What Does 'Getting Traction' Have To Do With Reporting the News?

‘Getting Traction’ is a slang term that I have recently heard a lot on talk radio and cable news shows. It is usually an analysis of viewer/listener interest after a story or news report is presented. An example of how it would be used is "The Ward Churchill Story didn’t get any traction." Of course this means that some producer decided that a story on Ward Churchill was newsworthy (controversial?) but afterwards the public did not indicate that they were interested. I will talk more about "The Ward Churchill Story" below.

I am concerned that the reporting of the news has become far too skewed towards entertainment. Is the purpose of reporting of the news to simply inform or is it to capture people’s interest? And if capturing people’s interest is an objective, is it for advertising value and also to guide how and what people think? If these reasons are part of the formula, is it compromising the integrity of the media, because there is an agenda behind the shaping of people’s minds?
I question whether people like Bill O’Reilly, Larry King, Sean Hannity and Joe Scarborough are news analysts or primarily entertainers. Is the primary measurement of their job performance how accurately and eloquently they report the news, in other words "inform"? Or are they mainly held accountable for their ratings and therefore advertising revenue stream? Unfortunately, I am certain that it is the later. This is very, very dangerous to the future of America. Instead of having the populace merely informed and free to their own interpretation, you now have a large majority of people who have had their ideas shaped in a predetermined direction. Furthermore, this seems to a type of large scaled propaganda or controlled brainwashing.

Below are three examples of recent news stories and the strategic efforts to effect the "getting traction".

The Catholic Church elects a new Pope

As a logical thinking American this in itself is a news story. I have followed the death of Pope John Paul II, the funeral, the Conclave of the Cardinals and the factual information of Pope Benedict XVI with great interest. This was enough for me and my interest expectation was fulfilled. However, I have heard several times that these events are boring. In the name of entertainment value, interest needs to be increased. Let’s get some traction! Over the past 2-3 days I have heard multiple discussions about:

• Pope John Paul II will not be sainted because he failed the American children in his handling of the Priest Pedophilia Scandal.
• Pope Benedict XVI is not a good choice because he is German. Of course, everyone has been brainwashed to hate all Germans, French and Canadians because they didn’t support the United States unilateral attack on the Iraqi people. Oops, with that second sentence I am trying to start my own traction!
• Pope Benedict XVI used to be a Nazi and was part of Hitler’s Youth. I was curious so I went ahead a researched this one. In 1943 every 16-year-old boy in Germany was designated to be a member of Hitler’s Youth and was drafted in the Nazi Army. He was a student at seminary when he was drafted and he deserted in 1945. Traction over.
• The "Elite Liberal Media" is doing all of the negative reporting on the deceased Pope and the new Pope. It is a conspiracy because they are both conservatives.

Now they have taken some fairly boring stories and developed some traction. There is plenty of "entertainment" issues to fill up useless hours and hours of television and radio time. You've got traction! Let the mind shaping begin!

The Ward Churchill Story

So, you have never heard of Ward Churchill? That is not surprising. Ward Churchill is a college professor at the University of Colorado. He was (since resigned) also the Head of Ethnic Studies at the University of Colorado. I think he is also part Native American. A few months back he published in some form an essay that allegedly contains some unflattering and offensive things about the United States of America. More specifically, the things he allegedly published and later said in public were related to 9/11 and terrorism. Based on this essay, supposedly was later invited to speak to college students at their campuses. Does this stir up your curiosity? Me neither! What Ward Churchill says and thinks did not have any traction with me!

That did not stop Bill O’Reilly, FOXNEWS and Westwood One. A few months ago they decided to create news by grossly over-reporting on Ward Churchill. In other words they went after him! They took sound bites out of context and shocked people. They called the Governor of Colorado and the President of the University of Colorado incompetent because they did not take action to "hold him accountable" for what he was saying. All the time, they made sure to explain that free speech wasn’t at issue. But wait, there still was no traction. If only they could find a "bloody glove" or that he likes to sleep with little boys. In order to find some additional controversy and therefore create some traction, they decided to attack the other incompetent news outlets for their choosing to not cover "The Ward Churchill Story". Fellas, no one was interested in 1 guy saying bad things about the United States of America. There are thousands of people doing the same thing. Finally, the subject was dropped like a hot potato. No traction.

A few weeks ago, I did note that Ward Churchill was on the Bill Maher show. I watched it and determined that he is either extremely camera shy or he is a mumbling idiot. Bill Maher had to pull words out of him like he was a dentist yanking on a wisdom tooth. Out of curiosity, I just went and read an exert from Ward Churchill’s essay. It focused on the ugly but true part of our history and is sad to read. It reminded me of 99.9% accurate. It reminded me of "A People’s History of the United States" by Howard Zinn which I recently read. An excellent book, by the way.

The Minutemen

Of course, we all know that our government is doing little to nothing to control our border. All of us, including me, have an opinion about this. The Minutemen is an organized effort by a group of somebody to go to the border in Arizona and "police it" in some form. It sounds like a good idea to me. So, I am informed (as much as I choose to be) and the news is over. I do not plan to go to Arizona to join The Minutemen and I do not plan to send anyone any money (other than my federal tax dollars that aren’t be spent on border defense!). This story has some traction but with a little spinning it could have a lot more. Over the past few weeks I have heard:

• Them no good liberals are calling The Minutemen vigilantes. There is some good name calling for you! Let’s take sides and make this a conservative campaign!
• The failure to police the borders correctly is the fault of the Democrats people like Ted Kennedy. Editorial Comment: If I remember my civics correctly, executing the federal law is the responsibility of the executive branch – the president. I think he is Republican.
• Sean Hannity has gone to Arizona to show his support for these "great Americans" and to stir up interest in this story
• It is the American Civil Liberties Union’s fault that we have problems like this in protecting our borders.

Now, here is some major traction! Is it a coincidence that traction rhymes with distraction?

Mr. President, this is a no brainer. Do your job and secure our borders. If you need to, use the National Guard. After all, that is why they are called "national guard." And, no sir, you can’t get around this by changing the National Guard’s name to Iraq Guard. That name is already taken.

The blending of news, opinions and entertainment began with CNN on cable television and with Rush Limbaugh on radio. During the first Iraq invasion, CNN had 3 reporters stranded in the Hotel Baghdad and Rush Limbaugh created wonderful sound theater as he designated himself as the "American War Cheerleader." Wow! Curiosity, passion and fireworks on the television and radio. News that is entertaining. Others wanted a piece of this. FOXNEWS….MSNBC. The rest is history.

Frankly, I want the news reported the editorials identified as such and my entertainment to be chosen by me. I am capable of thinking and deciding for myself.

HOW DARE YOU TELL ME WHAT AND HOW TO THINK ABOUT THINGS!