dissent

[barbara100 at jps.net]

I think you're making a bad argument here.  You say Doug's charge is "that
the
mainstream press is brokered and untrustworthy--and [his] posts do nothing
to
correct [that] bias."  I'm sure you're right about his charge.  It's pretty
obvious what Doug thinks about the mainstream press.  But by the very fact
that he posts articles that one couldn't find in the mainstream press,  he's
proving his point.  You simply don't find a well-rounded view in the
mainstream media.  And furthermore, he is doing something to correct that
"bias" in (again) posting those articles.  If we bother to read them, they
provide a balance to what we're already hearing in the mainstream.

What are you all so scared of anyway?  You afraid someone might actually be
persuaded? You must not be very comfortable in your own beliefs if you're so
scared of dissenting opinions.  It reminds me of the old Christians who
fought to suppress Darwin.  Or our  own government asking the networks to
suppress Osama speeches.  (I heard today, by the way, the State Department
also tried to get the Voice of America (radio) not to air some Taliban
official's speech too.  I don't think they bowed, though.)  I didn't
particularly like that David Horowitz ad yesterday (who pays for that
anyway?), but you don't see any dissenters blasting Jasper Fidget for
posting it.  Thanks, Jasper.  I never knew all that about David Horowitz.

Barbara

PS: Sorry, Doug, I don't mean to be your "Barbara."  I hope I'm not
embarrassing you.  I know you're perfectly capable of arguing your own
points.  I only started posting on your behalf because I saw how they dogged
you; and not knowing your long history here (I've never bothered to look in
the archives), I didn't want you to get discouraged and quit.  I thought you
could use a little support to go with all the shut-the-fuck-ups.  I had no
idea what I was getting myself into, though.....








----- Original Message -----
From: <MalignD at aol.com>
To: <pynchon-l at waste.org>
Sent: Friday, October 12, 2001 10:40 AM
Subject: Re: dissent


My point is that your criticism is unspecific-- They simply provide an
unvarnished bias from another direction
(one which you happen to agree with, small surprise).


> << I think I do understand how much you'd like to hear my opinion and
enter
> into dialogue, but I think I'll decline the offer to discuss Weisbrot's
> article. >>
>
> Big surprise.
>
> << I strongly recommend that you read some serious media criticism and
gain
> some understanding into the process by which manstream newspapers and
> broadcast news operations create the news they publish.  Ideological bias
> creeps into every journalistic venture, no matter how rigorously
journalists
> follow established professional and ethical practices.>>
>
> One needn't be an on-line journalist to grasp this basic point, thanks,
which
> is not the one I'm making nor is it the one your posted articles address.
>
> My point is that your criticism is unspecific--a general charge that the
> mainstream press is brokered and untrustworthy--and your posts do nothing
to
> correct bias.  They simply provide an unvarnished bias from another
direction
> (one which you happen to agree with, small surprise).
>
> <<But, if you don't want dissenting opinions to  contaminate your
thinking,
> I'm sure you'll manage to keep them at bay. If wish to argue against the
> opinions expressed in these articles, feel  free to do that, too.>>
>
> I'm welcome dissenting opinions, cogently presented.
>
> <<You can continue to try to marginalize them because you don't agree with
> them, if you wish.>>
>
> Not because I don't agree with them; because they are offered as
journalism
> by a "journalist" when in fact they little more than leftist polemic.