Rush Limbaugh

It did not matter if you liked Rush Limbaugh, or did not like him, if you listened to him or you did not listen to him, if you talked about him or refused to say his name, he was a polarizing character that for better or for worse changed politics in the late twentieth century.  A republican radio talk-show host for many years, he started out trying to be a deejay, before getting his break in Sacramento.  In 1984, Limbaugh received his first “hands-off” job with no restrictions from a station named KFBK.  It was three hours of uncontrollable banter in the morning and certainly a foreshadowing of his career to follow. His main shtick was a serious of discriminating jokes against anyone that basically was not him.  He was rude, obnoxious, and he hated everything that was not a male republican WASP.    

Rush Limbaugh

  

Rush Limbaugh then received his first real big opportunity in 1988 when the ABC president at the time, Edward McLaughlin, made Rush the star of the Excellence in Broadcasting Network.  He simply took off from there to become the “Most Dangerous Man in America.”  This man had no limits, he was chasing one thing and one thing only, that was money and he got there.  Rush certainly had his agendas that were pro-republican and wanted to see America turn to his eyes but he did it while trying to fill his pockets.  Limbaugh told the people what they wanted to hear and if they did not want to hear it, he did not care.  He was certainly successful and ABC road his coat tails, just as the Sacramento station did.  

Rush Limbaugh in the radio booth

Rush Limbaugh understood how to use media to his advantage.  We see this sometimes today but it should occur much more.  This was an average Joe from the street that became an icon for the public.  He brought the idea of "infotainment" by combining news with entertainment to increase interest. Limbaugh used his power for good, at least in his eyes, when he released him minions to the voting booths for the midterm elections in 1994.  He pushed to turn the House of Representatives and the Senate to republican control.  He was successful again in dethroning so many longtime Democratic seat holders.  Will America possibly see someone break out of the Occupy America to lead us even though it is based on no one person having control?  Why just one?  We need people to use the media to sprea ideas and thoughts.  Facebook is a great tool but an even better one is Twitter.  The people on twitter with the largest number of followers are TV / Movie stars and athletes.  Neither of which are using this platform to its fullest instead they are tweeting, “going to the gym now” #gettinginshape. 

Attribution:

Image 1: http://www.flickr.com/photos/22007612@N05/4377537515

Image 2: http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3ARush_Limbaugh.jpg

Watergate Scandal

Richard Nixon’s highly entertaining and eventful life was headlined by one early morning at the Watergate office complex in 1972 and the two years that seemingly followed with controversy.  On June 17, 1972 five men were ordered to break into the Democratic National Committee offices to plant licensing as well as possibly attempt to plant false incriminating evidence and maybe more.  The White House Press Secretary Ron Zieglar released a statement saying it was a “third-rate burglary” and nearly the entire United States accepted it.  If anyone took a closer look at this it was certainly no “third-rate burglary” and was certainly something more. First off these men had sequential $100 bills summing a total near $2,300, as well lock picks, door jimmies, and a shortwave receiver for police calls.  Finally, In my opinion the most interesting part of the equipment was the two cameras and forty rolls of unexposed film.  This was a small assignment with a few listening devices, the Republicans wanted to know everything about the Democrats.  They were certainly scared and something was not right about this being a “third-rate burglary.”

 

One of many Nixon's campaign memorabilia

Scandal always seems to breed tremendous reporting.  It may be because everyone involved in the scandal is trying to cover it up or that a scandal often runs deep and wide.  Regardless, there is no difference here with the birth of “Woodstien.” This cunning duo made up of Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein, from the Washington Post, uncovered the Watergate Scandal.  Even though the facts were hidden and there was barely anyone that was willing to talk to them.  The “Dynamic Duo,” referred to as by Newsweek, never let up and dug deep to reveal the Oval Offices truths.   

Like many great news stories they do not break all on one day.  Newspapers will run series of articles that relate to each other.  As the evidence was revealed the “Dynamic Duo” would do there investigative work and then repaint the image for the public through print.  The difficult part was that there were no images or footage to show beside press releases by the White House. Most of the Watergate scandal was behind closed doors and hidden from eyes. This is the main reason that Television stations did not get involved in this story.  Woodward and Bernstein made a critical error during their reporting and certainly paid for it.  They were pushing the limit and very often the law to get information and confirm it.  At one point in the process they made a critical error and wrote a fact about a grand jury testimony that was not submitted.  Before this mistake the two of them found it incredibly difficult to talk anything from anyone about the scandal and it just got even harder.  Also those papers that supported the Presidency finally had a legitimate shot to take at the Post.   

Carl Bernstein (left) and Bob Woodward (Right)

It must be mentioned that the Washington Post with Woodward and Bernstein were alone in this story until the evidence was overwhelming.  The other papers did not only refuse to investigate Watergate, they also would slander the Post and the duo any chance they got.  The other papers in America were scared to push the envelope and preferred the easier side of the fence.  They were also feeling it from the White House and President Richard Nixon.  Nixon could not handle someone attacking him without responding.  Very much like the rest of his presidency he stepped over of his boundary and misused his power for his personal benefit without thought of consequences.  Nixon wanted to shut down a couple of Florida television stations that the Post owned.  He was successful in the shutdown but so was the “dynamic duo” in taking down the President.  

 

Investigative reporting can be grueling but it is for a purpose greater than the reporter or story.  The reporter’s goal is to bring justice to a situation.  All the investigative reporting in the world cannot do anything for justice without the help of the other three estates.  The story is all hearsay and speculation until the government actually acts on it.  We live in a society now of scared people.  For a very long time there was no one that wanted to speak out against the government.  With corporate advertising dollars backing the large news networks we do not have one that is willing to step up and confront the big businesses.  There is scandal and cover up all over the so called “Too Big to Fail” corporations in America.  The only difference is the cover up now is done nationwide by so many people.  Who will be the next investigative reporter to uncover this and how will they get it to America?    

Attribution:

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Muckraking

The birth of so many great journalists at the turn of the 20^th century was the effect of a perfect storm.  There was an incredible increase of population, a ton of newspapers popping up looking for writers, and corruption just about everywhere you looked.  President Theodore Roosevelt is the person that provided our language a term for a digging and discovering reporter.  These reporters wrote themselves to glorified status of independent achievement.  In 2011 we do not have anything like that.  Amy Goodman, anchor for Democracy Now, is a true muckraker and independent reporter but she is not glorified to the level that these early reporter were.  As a nation we need to demand the truth and require it be delivered over a popular public airway and not an internet stream broadcast.

Amy Goodman, an independent reporter

There is something naturally scary about going first.  Maybe it is the possibility of failure and then the consequences that would follow or maybe it is a feeling of not wanting to be alone, but once someone has gone first it very easy to follow.  This is prevalent all over life.  Many people saw Lincoln Steffens as the first person to step on Goliath’s toes, but he knew that he was just following in the footsteps of Thomas Nast – reporter that helped to take down William “Boss” Tweed –   and he was certainly not the first to do it.  Steffens made this very evident by naming his first piece “Tweed Days in St. Louis.”  He wanted to get a point across that this was not to be taken lightly be any means.  The corruption would run over many different states and cities.  This was only the beginning though, this lead to an unbelievable upswing for journalism.   

Lincoln Steffens

Money is always behind everything in the world, even the newspapers. The book mentions that the heavy advertisers were often the same people that the muckrakers were going after. This is very similar to this situation we are in today. It is very annoying how often the phrase history repeats itself can come to mind. The newspaper in the early 20^th century paid the consequences for writing such compelling stories by losing many of their biggest advertisers. We need to see this now, one newspaper/ news station that will stand out from the rest because of their muckraking reporters. They need to trust that the people want to hear the truth and would be compelled to read the rest of the story once the bait has been hooked.

Attribution:

Photo 1: ({{Information |Description=Amy Goodman, award-winning journalist and host of Democracy Now! addresses the 2010 Chicago Green Festival. |Source=[http://www.flickr.com/photos/18195735@N05/4656549814/ Amy Goodman] * Uploaded by Edward |Date=2)

Photo 2:  ({{Information |Description=w:Lincoln Steffens, American muckraking journalist |Source=http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/tf696nb55m/?layout=metadata&brand=calisphere |Date=May 1894 |Author=Rockwood, New York, New York |Permission={{PD-US}} }} [[Cat)

Photo 3: Source:http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonview.asp?search=site&catref=lfon596&NC_Category=&ANDkeyword=corporation+newspaper+cartoon&ORkeyword=&TITLEkeyword=&NEGATIVEkeyword=Author: Foyle, Lindsay