Redstate

There Is A Market For One

By Pejman Yousefzadeh Posted in Culture | Featured Stories — Comments (19) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »

Four years ago, left-of-center journalist Eric Alterman released his book What Liberal Media?, in which he argued that the concept of a liberal media was a myth. Alterman argued that journalists, editors and producers had to "[keep] their corporate parents happy," which meant that the media would be sympathetic to conservative viewpoints instead of liberal ones since the conservative viewpoints supposedly favored the interests of the "corporate parents." As a consequence, Alterman claimed, the news media regularly hypes--among other things--stories in favor of free trade and globalization instead of focusing on the problems free trade and globalization supposedly cause.

I have a serious problem with this and other arguments made by Alterman, and have written as much. Successful news organizations depend on ratings or readership, not the promotion of policies that Alterman believes are near and dear to the heart of the corporate media conglomerate. And nowadays, the media has proven to be anything but beholden to the interests of corporate America. Alterman's beliefs notwithstanding, the American media is more willing to spotlight populist and anti-capitalist policy positions than it is to place emphasis on the conservative policies the "corporate parents" of journalists, editors and producers allegedly want to advance. And in particular, journalists seem especially willing and eager to push stories that cast doubt on free trade and the process of globalization since such stories play well with the public.

Case in point: Lou Dobbs.

Read on . . .

As everyone familiar with his show knows, Dobbs has made a name for himself with his nightly denunciations of liberalized immigration policies, the hiring of illegal aliens, the supposed squeezing of the middle class, dealings with "Communist China" and, perhaps above all else, free trade. And as even the casual viewer of his shows can quickly figure out, Dobbs is hardly interested in presenting both sides of the story when presenting one of his reports on his favorite policy subjects. This hit-piece on free trade is just one example of Dobbs's one-sided treatment of the issue and it features, at the end of the piece, a typical scene; Dobbs summarizing the rhetorical attack on free trade with a hapless and helpless CNN reporter gamely agreeing with just about every pronouncement on the issue that Dobbs makes, no matter how silly and wrongheaded.

Dobbs's editorial positions are, of course, disastrous for the American business culture. Contrary to commonplace fears, immigrants blend into American life quite effectively, and while illegal immigration is a problem that should be addressed, the fact is that illegal aliens make up a large portion of the workforce and provide the America economy with goods, services and a significant amount of tax revenue. You just can't kick them out of the country without thinking of the serious economic consequences of such an action. Dobbs frets about trade with China and the size of the trade deficit, but the facts on trade with China put the lie to Dobbs's hysterical warnings and show that if his policy prescriptions were followed, the effects on American business would be disastrous. Dobbs is a fan of a higher minimum wage--a position he highlights to demonstrate his solidarity with the supposedly aggrieved middle class--but pays no attention to the fact that the minimum wage is bad policy and that a better way exists for both individual Americans and for the American economy and business culture at large to help the middle class and the working poor. And as for the general plight of the middle class itself--which is "disappearing," according to Dobbs--I guess I'm supposed to be upset about that. But somehow, I'm not.

And yet, despite its populist, protectionist and anti-business bent, Dobbs's show enjoys high ratings and a devoted following and is in no danger of being cancelled anytime soon. It's not the result we should have expected according to Eric Alterman's view on the media; the "corporate parents" of journalists like Dobbs were supposed to have shut down his economically illiterate broadcasts and his efforts to undermine the interests of the economy and the American business culture. But they haven't and in the near term, they won't. Populism and protectionism sell in the current political environment and any news program that pushes populism and protectionism as effectively as Dobbs's show does will find itself embraced and promoted by the very news corporations expected to muffle editorial views that are hostile to the interests of the American business community.

So do we really have the corporatist media that Eric Alterman claimed we have when he wrote his book? It certainly doesn't seem like it given the reception that Lou Dobbs and his show are enjoying. Oh sure, we ought to be careful about generalizing from Dobbs's case. But I have to ask: Where is the news program or publication that dedicates itself to spreading a message of free trade and free markets with the same fervor and publicity with which Dobbs makes his populist and protectionist case? I know we have the Wall Street Journal, the Economist, and this promising publication (for which I write) to provide the arguments on behalf of capitalism and the free market but alas, none of these fine news organizations have the benefit of highlighting their reports and stories on a nightly cable news broadcast consistently receiving high viewer ratings. You would think that our purportedly conservative and business-oriented news media would want to counter Dobbs's nightly, anti-capitalist jeremiads with a show dedicated to refuting Dobbs and his allies on the economic and social issues of the day, but so far, the anti-Lou Dobbs hasn't gotten a prime time cable news show just yet.

More is the pity. But now that we may have shown that the national media isn't as conservative and capitalistic as Eric Alterman claimed it was, maybe we ought to push for a more corporatist news structure. Maybe the time has come for a cable news host who will be willing and eager to respond to Lou Dobbs's demagoguery on the issues with some very basic facts. My favorite candidate for the job has sadly departed this vale of tears (note that in the last clip, this favorite candidate of mine says that he was just as concerned as I am about the general lack of representation for free market ideas in the news media). But that doesn't mean that there aren't others willing to step up to the plate and advance his ideas to the public.

Here's hoping for the rise of a news structure committed to unabashedly advancing free market ideas and the virtues of capitalism. Lou Dobbs needs some competition in the realm of ideas. And the rest of us would benefit from seeing his ideas challenged and beaten back.