Are 'big media' really mainstream?

The new media do themselves and the world's news consumers a great disservice by referring to the old media as "mainstream" media. As anyone who seeks "the rest of the story" knows, they are anything but mainstream in their reporting.

Those of us who have used the word "mainstream" in referring to big media have not helped the cause of honest reporting. Those in the independent media model used this reference in an attempt to draw attention to the favorable Democrat and unfavorable Republican reporting that characterizes the bulk of big media's product.

That effort has failed. Worse, it is counterproductive. We live in a world filled with media bias of a single size and shape. Democrat. Reporters vote overwhelmingly Democrat. They contribute overwhelmingly Democrat. They take their cues from Democrat leadership. And they spin the news to make Democrats look good, regardless of the magnitude of Democrat failure and its cost to the nation.

Those of us who value honesty and integrity in news reporting need a new approach to make the world aware of a media bias so extreme that Joseph Goebbels would have been embarrassed. Our effort to generate accountability and honesty among big media's practitioners has failed. Why? Because the term we chose to use has failed to show the need for accountability to big media's consumers. If big media is mainstream, isn't that good?

Joseph Farah's book "Stop the Presses: The Inside Story of the New Media Revolution" explains why traditional news sources are gasping for breath amid Internet, talk radio phenomena

More than anything, most Americans want to be considered in the mainstream, by their neighbors and coworkers. Why, then, would they not listen to and ingest the messages of "mainstream" media?

Why not indeed?

The real issue is fairness and neutrality among the press. And "mainstream" (heard without the quotes) implies fairness and impartiality. So why wouldn't millions of Americans be happy with being mainstream?

Would those millions of Americans be equally happy with their choice if they understood that "mainstream" media is anything but? What we have in the past mistakenly referred to as "mainstream" media is really Democrat media. That's the bottom line. Calling it the Democrat media would send the very clear message to millions of its consumers: Having a Democrat media that does all the reporting isn't fair!

I believe that most Americans value fairness on a par with swimming in the mainstream of thought and culture. They may value fairness even more. A Democrat media begs the question: Where are the Republican media? The Libertarian media? The Independent media? Maybe I should look for them. Maybe having only the Democrat view isn't healthy.

Small, independent media need to do themselves and the world a big favor: Begin referring to big media as Democrat media. That's what they are. Independent media's job is to show news consumers that being "mainstream" means consuming a variety of media voices. Not just Democrat media.