources so far. It's on every online community I belong to, including the celebrity gossip pages.

[Tuesday_Morning]

8. Kristy at firedoglake sez:

Stephen Colbert pulled that off in spades last night at the WH Correspondent’s Dinner — and the sting of his delivery is going to ripple out for days among the press corps and the sentient members of the Bush Administration. And the reason is this: no matter how much they try to bury it, by ignoring the Colbert portion of the evening in the teevee news, or burying it with a one-paragraph bit in the print media — online it is going to gather steam and take on a life of its own.

The buzz of truthiness, ladies and gentlemen, knows no boundaries in the computer age. (And thank you C&L for helping that along. Bravo.) Especially when it is coupled with some seriously funny satire.

Video clips and quotes are going to make their way through e-mails everywhere — and the butt of all those jokes is going to have to come to terms with some harsh reality, or become even more of a joke.

Amen to that.

[Gabi Hayes]

10. link, please? I have a thread of media responses

thx

firdoglake is excellent.

Jane Hamshire is HOT!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=1062560&mesg_id=1062560

[Tuesday_Morning]

16. Here ya go

Truthiness in a Tux

http://www.firedoglake.com/2006/04/30/truthiness-in-a-tux/

[Gabi Hayes]

18. thanks. I'm so lazy

[mapatriot]

11. Colbert, Maher and Stewart are the conscience of America

The media have folded under the onslaught or rightwing criticism of them being too "left-leaning". They are bending over backward to try and look impartial - thus making them simply hacks of the right. Colbert did a remarkable thing - his humor was a blinking, blinding light of truth in a room otherwise gone dark. His was the "Flight 93" in to an uncomfortable nation.

[Gabi Hayes]

14. RW attacks are their easy excuse for their real agenda:

merging of media with government

read Rich Media, Poor Democracy, or any of several other books Bob McChesney has written about media concentration/collusion

media KNOW what they're doing, and they're being paid off, in access, big bucks, and government giveaways by the, uh, bushload, starting with that horrid 1996 Media Consolidation Act, pushed through by, sad to say, Al Gore

[Us vs Them]

13. This is THE news of the weekend, folks

Even if people only hear half the story in the 'press,' they can easily find the video and watch if for themselves. Oh snap.

[autorank]

15. They can run but they can't hide. The hounds have the scent and

it won't be long until "misery accomplished" and these line become part of the public usage. This the stuff of greatness.
They have to ignore, but it won't work.

The power of WORDS and IDEAS
Stephen Colbert
White House Correspondent's Dinner
Washington, DC
April 29, 2006

...he's steady. You know where he stands. He believes the same thing Wednesday, that he believed on Monday, no matter what happened Tuesday. Events can change, this man’s beliefs never will.

or this

But, listen, let's review the rules. Here's how it works. The president makes decisions, he’s the decider. The press secretary announces those decisions, and you people of the press type those decisions down. Make, announce, type. Put them through a spell check and go home. Get to know your family again. Make love to your wife. Write that novel you got kicking around in your head. You know the one about the intrepid Washington reporter with the courage to stand up to the administration. You know fiction.

or this

This ships not sinking.

This administration is soaring. If anything, they are rearranging the deck chairs on The Hindenburg...

or this

I've got a theory about how to handle these retired generals causing all this trouble, don't let them retire. C'mon, we've got a stop loss program; let's use it on these guys. If you're strong enough to go on one of those pundit shows, you can stand on a bank of computers and order men into battle.

or this

Now, I know there are some polls out there saying this man has a 32% approval rating. But guys like us; we don't pay attention to the polls. We know that polls are just a collection of statistics that reflect what people are thinking in "reality." And reality has a well-known liberal bias.

or this

But the rest of you, what are you thinking, reporting on N.S.A. Wiretapping or secret prisons in Eastern Europe? Those things are secret for a very important reason, they’re super depressing.

And if that's your goal, well, misery accomplished.

or this

I have nothing but contempt for these people. I know how to handle these clowns.

[lonestarnot]

17. Not to worry. It has created such a stir of a wave, it will bust out ...

patience my pretty patience.

[Neil Lisst]

19. Yes, this exposes MSM as the court jesters they are.

The "story" is the president with his imitator, not the ass beating Colbert put on the administration. That would be NEWS, and this was supposed to be a fluff piece.

[KoKo]

20. Excellent comments...........n/t

[myrna minx]

21. K&R. This is a great analysis.

The press corps know that they are busted and even though they think that by ignoring Colbert, it therefore makes it all go away, the truth will get out there despite their willingness to ignore it.