TV News: A double-edged sword

Time is running an interesting article on a Pew poll of the public's views of TV news networks. The highlights: people think Fox News is conservative and MSNBC is liberal, and most people are okay with their choice in programming. The devil you know is better than the devil you don't, I suppose.

The poll is okay. It kind of told me what I already knew. "Ideology" has become a bad word in our attempted "post-partisan" era (hint: we're not in a post-partisan era. If we were, healthcare would have passed 4 months ago. It didn't.). Apparently, Fox News is the most ideological of all the news networks, so it must be bad. At least, that's the tone the Time article insinuates. But there's a different issue that often gets left out of this ideological mess.

Fox News makes more money than any other news network. They regularly have the highest ratings. So, many Americans must also have ideologies and beliefs that align with Fox News. To be conservative on TV news is to make money in a crowded liberal market. I'm sure that many commentators on Fox News are honest in their own conservative opinions, but it is convenient that it happens to be a money-making proposition.

And that gets to my main point: Americans generally know what they feed themselves with. We know when we hear a conservative on the radio, or a liberal on the TV. I know what I'm going to get with Keith Olberman, and I know what I'm going to get with Glenn Beck (and neither of them do I like). The real issue in the media is one the media never talks about: gatekeeping.

By and large, liberals and conservatives on the radio or the television disagree, but they disagree about the same things. Remember that media is a money-making proposition, and they discuss the issues that bring the ratings. They debate the issues that the Americans want to hear but not what they need to hear. The media won't really convince Americans what to think, but it will tell them what to think about. It can't tell us where to go once we're in the gate, but it can tell us what gate to enter.

So let's not pretend that conservatives or liberals are above the fray here. Media is big business, and like many big business ventures, we always run the danger of a monopoly- not in the ideologies, but in the gatekeeping. Our ultimate concern should always be for truth, fairness, and significant issues. I really don't care if that comes in a certain political stripe. That's why even as a conservative I watch 60 Minutes and PBS, because they generally introduce me to issues the broader TV media doesn't cover. And reading from a broad range of sources is the best option of all. After all, I could really care less about what so-and-so wore to whatever political engagement.