The Media’s Stunted Perspective

Can't see the forest for the trees

As happens with most anything even remotely political these days, the mainstream media gets it and decides to present a picture that does not represent the actual importance--meaning news--of the event. In essence, it might be viewed as the liberal “imprimatur.”

Let’s take Sunday’s NFL playoff championship games between the Chicago Bears versus the New Orleans Saints, and the Indianapolis Colts versus the New England Patriots.

Unlike New York Daily News personality/sports writer Mike Lupica—who fancied himself to be a Bush-basher if only for a day—I will not be commenting upon something of which I know little of. (http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/489487p-412164c.html)

Instead, let’s talk about race and the utter sanctification that the media-at-large bestows upon it, and its ceaseless attempts at “colorizing” the news when able.

Both Chicago and Indianapolis won their games. But immediately after the first paragraph from two separate news stories from the AP, the usual media-imprimatur took form:

He took Dungy along for the ride, helping his coach finally get to the big game and make some history along the way. In two weeks, Dungy will join Chicago 's Lovie Smith in the Super Bowl, where together they will be the first black head coaches to meet in the NFL's biggest game. (http://sports.aol.com/nfl/story/_a/manning-leads-comeback-as-colts-stun/20070121223109990001)

Lovie Smith became the first black head coach to reach the NFL's marquee game in its 41-year history and roughly four hours later, his good pal and mentor Tony Dungy of the Indianapolis Colts joined him. (http://sports.aol.com/nfl/story/_a/bears-ride-defense-turnovers-to-super/20070121182909990001)

So what is the hoped-for media perspective here? That two superb football coaches managed to secure a spot in organized sports greatest spectacle, the Super Bowl? Or is it the “blacks advanced another step today in culturally bereft and ever-prejudiced America by…template the media is looking to forward?

Surely, we have seen this time and again, and some that read this may be saying, “Hey, so what? We know what the media is up to, and we don’t buy it.” That’s fine for most of us, but a good plurality of people don’t get it, and the plurality I speak of is practically everyone outside the demographic of white males, ages one to 100. Can anyone give me a valid reason why it is necessary in this day and age to keep looking for markers that “anyone but white males” has crossed over? Does not this type of behavior promote separatism and race-consciousness?

What’s wrong with just trumpeting the marvelous efforts by both coaches? Are they not Americans first, and black second? Why does this concept seem not only foreign to the media, but to so many of these “minority” groups themselves?

Possibly because the status of the underprivileged or whatever one chooses to label minority groups, has its advantages—not the lest of which is an almost supernatural effect on the media to remind America that everyday in America is still like a day in Selma, Alabama, circa 1964.

Everyone knows this to be folly, including the mainstream media. And though there are professional race pimps like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, that is another story for another day.

It is a stunted and perverse perspective of America that the liberal media look to promulgate through news story and editorial alike.And sadly, it seems wholly acceptable to those who are continually cast as victims in “racist’ America.”

Never mind that blacks in America today dominate the major sports markets. That is not the point here, nor is it ever--if rarely--discussed. The point is these two men--Lovie Smith and Tony Dungy--coached great games. That is the story.

We see this all too often in politics as well. We have seen it in Iraq now for three plus years, as nothing good can possibly come out of Baghdad. As the saying goes, “If it bleeds, it leads.” In Iraq, it was always “If it bled, it led.”

We see it in the greatest story never told during the Bush Presidency, the economy. With the exception of energy prices-which are now receding--and medical care, the economy has flourished under this Administration.

The housing market seemed to set monthly records, as did the stock market. Unemployment is at an anemic 4.4 to 4.3%, inflation is low, and wages have risen about 1.1% in 2006. The federal budget deficit has been cut in half—a full three years sooner than Bush had said he would be. (http://www.bizzyblog.com/2006/10/08/the-federal-budget-deficit-mission-accomplished-perhaps-a-lot-more-to-come/)

Inheriting a Clinton-era recession, President Bush accomplished all of this while navigating scandal-mania via companies like Enron on Wall Street, 9/11, the war against terrorism, Tsunami relief, Hurricane Katrina relief, and other little items--like the largest government entitlement since Lyndon Johnson’s “Great Society” giveaway, a Medicare drug benefit that some estimate costing a cool one trillion dollars.

The mainstream media verdict? Bankruptcy lines form to the left, and soup lines to the right. But thank goodness, we have black head coaches going to the Super Bowl! And it’s about time!

America is fed a daily bill of goods by its pessimistic and thoroughly political media. One wonders what the headlines would be if, say, a Democrat were in the Oval Office?

Why, the cure for cancer—among many other amazing things--would be just around the corner. All is well. All is well, because the media says so, but just not now.

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Vincent Fiore is a freelance political writer who lives in New York City.

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