More on Moyers
PBS and Moyers seem to have no problem airing complete left-wing propaganda, which is what his last documentary was. In order to prove his point there were several occasions where Moyers deliberately took statements by O'Reilly out of context. If he did it with O'Reilly's statements then it is safe to assume that he did it with other points as well.
I know that I have not won the awards that Moyers has, but my college major was in journalism and I do have some professional experience in that field. Based on that it is hard for me to see Moyers as an actual journalist. True journalists remove all bias and present the facts as they are, then let the public decide. They do not show items out of context and never pick and choose items to make their own point. This is editorializing presented as news and fact and the deception is dangerous. Is the right guilty of this as well. Of course.
I am willing to wager most liberal opinion in regard to O'Reilly is based on hearsay and emotion and they rarely take the time to watch with an open reasonable mind. For a while I did not watch the factor because my opinion was that he was a right wing propagandist out to trash any opposition. After taking the time to actually watch his program and objectively listen to what he was saying, I now look at it differently. I plan on watching "An Inconvenient Truth" today in the same spirit as when I watched the factor for the first time. Without emotion and with an open mind.
Objectivity has just about gone the way of the dodo in this society and it has been replaced by emotion. Dissent is a great thing as long as it is done with reason and objectivity. It's obviously why our country is so wonderful. Believe it or not O'Reilly does not approve of where the war has gone and fully admits that he, like most of the country, was falsely led into it. That hardly sound like propaganda for the right. Realistically the war is not something that can just be turned off and I find that most liberals want just that. To walk away would be irresponsible.
Lastly, to the point of my previous day's blog. From everything I have read and seen regarding the "Islam vs. Islamists" documentary, the subject was about how followers of Islam are tired of being categorized as fundamentalists. It gives them a chance to differentiate the believers from the fanatics. That is my understanding but I cannot watch it to make my own opinion because the powers that be at PBS feel I don't have that right. The decision to watch should be up to the public. After all it is the Public Broadcasting System. Shouldn't that bother both the left and the right?
3 comments:
I can see where this is going. Moyers is left wing, O'Reilly is a reasonable and objective journalist.
Two points, as a journalism major, you must also know that Moyers held the Democrats feet to the fire for most of his career, and has reported with objectivity and without bias long before we were lied into this war.
Second, O'Reilly, as this paragon of journalistic virtue, is actually not a journalist. I know you didn't say he was but I just want to make it clear that Bill has openly admitted to NOT being a journalist, but an opinion maker. His opinions, while not as right wing as his cohorts on Faux News (I watch him too, as I agree his "opinion" on certain issues), are still authoritarian in some cases and confusingly libertarian in other cases. It sometimes seems that he is trying to walk a tightrope of not making his Murdoch master mad, and standing up for his libertarian ideals that he says he believes in.
I believe the whole point of the segment on O'Reilly was the fact that PBS is publicly funded and refused to air one of their own contracted pieces. This suspiciously rings of censorship or bias. The Washington Post(certainly considered a liberal publication) has an article about the censorship and here’s a great quote:
“I am incredulous that PBS would invest so much of our tax money into contracting professionals for a documentary on a subject — the struggle for the soul of Islam — which is one of the most vital debates of the 21st century and then censor its release,” said Dr. M. Zuhdi Jasser, chairman of the Arizona-based American Islamic Forum for Democracy who is featured in the documentary.“
Is it in PBS's jurisdiction to pick and choose what I see on publically funded airwaves?
I would like to see the piece and make up my own mind.
Love ya,
Mom
Momma Burch,
I would like to see the piece as well.
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