Dollarocracy (61 page)

9
. For chilling detail, see ibid., 44–45.

10
. This point and a few of the others that follow are drawn from McChesney,
Digital Disconnect
, chap. 6.

11
. Matthew Rothschild, “Gov. Walker Uses ‘Vanna White' Veto to Rob New Public Sector Workers,”
The Progressive Blog
, July 6, 2011,
http://www.progressive.org/wx070611.html
.

12
. Waldman et al.,
The Information Needs of Communities
, 12, 90, 46, 52.

13
. For an accurate accounting of newspaper closures and cutbacks, we rely on two excellent Web sites:
http://newspaperdeathwatch.com/
; and
http://newspaperlayoffs.com/
. They are constantly updated, and they put the lie to claims that the industry has stabilized.

14
. Nat Ives, “
Boston.com
Joins Native Advertising Push with Sponsored Posts: Says More Than Half of Small Businesses Are Already Blogging,”
AdWeek
, November 13, 2012.

15
. Christine Haughney and David Carr, “At Newsweek, Ending Print and a Blend of Two Styles,”
New York Times
, October 18, 2012.

16
. Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols,
The Death and Life of American Journalism: The Media Revolution That Will Begin the World Again
(New York: Nation Books, 2010). See Appendix 3 and the Preface written specifically for the paperback edition.

17
. Pew Research Center's Project for Excellence in Journalism, “The Study of the News Ecosystem of One American City,” January 11, 2010,
http://www.journalism.org/analysis_report/how_news_happens
.

18
. For a treatment of the scorched-earth approach of a newspaper publisher who is regarded as a visionary in the move from print to digital, see David Carr, “Newspapers' Digital Apostle,”
New York Times
, November 14, 2011. For a treatment of the handful of the most successful new digital newsrooms at the local level, which depend overwhelmingly on donations and foundation grants, see Michele McLellan and Mayur Patel,
Getting Local: How Nonprofit News Ventures Seek Sustainability
(Miami: Knight Foundation, October 2011).

19
. Waldman et al.,
The Information Needs of Communities
, 16.

20
. Ibid., 226.

21
. Lymari Morales, “U.S. Distrust in Media Hits New High,”
gallup.com
, September 21, 2012.

22
. Ibid.

23
. Thomas E. Patterson,
The Vanishing Voter: Public Involvement in an Age of Uncertainty
(New York: Vintage Books, 2002), 90.

24
. Jeremy W. Peters, “Covering 2012, Youths on the Bus,”
New York Times
, August 31, 2011.

25
. Mike Elk, “In Conference Call, Romney Urged Businesses to Tell Their Employees How to Vote,”
In These Times
, October 17, 2012.

26
. John Nichols discussion with Mike Elk, October 18, 2012.

27
. There are, unfortunately, too many stories of great journalists giving up on the craft. Like most followers of media issues, we turn to Jim Romenesko's great blog for insight on the heartbreaking changes in the industry:
http://jimromenesko.com/
.

28
. Waldman et al.,
The Information Needs of Communities
, 86.

29
. Quoted in Michael Miner, “Whose Fault Is Scott Lee Cohen? The Reporter Who Didn't Pay Enough Attention Is Now the Scapegoat for Everybody Who Paid None at All,”
Chicago Reader
, February 11, 2010.

30
. Chad Rosenbloom, “Congress's Missing Coverage,”
Extra!
, August 2012.

31
. Joe Rothstein, “The No-News Media Flunks Coverage of Congressional Campaigns,”
EINNEWS.com
, September 10, 2012.

32
. Andrew Neff, “Take This Job and Shove It: Fed-Up Bangor TV Anchors Quit on Air,”
Bangor Daily
News
, November 20, 2012.

33
. Quoted in Bob Sullivan, “Sarcasm Campaigning: Social Media Hones Cynical Edge in Presidential Politics,”
redtape.nbcnews.com
, October 2, 2012.

34
. Gretchen Cuda Kroen, “Why Local Elections Matter More to Your Personal Finance,”
Marketplace Money (American Public Media)
, November 9, 2012.

35
. Quoted in ibid.

36
. Phill Brooks, “Capitol Perspectives: Campaign 2012, Advertising or Policy?,”
stlouis.cbslocal.com
, August 28, 2012.

37
. See Thomas E. Patterson,
Out of Order
(New York: Vintage Books, 1994), 27.

38
. Kevin Drum, “Presidential Campaigns Will Soon Be Done Entirely in CGI,”
motherjones.com
, September 3, 2012.

39
. Brooks, “Capitol Perspectives.”

40
. Jason Horowitz, “Campaigns Have Lost Control of Coverage Due to Social Media,” washington
post.com
, October 31, 2012.

41
. Walter Shapiro, “Three Questions About Campaign Coverage,”
cjr.org
, November 2, 2012.

42
. Kristen A. Lee, “Local Interview with Paul Ryan Ends Abruptly,”
New York Daily News
, October 9, 2012.

43
. David Ferguson, “Maddow: Is the Romney Campaign Hiding Paul Ryan?,”
Raw Story
, October 27, 2012.

44
. Dylan Byers, “Reporter ‘Not Allowed' to Talk to Voters at Biden Event,” Politico, October 22, 2012.

45
. “Campaigns in Control,”
Extra!
, October 2012, 9.

46
. Greg Mitchell, “Pew Report: Candidates and Partisans, Not the Media, Control Campaign Coverage,”
thenation.com
, August 24, 2012.

47
. Quoted in David Taintor, “Media's Control Over Campaign Narrative Shrinks,”
talkingpointsmemo.com
, August 23, 2012.

48
. Quoted in Beth Fouhy, “Study: Coverage of Obama, Romney Highly Negative,” Associated Press, August 23, 2012.

49
. Aaron Deslatte, “Elections Forecast: More Money Will Equal More Voter Confusion,”
orlandosentinel.com
, August 12, 2012.

50
. Craig Gilbert, “Thompson-Baldwin: Most Negative Senate Race in the Country?,”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, October 28, 2012.

51
. Marquette University Law School Poll, “Results and Data: October 25–28, 2012,”
https://law.marquette.edu/poll/wp-content/uploads/2012/10/MLSP14_Toplines_LIKELYVOTERS.pdf
.

52
. Unsigned editorial, “The Truth Hard to Dig Up Amid All the Attack Ads,”
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
, November 1, 2012.

53
. Paul Krugman, “The Post-Truth Campaign,”
New York Times
, December 23, 2011.

54
. Michael Cooper, “Campaigns Play Loose with Truth in a Fact-Check Age,”
New York Times
, August 31, 2012.

55
. John Nichols, “In a Debate Between Romney and Romney, Obama Was the Spectator,”
The Nation
, October 3, 2012,
http://www.thenation.com/blog/170349/debate-between-romney-and-romney-obama-was-spectator
.

56
. John Nichols, “Open the Presidential Debates!,”
The Nation
, August 29, 2012.

57
. Amy Goodman, “Expand the Debates: This Is What Democracy Sounds Like,” syndicated column, October 7, 2012. The Open Debates movement has for a number of years made the case for allowing more candidates into U.S. presidential debates. See
www.opendebates.org
.

58
. John Nichols, “These Debates Could Use Some Jill Stein and Gary Johnson,”
The Nation
, October 2, 2012.

59
. Angelique Chrisafis, “Jean-Luc Mélenchon: The Poetry-Loving Pitbull Galvanising the French Elections,”
The Guardian
, April 6, 2012.

60
. Brian Stelter, “Memo Outlines Format and Rules for Candidate Debates,”
New York Times
, October 15, 2012.

61
. Ralph Nader, “US Media: Examine Thyself,”
readersupoportednews.org
, August 26, 2012.

62
. Frank Vogl, “Corruption Dare No Longer Be a Taboo Topic in This Presidential Election,”
huffingtonpost.com
, August 22, 2012.

63
. FAIR cited in Jeff Spross, “Study: Media Campaign Coverage Almost Never Addresses Poverty,”
thinkprogress.org
, September 15, 2012.

64
. Glenn Greenwald, “Martha Raddatz and the Faux Objectivity of Journalists,”
The Guardian
, October 12, 2012.

65
. Bill Moyers and Bernard Weisberger, “Money in Politics: Where Is the Outrage?,” Huffington Post, August 30, 2012.

66
. Charley James, “Deflating Another Balloon: 2012 Candidate Coverage Balanced,”
ukprogressive,co.uk
, November 10, 2012.

67
. Tom Rosenstiel, “Winning the Media Campaign 2012,”
beyondchron.org
, November 5, 2012.

68
. Brian Lowry, “Is TV Shaving Political Points?,”
variety.com
, September 15, 2012.

69
. Sasha Issenberg, “Why Campaign Reporters Are Behind the Curve,”
nytimes.com
, September 1, 2012.

70
. Quoted in Sullivan, “Sarcasm Campaigning.”

71
. Dylan Byers, “Reporters: We Loathe 2012 Campaign,” Politico, September 3, 2012.

72
. Quoted in Editorial, “Tale of the Tape . . . So Far,”
Columbia Journalism Review
, September/October 2012.

73
. Quoted in Ari Melber, “Why Fact-Checking Has Taken Root in This Year's Election,”
pbs.org
, September 5, 2012.

74
. Quoted in Kevin Cirilli, “Journalists Bemoan Political ‘Food Fight' Coverage,”
politico.com
, September 24, 2012.

75
. Phillip Morris, “America Needs a Full-Time President—the 2012 Election Cannot Be Over Soon Enough,”
Cleveland.com
, September 29, 2012.

76
. Jonathan Chait, “GOP Poll Denialists Totally Crazy, Not Totally Wrong,”
New York
magazine's “Daily Intel” column, September 27, 2012.

77
. Herbert J. Gans,
Democracy and the News
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 54.

78
. Glenn Greenwald, “The Misery of the Protracted Presidential Campaign Season,”
Salon.com
, August 16, 2011,
http://www.salon.com/2011/08/16/elections_9/
.

79
. L. Brent Bozell III and Brent H. Baker, eds.,
And That's the Way It Isn't: A Reference Guide to Media Bias
(Alexandria, VA: Media Research Center, 1990), 86–94.

80
. Quoted in Lloyd Grove, “Media to the Left! Media to the Right! The GOP, Shooting the Messengers,”
Washington Post
, August 20, 1992.

81
. James Brian McPherson,
The Conservative Resurgence and the Press: The Media's Role in the Rise of the Right
(Evanston, IL: Northwestern University Press, 2008), xii.

82
. Quoted in Mike Mills, “Meeting of the Media Giants,”
Washington Post
, January 21, 1995.

83
. Rory O'Connor with Aaron Cutler,
Shock Jocks: Hate Speech & Talk Radio
(San Francisco: AlterNet Books, 2008), 2.

84
. David Neiwert,
The Eliminationists: How Hate Talk Radicalized the American Right
(Sausalito, CA: PoliPoint Press, 2009).

85
. McPherson,
The Conservative Resurgence
, xi.

86
. Kathleen Hall Jamieson and Joseph N. Cappella,
Echo Chamber: Rush Limbaugh and the Conservative Media Establishment
(New York: Oxford University Press, 2008), ix.

87
. See Doty Lynch, “How the Media Covered the 2008 Election: The Role of Earned Media,” in James A. Thurber and Candace J. Nelson, eds.,
Campaigns and Elections American Style
, 3rd ed. (Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 2010), 163.

88
. Michael Wolff,
The Man Who Owns the News: Inside the Secret World of Rupert Murdoch
(New York: Broadway Books, 2008), 282.

89
. Kaplan left CNN soon thereafter. Robert McChesney conversation with Rick Kaplan, March 2002. For a detailed discussion of this period, see Scott Collins,
Crazy Like a Fox: The Inside Story of How Fox News Beat CNN
(New York: Portfolio, 2004), chap. 11.

90
. Jamieson and Cappella,
Echo Chamber
, x, 240.

91
. Thomas Frank,
Pity the Billionaire
(New York: Metropolitan Books, 2012), 155.

92
. Eric Alterman provided a compendium of prominent conservatives, such as Pat Buchanan, William Kristol, and James Baker, acknowledging that the liberal bias of the news is BS. See Eric Alterman,
What Liberal Media?
(New York: Basic Books, 2003), 2. Ralph Reed said the same in Joe Conason,
Big Lies
(New York: St. Martin's Press, 2003), 34.