The Presidential Debates, Polls, and the Major Media

Just because you see debates and hear polls on CBC, Fox, ABC or any other major media outlet, does that make it so for you? I hope not. What has been termed the "blogosphere" has the power to get a candidate in the oval office, and this blogosphere is found only on the world wide web. But again, as much power as the web and its blogosphere has, so do the major media. Let's take a look at the polls and debates and such via the major media, now also called the "old media". Have they been accurate ?

One recent ABC debate with the major front-runners and one Doctor Ron Paul showed the Doctor ahead by nearly twenty five thousand votes. This debate was in August of 2007. Ron Paul is hardly to be found in the old media now. Why ? The Iowa straw polls, a usual place to find important strengths in presidential candidates, was censored in part by Fox news. The two candidates that were left out were Tom Tancredo and again, Doctor Ron Paul. Why ?

MSNBC had Ron Paul at dead last in a Republican ranking system at their site. The note at MSNBC for Paul's followers ? "Just please stop emailing us." They have put him into sixth place as of the date of this writing. Ron Paul won the debate poll by the same media outlet.

What would be fair and equal treatment for presidential debates ? Why none other than every man and woman candidate getting an equal amount of airtime given them by the old media. If this is fair, why is it unheard of ? Let's not say the internet is a perfect bastion of truth when it comes to debates, polls, and such, but it sure beats other people telling us what we should think and how much time to think it. The old media have been telling the public for years their opinion instead of just reporting the news.

Here is why : A full eighty per cent of the media voted for Al Gore in the last presidential election. That was a little less than four years ago. This obvious bias against all things not politically democratic is a national disgrace. Other countries can see it, but Americans do not seem to be able to. By the way, have those statistics changed ? That answer is beyond the scope of this article, but by looking at the results of what is happening now and comparing them with four years ago, you can make your own very educated and definite opinion.

When it comes to the major media and presidential candidates, its the same old news. If a presidential candidate is simply not "liked", they stand little chance of having a "fair and balanced" treatment from the old media. If it really matters to a democrat, then the media is on it like white on rice. The internet has come of age in the media wars and is just as potent as the old media is now. The presidential debates have been on places like youtube .com this time. That is a huge step forward for all Americans.

But we have a long way to go before the web wrests the control of minds away from the major media. The future of the USA still lies with the people for now. These presidential debates on the major media channels are not trusted by the majority of folks in the USA. The internet and its users have the ability to offset the balance of power between them and the major media. Who will win this time ?