Sarah Palin: Resuscitating the Fourth Estate

In the short week and a half that Sarah Palin's been on the national stage -- though sure, it feels like an eternity -- she's brought tens of millions of Americans together and animated them to wage a no-holds-barred fight to take back the presidency. I'm talking, of course, about her effect on the Democrats. I know that when I get the same e-mail four times in one day -- in this case, the one written by the Alaskan woman who knew Palin from countless town council meetings and laid out the case for her being a back-stabbing, unreliable opportunist -- that the next two months will be hard-fought.

It's natural to feel outrage at her regressive, insult-your-intelligence support for creationism, censorship and sexual ignorance, and her in-your-face hypocrisy; how are you going to "introduce her to Washington" when she's already been a frequent flyer to the capital in pursuit of pork for her home state? The fact is that she's brought a healthy dose of adrenaline to anyone opposed to the red meat base of the GOP's Bush-loving agenda. But beyond that, she has the potential to wake up a sleeping giant that many believe long-ago relinquished its vital role in our society. I speak of the mainstream, or traditional, media.

The "media," of course, is many things to many people. It's the source of their entertainment, where they go to feel superior to bimbo celebrities, and if they want to, find cause to be in a perpetual state of alarm over depraved criminals and killer storm systems. But in a quainter time, a large chunk of it was recognized as the Fourth Estate, peopled by news reporters charged with keeping the American electorate informed, so we could make wise decisions in the voting booth. I know there are many across the land, including myself, who think that the media fell down on the job and never really got up again after 9/11, afraid that viewers and readers would turn away if they appeared critical of the government. Things turned around a bit after Hurricane Katrina; they seem to have solved the problem with the "he said, she said" formula to keep everyone happy. But there's been a shocking amount of credulousness in the media's willingness to swallow what the administration feeds them, without investigating original sources first to see if it's true.

Much has been written on that subject, and I don't want to add to that debate here. I just want to point out that this has emboldened the GOP, which has now gotten so heady with their vaunted message-control that they've thrown down the gauntlet to anyone who cares about the truth. When top McCain strategist Rick Davis claims that his team doesn't need the media to get its word out, and informs ABC News that Palin will sit down for questions only when she's "treated with respect and deference," it's time for not only the press, but all of us in the reality-based world to rise up and not let them get away with it.

First of all, because the VP candidate should be more than a trained seal who's capable of reading off a teleprompter. Sure, she can deliver the lines that were written for her with snarling aplomb, but then so could Don Rickles; during her acceptance speech, I half-expected her to call out the guy in the front row and make fun of his bad toupee. But seriously, folks, doesn't the electorate deserve more than some mean girl who's good at ridicule? We have no idea how well she can think on her feet, or indeed what she really thinks about anything, until she sits down for the crucible of scrutiny all public officials submit themselves to, and allows herself to be interviewed.

Secondly, if she's so scared of the big bad media, how can we expect her to be a heart-beat away from the presidency and capable of standing up to America's enemies? Sure Chris Matthews is scary, but come on. After all, as Cindy McCain so handily pointed out, Alaska is that close to Russia. And she can't even have a sit-down with the major network anchors? I'm not impressed.

And I believe that the vast majority of Americans aren't, either. Davis has also said that this election will be about personalities -- wishful thinking, and understandable considering the GOP's dismal track record. So let's make sure this season isn't about narrative, and that it's about issues, instead. And one way to do that is to demand that McCain and his new hatchet-woman sit down with news reporters and answer some tough questions -- not for the media's sake, but for ours.

Read more analysis from HuffPost bloggers on Sarah Palin

Comments

[Jocalo]

The Palin choice has energized both the Republican base AND the Democratic base. The real question is her affect on the swing voter. Most swing voters are moderate voters, so I think the more we hear about Palin's radical fringe beliefs, the more she will make the case for Obama/Biden. The 4th Estate has been cowed for too long. I'm putting my faith in the non-traditional media, even the tabloids, to get the truth out there. How sad is that? When I heard the Enquirer was sending a team to Alaska, I actually felt a sense of relief, because I no longer trust the traditional media to do their job. I can't wait to see the soft-focus Gibson interview and the softball questions, "What's the hardest thing about being sooooo fabulous?" or maybe a tough question, " If you were an animal what kind of animal would you be: a pit bull in lipstick, or a barracuda? It's embarrassing to watch the media deal with the right-wing. I really hope that I'm wrong and that they step up and do their job.

[TexasDem0]

Cindy, are you asking us to believe that the corporate media will take on the vacuous Sarah-cuda and her dubious record?

Do you mean the same media that has given the BushCo Crime Syndicate a free ride, or did you mean some other media?

[katmeyster]

As the potential leader of the free world, Sarah Palin needs to be scrutinized, researched, and interviewed several times so that we can decide if she is qualified. We The People would be her employer, her big boss, and we should get to have as many interviews as we feel necessary to determine her qualifications. The media is supposed to be doing this for us, that's why we have the Freedom of the Press so prominently in the first amendment. It's too bad the founding fathers didn't have a provision for the press being owned by just a few media conglomerates. If you saw Tom Brokaw grilling Joe Biden on Meet the Press, even covering the bankruptcy bill (which I'm not too thrilled about), and following-up to the enth degree, then you know that Sarah Palin is getting a PASS. She will not be interviewed like this, and Charlie Gibson is NOT going to ask the question that we want answered. I will be registering as many Democrats as possible, including young people, and taking old folks to early voting, and donating as much as I can, and do whatever it takes to make sure this woman AND OF COURSE McCAIN are not running my country. Join Me!

[CarmanK]

All the media needed was a gimmick to run with John McCain and they have it in Sarah Palin. The country be damned!! You realize the first thing fascists do when assuming power is take over the media and then censor its delivery. Look at what Cheney did with his media delivery in IRAQ.


A free press is the safeguard of a free society and the Republican dominated FCC has sold out the American public by delivering our airwaves to a few "special interests" who use their power of the press to suppress the unpleasant-no coffins from Iraq- and market the absurd.

I wonder how John McCain will change that?

[CarmanK]

There is no mainstream media. It is a conservative media (mediamatters.com). And it shapes opinions. But then again, I though thate was the reason we were donating to the Obama campaign.

On the local level where all "politics" are local, the people will choose DEMS inspite of the media because they can connect with what is happening in their hometowns. I thought Obama was meeting people in their home towns to deliver that message. This election depends on a Bill Clinton has, but Hillary lacks on some levels.

Mr Obama, teacher, communicator where are you? And are you getting comfortable in small town forums? Are you taking questions from the people. We don't see that on TV, we just hear excerpts from the speeches .

We can win this, we have to turn out the vote on election day and continue to win over the

[demfriend]

We United States citizens have the right to know who the person is who could be the heartbeat away and we deserve to have those who are in the position to ask the questions do so FOR US. The very idea that the GOP VP candidate can be shielded from us based on the nonsense the McCain camp thinks up is beyond insane. This women who is under investigation for mis-use of power in the two jobs she has been elected to and has obvious extemist views about the relationship between the states and the country with the seecession group both Palins were (? are) in. That Palin would support the taking away women's rights completely and leave us to back alley "doctor's" with dirty knives needs to be told. Palin is having her family on parade when it suits her but no questions allowed. She has cut the programs for special needs kis in her state as well as the unwed teenager mom and baby program. The very idea that we do not have the right to know more about the person with extreme values who praysfor gays to convert not to christ/god/etc but to heterosexuals is frightening to me. Why isn't the MSM doing their job for me and finding out the truth and not becoming the GOP machine?

[jellygraph]

I say we ignore her. Whether or not she's prepared to be interviewed, the more we talk about it, the more we generate interest in someone who is ultimately uninteresting. We already know enough about her to know she's a poor choice for a VP and would be dangerous to put in a position of power.

We should be talking to Joe Biden instead and discussing how he plans to solve domestic and international problems as VP. If we did that, the McCain campaign would be kicking themselves for having lost a chance to get a message out there other than "We can promise change too! Please listen to us!"

[ewoman]

jellygraph, I agree with you. Once the politicos control the press (which they do), then it becomes a totalitarian government. I've been appalled at the ease in which the media across the board has sensationalized any rumor or news byte about Palin without scrutiny - I've seen bloggers with little to no journalism experience do a better job at vetting news lately.

My gut feeling is that Rove, et. al. are producing half the rumors to keep interest generated in Palin. If she doesn't want to talk, then ignore her. Focus, instead, on the issues and the presidential candidates. This election is about (and not limited to) this country's education and infrastructure, the war in Irag, our vets, international relationships with Russia, global warming and yes - Roe vs. Wade. One more Republican choice for the Supreme Court could take away a woman's choice on how to conduct her life for decades. I worry for my daughter on all counts.

It's Republicans vs. Democrats, not Palin vs. the Press.

[PATina]

I'm sorry... but his election... like all the rest WILL be about personalities and narratives... not issues. People are going to pick the team they feel most comfortable with because they erroneously believe that the people the are most comfortable with... understand them AND their issues.

I think a good strategy is to take Ms. Palin down where she is perceived strongest... small town America. If she is representative of "small town America"... I'd rather stay in my somewhat large city. I didn't think small town Americans looked down on education, looked down on helping each other.... were selfish and greedy folks that as "long as they got theirs" they didn't care about the rest of America. That's the image of small town America that I got from Ms. Palin. I wonder how many "small town Americans" would agree that's how they want to be perceived???