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Jim Spence (left) |
Commentary by Jim Spence - Just yesterday I read a weekly newsletter that suggested that contrary to the truly dreary economy and unemployment picture, the public actually believes things are improving.
For the month of July, forty-four states reported what those of us who interact with job creators and job seekers already know. The unemployment rate rose in almost 90 percent of the nation's states. Joblessness is getting worse. While things are not improving, somehow almost magically, the “perception” out there is that things are slowly improving.
There is only one logical explanation for this disconnection from reality. There is a news filter regarding the job market that reduces the magnitude of the "perceptions" of a very depressing unemployment picture. Where does this filter come from? It is deeply embedded in the political biases of television and print media journalists. These notorious biases explain the misinformation that is out there over the airwaves every day and it also explains the remarkable ascension and popularity of Fox News.

As a connoisseur of news I surf all of the channels to get a good sample of what is being fed to the public. For a reasonable discussion, the setting aside of MSNBC is a must. This particular cable channel, which suffers from minuscule ratings, is an unapologetic and grossly biased progressive mouthpiece. It serves the radical fringes of the Democratic Party.
A regular perusal of the other news shows on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, CNBC, and Bloomberg is instructive. It reveals the news filter in place in America. An incredibly pervasive bias that consistently tries to put the best face on a floundering economy is in full force every day. Here are four examples:
1) There is scarce mention of the Obama administration presiding over the worst four year period of job numbers in eighty years. That includes numerous economic downturns. 2) There is scarce mention of the Obama administration’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline and all the jobs and economic development it would bring to the nation. 3) There is a complete glossing over of the atrocious number of green energy initiative failures undertaken by the Obama Energy Department. This is a cornerstone of Obama's vision of the future. The list of bankruptcies is staggering but goes mostly unmentioned at these news outlets.

4) Even in news categories unrelated to the economy there is no balance to the reporting. In the name of "transparency" we hear calls for the release of Romney tax returns. These calls are parroted at all of these news outlets virtually every day. However, calls for an end to Obama's bogus "executive privilege" claim and a full release of documents related to the murders of U.S. agents Brian Terry and Jaime Zapata in the Fast and Furious debacle are non-existent on all of these same news shows.
In short, the vast majority of U.S. television networks serve as sympathetic surrogates for the Democratic Party. They gloss over glaringly prolonged economic weakness and avoid any discussions of the consequences of big government and bad public policies. By and large they incorporate the talking points of political operatives in the White House on a daily basis. It is no wonder Fox News dominates the ratings game. It is not so much that Fox favors the GOP, which it does. It is that Fox is the only news outlet that provides a true contrast to what virtually every other television news outlet in America is doing in its so-called reporting every single day. It is for this reason that President Obama and other Democrats enjoy an incredible "perception" advantage.
What do these disadvantages mean for the GOP? Only persistently aggressive face-to-face interaction with other voters by those wanting a change in direction will provide Romney with the help he is going to need to defeat Obama's media Goliath.

"Perceptions" Are What Politics is All About