Rachel Maddow "A Chirpy Gay Liberal": Financial Times

Financial Times:

In fact, I think they are correct that the media currently tilt leftward in the US, but not for the obvious reason. It says less about the bias of "liberal elite" journalists and more about a breakdown of the established media order, from The New York Times to Mr Drudge.

Mr Drudge's dominance has been undermined by competition. His sensibility infuriated so many people that left-leaning sites such as the Daily Kos sprung up to challenge him. Lately, his thunder has been stolen by the Huffington Post, an unlikely blend of leftwing blogging, reporting and aggregation founded by Arianna Huffington, the media gadfly.

The Huffington Post has leapt past the Drudge Report in traffic, attracting 4.5m unique users in September, compared with 2.1m for Drudge and 2.4m for Politico, a political news site. While Mr Drudge picks out stories that could hurt Mr Obama, the Huffington Post does the opposite, highlighting anything that makes Mr McCain look bad.

This shift leftwards online has been matched on cable television, where Fox News, the rightwing news channel, has increasingly faced its mirror image at MSNBC. The latter's leftish talk-show hosts, Keith Olbermann and now Rachel Maddow, a chirpy gay liberal, dish out scorn about Republicans in opposition to Bill O'Reilly and others at Fox.

The effect is not just to balance out Mr Drudge and Mr O'Reilly but to place old-school media objectivity, as practised by US newspapers, under pressure. Obama-supporting blogs have ridiculed stories in outlets such as The New York Times and The Washington Post that fail to dismiss distortions by Mr McCain.

Read the whole story: Financial Times

Comments

[notamarin]

Rachel Maddow is probably the least "chirpy" person on television. Writer's credibility -3 billion.

And "gay" is relevant how?

[Aywaller]

I watch Rachel every night and have never heard her "chirp." Speak intelligently and entertainingly about politics--yes. Chirp, never.

[Crozier]

Rachel is a Rhodes Scholar......and did not graduate from the University of Idaho like Sarah Palin.

[hpjake]

The Financial Times is doing sloppy reporting, in the fairest explanation.

Fox News/Cable is a 24/7 Republican spin machine - news, talk, stories, dramas.All conservative prop all the time.

MSNBC has Keith Olbermann and Rachel Maddow. (Matthews doesn't count because a little while ago, he was sniffing up Tom DeLay's butt, and praising Bush's war swagger. Some Liberal, eh?)

To make the two operations equal is mis-reporting, or aiding and abetting the right wing talking points.

Let's talk like grown-ups here.




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[drumz]

Thanks Jake!

[hjanc]

i love the Brits. They just say what they mean.

[novowel4me]

Listened to Rachel on Air America for a long time. What a unique talent. As the left finds more quality for it's message and builds audience, I'm wondering if the right will change it's view of the fairness doctrine.

[neurologymatters]

Rachel is well informed, interesting, and a welcome change. Anyone's sexual preference is irrelevant. Great show Rachel!

[barackobama4prez]

give me the chirpy gay liberal all day long! EFF the rest!

[nclayla]

I, also, will be more than glad to listen to the chirpy gay liberal all day long!

[esgabel]

chirpy??? If you could be a bird Rachel, what bird would it be? Rachel is intelligent, measured and informed--anyone who saw the football analogy last night would never have a doubt that she would be a treasure as a teacher...Rachel you are amazing!

[6bd]

Rachel is a brilliant scholar, and a gifted anchor. So grateful to MSNBC. Would like more.

[paragrafH]

Rachel and Chuck Todd... that's all I'll need on election night. I look forward to her post-election shows as she said when she started that she'd be doing some under-rported stories once the season is over. And let's ALL assume it WILL be over on Nov. 4th!