The AP has put out their Top 10 news stories of 2011. As usual, they’ve politicized the list and they aren’t good at separating the pointless from the significant. Here’s their list followed by a sneak peek at the top stories of 2012.
No. 1. The killing of Osama Bin Laden. Yawn. Let’s be honest. Osama meant nothing by this point. He wasn’t giving orders and he inspired no one. Subsequent events have shown his death changed nothing in the war on terror. I’m glad he’s dead, but he doesn’t belong atop this list.
No. 2. Japanese Disaster. Earthquake, tsunami, nuclear meltdown, 20,000 people dead, $218 billion in damage, 100,000 homeless. This one deserves to be on the list. It’s too bad so many Hollywood types thought this was a good time to crack racist anti-Japanese jokes.
No. 3. The Arab Spring. This one probably deserves to be the top story. Even The Economist is now worried that the thing “no one could have possibly foreseen” is happening, i.e. radical Islam taking power. Expect this one to cause a lot of carnage in the coming years.
No. 4. EU Crisis. Eh. Reality doesn’t quit. When you create a currency that anyone can print and you have no way to keep people from running up the bills, it’s only a matter of time before it all blows up. The real story would be if the Europeans learn anything from this.
No. 5. US Economy. Huh? They actually identify this as our economy growing and “unemployment rate finally dipping below 9 percent.” Don’t make me laugh. This recession will get worse before it gets better. Seasonal Christmas hiring won’t change that.
No. 6. Penn State Sex Abuse Scandal. If you care about Penn State, sure. But shouldn’t the bigger story be the recent arrests of Hollywood pedophiles? Oh that’s right, only some pedophiles are bad.
No. 7. Gadhafi Toppled. Wasn’t this part of the Arab Spring? Also, riddle me this: so what? Seriously, how does this change the world?
No. 8. Fiscal Showdowns In Congress. Kabuki theater at best.
No. 9. OWS. Morons crapping in the streets. More theater.
No. 10. Gabrielle Giffords Shot. Yeah, because this changed everything. Some crazed leftist shoots Giffords and the left blames Sarah Palin. The left calls for a “change in tone” while famous leftists joke about killing Palin and her family. Been there, done that.
Notice how they put this list together. First, they went liberal. Most of these are meant to aggrandize Lord Obama’s policies: Obama’s triumph over villains bin Laden and Gadhafi, Obama finally taming the economy, and the masses showing support for Obama through OWS. Several of the rest are meant to explain away Obama’s failures: the evil Congress that can’t fix the budget, the Japanese disaster that blasted our economy, and the murderous right-wing opposition that tried to kill Giffords and is determined to stop Obama. Of course, NONE of that is true, but truth doesn’t matter to leftist. They only care that it can be spun to make Obama look good or explain his failures. This is Obama’s campaign resume brought to you by the AP.
But even beyond helping Obama, look at the ludicrousness of this list. This entire list is aspirational, not based in reality. They hoped killing bin Laden would change the world. They hoped the Arab Spring and killing Gadhafi would bring peace to the Middle East. They hoped the Giffords shooting would end America’s love of guns. They hope the economy has turned around. They hope OWS finally means something.
And isn’t it interesting they ignored the elimination of “don’t ask, don’t tell”? I guess that didn’t turn out to be so popular with the public. They ignored the tornadoes across the Midwest and Southeast. Why? Because Obama never bothered to help those people because they don’t vote for him. They ignored Solyndra and MF Global and Fast and Furious. They ignored the Pelosi financial scandals and the retirements of dozens of Democrats. They ignored the attempt to force a union on Boeing. They ignored the left’s failure to recall Wisconsin Republicans. They ignored Climategate 2 and a bevy of global warming scandals. They ignored the courts striking down ObamaCare. . . something we were assured only lunatics could think would happen.
Gee, I wonder why?
Anyway, here’s a sneak peek at the top stories of 2012:1. Tebow wins Super Bowl
2. Obama loses in landslide
3. Republicans capture 58 seats in the Senate
4. First case of cannibalism at OWS occurs in NYC
5. Egypt invades Libya
6. Mysterious explosion at Iranian nuclear plant
7. Germany quits the Euro
8. ????
Monday, December 19, 2011
AP Top 10: Politicized News
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73 comments:
I couldn't agree with you more in terms of the leftist slant of the AP and their list and their motivation. As far as OBL killing, it was NOT the top story, but I do think it belongs in the top 10. He was the face of Al Queda and the top guy behind 9/11. While Dubya was right that the war on terror was about a whole lot more than just Bin Laden, the fact we finally got him was big. What sucked was the politicization of it by a political party desparate to pretend their leader was a great leader who masterminded the whole thing. Hell, Obama hates our military.
Not quite off topic, but did everyone read that Kim Jong Il died of a heart attack? Yea, Obama! Well, you know he'll take credit form deposing another heinous dictator...
Andrew,
This media list is totally ignored by people. Cain dropping out of the Presidential race was for more important.
Fortunately, Gingrich is dropping in the polls and it is becoming more and more obvious that there won't be any one person leading. Maybe Romney...and it is still possible for a dark knight to show up. A brokered convention is looming and the Establishment Republicans are worried that "their guy" Romney, won't outright win the primary.
Joel. I read this morning in aWashington Times article that Condi Rice may be positioning herself as VP running mate.
Yeah, "no one could have possibly foreseen" that radical Muslims might take over in Egypt after Mubarak's fall. Oh wait, because there was no way of knowing that the Muslim Brotherhood was an inherently radical organization, right? Screw off.
Some of these stories belong on the list, some don't. I think the ranking is an indication not only of political bias but maybe also of the formative experiences of the journalists. Because of having been around so long and engaging in so much saber-rattling, for example, it makes sense that Gaddafi's fall would be part of the top 10 (although yeah, wasn't this part of the Arab Bloodbath, I mean Spring?) And while Bin Laden's killing probably wasn't the top story of the year, let's be honest--there was no way it was going to be kept off the high end of the list.
Long story short, I don't actually have too many bones to pick with this list. I wouldn't have picked the same ones--and certainly not in the same order--but I could see a case being made for all of them.
I think the best way to respond is with my own top 10 list:
№ 1. Arab Spring – albeit with an emphasis on reality. Actually, one could probably make a top 10 list soley from events that coprised the Arab Spring
№ 2. Japanese Disaster - 'nuff said
№ 3. EU Fiscal Crisis - again, let's focus on reality
№ 4. GOP Primaries - whether one regards it as a series of "crushes" or a series of media smears, it has dominated headlines for much of the year
№ 5. Wedding of Prince William and Cate Middleton - I don't have to like it to agree that a royal wedding is big news
№ 6. Ending of the NASA shuttle program - the end of an era
№ 7. Wisconsin's truant Democrat senators - featuring the Wisconsin protesters, the media's first failed attempt at crafting an anti-Tea Party
№ 8. Occupy (Bowel) Movement – it did last for two months (or is ongoing, depending on who you believe) and, yes, I ranked it below the Wisconsin protests for a reason
№ 9. Missouri River flooding/Southern Tornadoes - I'll admit potential local bias, but I find it interesting that widespread domestic natural disasters don't make the news with "The (N)One" in the White House
№ 10. Death of Kim Jong-Il - bottom of the list because it is a late entry, but it will no-doubt prove more significant than the deaths of bin Laden or Gaddafi
It was sheer fatigue, not "heart attack"! Our dear leader worked himself to death, creating our socialist utopia and negotiating his return appearance in "Team America 2: This Time It's Personal." You American imperialist dogs like to make fun of us and make up lies; well, we'll show you! We'll show you ALL!!!
I should add that I am surprised that "This is all still George W. Bush's fault" didn't make the list.
I put AP's Top 10 in the same category as David Letterman's Top 10. In other words, I ignore it. I like your list better.
Andrew, So true, so true. The AP has become a total partisan disgrace disgrace.
Bev, I'm sure it was Obama's wisdom that somehow led to his death and which will now result in total peace and harmony throughout the land -- despite the fact Kim Jung Jr. is supposed to be an even bigger bloodthirsty pervert than the father.
8. After item number 2 it is discovered "unexpectedly" that employment is actually at 17% and expected to worsen.
Jed, I think it was a huge story with a lot of appeal and it belonged in the Top 10 because that was ostensibly the reason we went to war -- to get him. But as you and I agree, it was not the top story. In the history of the world, it will ultimately mean very little.
What I find so fascinating about this list (the pro-Obamaism aside) is how goofy it ultimate is. Most of the stuff on this list is there because of "hope and change" -- the AP hopes it means change. The reality is little of this will change anything and the bits that will, they have downplayed or skewed in their descriptions to make them something they are not.
Andrew
The AP it is still in business????
WOW!
By the way, as an interesting aside....
We get a TON of spam at the site. The spam filter picks all of it up (and then some) and deletes it. What's interesting is the topic of the spam. Usually it's links to counterfeit goods site and some of it is just bots looking for a target.. those are funny "I reely enjoy your site and find the infomatin good, where can I read more of you say."
But lately, we've been getting pro-Syrian stuff. "Maybe the US should stick with Assad." and "Did you hear about a secret defector who has warned the US about the dangers of the Syrian resistance."
Interesting.
Joel, That would be a HUGE story in 2012 if the Republicans have a brokered convention. I'd love to see that actually. Maybe we can draft a Paul Ryan or Marco Rubio?
I suspect this list was made by liberals who have simply blinded themselves to all things that make their own side look bad. You see the same priorities in their normal coverage.
On Cain, they probably don't want to include the lynching of Cain as a top story because that makes the media look bad.
Bev, I'm not sure Condi would be a solid VP honestly. She's not a great public speaker. Of course, she'd be more than a match for Biden. So who knows?
T-Rav, I think some of the list is ok, but most of it is pretty silly. For example:
1. The fixed economy that isn't fixed. Does anyone think the big story of 2011 was the economy improving? When did that happen?
2. The vast overstatement of OWS when they ignored the Tea Party.
3. The avoidance of all things negative about the Democrats.
4. Obama at the top of the list? Gaddafi on the list separately?
5. The Giffords thing which is the biggest temporary liberal outrage of the year. Wouldn't a more relevant story have been the death of Steven Jobs?
6. The budget showdowns that resulted in diddly.
None of this is legit. It only makes sense if you're a liberal who wants to make a list of things liberals thought about or hoped would happen.
I'm debating taking down The Economist's article on the Arabs. It's downright hilarious because they really are surprised that things are turning out poorly... "but but we saw hopeful Facebook posts, how can this be? It makes no sense!"
Also, they aren't worried about the Muslim Brotherhood, they are worried about the Salafists (probably not spelled right, but I'm not going to look it up). They are basically the Taliban with a different name and they won 20+%.
tryanmax, That's a good list. I forgot about the wedding, but that's been huge news.
I would honestly ignore OWS because it has turned into nothing and inspired nothing more than jokes. I would also probably ignored Kim Il because North Korea just isn't that big of a player around the world and little is likely to change.
Instead, I would include the death of Steven Jobs and the "missing" million illegal immigrants who went home because of the bad economy. Or I would include the 9% unemployment, which has dominated the news and ruined people's lives all year.
Dear North Koreans, I figure he probably died of erotic asphyxiation... maybe even brought upon him by Chinese spies.
tryanmax, It goes without saying that all bad things are Bush's fault and all good things are a direct result of Obama's genius. I think the AP assumed that was implicit.
This list is screwed up. I agree that most of it belongs on the list, but the order is all wrong, the ideas are wrong, and it's very partisan. There are lots of better stories. I agree with the above about the royal wedding and what about The World News story where they got shut down and people are going to prison?
Lawhawk, I like my list better too and I expect my list to actually come true and will something unlike the AP's goofy list.
Ed, The AP became partisan a long time ago and declared itself that a few years ago when they decided that not all facts should be treated equally. They have no credibility with me anymore.
Su Wei, You mean the way we just found out housing sales were double counted for the past couple years?
Indi, Yep, they're still out there making up whatever news they think is fit to print. And out news services like Fox and CNN lap it up.
DUQ, I suspect they want to avoid journalistic scandals because that doesn't play well. Also, once that scandal started to spread to non-Murdoch papers, suddenly their passion for exposing it vanished overnight. So much for a "watch dog press."
As regards the AP, journalists have been top heavy with Democrats forever. There was a time when actual "hard news" guys took pride on leaving partisanship at the door. I'm not sure one can honestly completely accomplish that, but at least they tried. As the success of talk radio, Fox News, and finally the internet have eroded their dominance, that striving was replaced by "JOURNO-LIST." A few years back, the new top man at AP changed policy when he told the staff to begin to include more "analysis" in their reporting. That is pretty much synonym for "opinion."
I have a lot of respect for Condi, and am not above fighting the Democrats on the political level, especially considering the nature of the VP spot. The Washington Times article speculated it was a move to try and counter Obama/Clinton.
I ask myself, if Condi became president due to the death of the actual president in 2013, would the republic dissolve or be worse off than it is now? I can honestly say no. Having read quite a bit about the G.W. Bush presidency, while she is not a hard core conservative, I am not unimpressed by her.
Jed, I agree. First, I think the AP lost all credibility when they began mixing fact and opinion. And then 2-3 years ago, they even went further and told their reporters that not all facts should be treated equally and they should use their judgment to decide how the facts should be treated, i.e. to slant the news.
I'm a bit more nervous about Rice. I'm particularly concerned that she always seemed to get bullied by others in the administration. That concerns me. Also, to be frank, Bush's foreign policy was a disaster and she is right at the core of that. She did some things I like, but all told, I was not too impressed. And when I look at the field of possible candidates, there are many I would prefer instead. My top choice would be Allen West, for example.
Jed & Andrew, I heard that too about the AP deciding it was ok to mix in opinion with facts. That's ridiculous. The purpose of a wire service is to sell news to people who then present it, not to make the presentation itself. That would like Burger King's bun supplier putting ketchup on their buns because they think Burger King's customers will like it.
(Andrew, I used the Burger King analogy because I know you like using McDonalds analogies all the time and I wanted to give them equal time. :D)
sorry, typo: "would be like"
Ed, I agree with your analogy! And yes, I do like using McDonalds analogies because McDonalds has one of the most easily understood business models.
Not a big fan of Burger King... though I did try their new fries the other day. They were better than the old ones, but still not great.
I haven't tried Wendy's new burger yet, but intend to try that too? I take it you're a Burger King fan?
Andrew, DUQ, good calls all. Also, I hereby officially knock № 10 off of my list and insert ClimateGate II.
I debated whether to include the stagnant economy but decided it was a continuation of last year. And the year before that. But the missing illegals angle is a good one that I confess I must have missed. (Can't imagine why...)
Also, I don't know how big it is nationally, but you can imagine the Keystone XL pipeline dominates my local news. Is it very prominent nationally?
Also, could somebody clue me in/link to how the World News thing went down? I didn't know it spread to other papers.
I tried the new Wendy's burger, "the W." I guess they decided that George has been gone long enough. It's okay, but nothing to write home about. It's basically a higher quality Big Mac without the middle bun.
I used to love BK, but they have lost me. Their menu is completely unstable. Any time I find myself liking something new, it inevitably goes away. Their value menu has eroded to practically nothing. Their average promo duration seems to last approximately 18 hours. And their new crown box sucks. That said, there are still times when nothing but a Whopper® will do.
Wendy's, on the other hand, is filling that void for me. Their prices have come down while BK's have gone up, their burgers are of comparable quality and they have the best value menu in the fast food market, hands down. I love me a Monterey Ranch Chicken Sandwich.
tryanmax, The keystone thing isn't really national news. Some conservative bloggers talk about it, but it doesn't make the national news, no one has mentioned it here locally at all, and even the people I know in other states who are normally pretty plugged into politics don't know what it is either. But then, regional economic issues rarely interest the public at large.
No illegals in Nebraska? I thought they worked in meat packing? In fact, isn't some Nebraska town the poster child for the "they chased away the illegals and now the town is falling apart" meme?
The World News thing was going hot and heavy until they discovered that it didn't extend to other Murdoch organizations like Fox or the Wall Street Journal. That slowed the interest of the left a lot. Then they discovered that other British papers (left and right) were doing the same thing. That killed the whole issue. You almost never hear anything about it at this point and even the few arrests that have happened aren't front page anymore.
Good point on the economy being a continuation of last year.
I forget what town that was, but the meat-packing thing was sort of the XL pipeline in reverse. On the former, they made it a bigger deal nationally than it was locally, on the latter it is should be a big deal nationally but it is only regarded locally.
tryanmax, I like Wendys a lot, though I haven't tried their new burger because I've been avoiding fast food for months now for health reasons.
I love the Whooper. It is a unique burger with a great flavor. But I've really disliked their fries and that always turned me off. Their new fries are better (tried them the other night), but they're odd and I'm not sure I like them -- certainly not as much as Wendys or McDs. I agree about the prices too, they seem the most expensive of the three and for the prices I pay there I would rather go to Carl's Jr. (great commercials) or McDs.
tryanmax, They pounded the meat packing thing into the national news night after night. There was even a story about it the other day where they bemoaned how sad the town had become. (I just can't remember the name of the town.)
I agree the pipeline should get more visibility, but that's our news -- they only want the public knowing certain things.
I do this total fat-kid thing where I hit the QT for a fountain Coke (cheaper and better tasting) then I swing by BK for a Whopper, and last I hit McD's for a large fries. I don't do it often, but there's a spot in town where all three are all together.
Sounds like a noble pursuit! :)
QT? That's not ringing any bells.
I've only hear about the pipeline in blogs and something Harry Reid sent me.
I love the new W. I liked their old burger too, but this one is better constructed. I like the Whopper too, but I never go to Burger King. I go to Sonic a lot though.
QuikTrip, it's a convenience store, but it's on a level above anything else we've got. Always very clean and the hot dogs are always fresh.
I've got to walk in to get my Coke. Helps to justify the calories.
Ed, I would hate getting mailers from Harry Reid, just on principle.
Sonic is good, though I HATE their ads.
QuickTrip. Hmm. We don't have those around here. We did have a QuickMark at one point, which made me laugh because of the Simpsons' QuickyMart.
I also love "Try 'n Save"! What a brilliant name!
It's like you live on a different world. I have none of those. We do have Kum 'n' Go, which is colloquially known by a number of colorful nicknames.
Wow, that is an unfortunate name!
We have 7-11 (most places do) and had QuickMart. We've also had Speedy something or other.
When I was in West by God Virginia, they had a thing called Scheetz, which I thought was possibly the worst name I'd heard. I also saw "Convenient." Not very original, but it worked. They actually had a drive through.
P.S. I love the idea of the walk justifying the calories! :)
Kum 'n' Go actually bought out all our 7-11s. We have a couple of Convenient stores, but there have never been many.
Kwik Shop was my favorite growing up. There were the first place around here to have frozen Cokes. I can't think of any others around here with particularly bad names.
Well
How can you have a list of top 10 issues without mentioning the dire need to Fund the "Cowboy Poetry Society".
We would be fair and ask for fucnig for Indian Poetry but we have to call it Native American indigineous Oral Culture of communication to assuage the PC police and well... no one would know what that was.....
tryanmax, I'm still chuckling over that name. I suppose it would be worse. And I would probably be careful what I bought there. ;)
Indi, I'm not familiar with the Cowboy Poet Society?
I am however, frustrated that my tax dollars are funding anyone's poetry. Grrr.
We should be allowed to check off what we would pay for and what we won't on the tax forms. That would make for an interesting change, wouldn't it?
Indi, would you really want the government subsidizing something like the Cowboy Poet Society? Think about the stupid rules they would impose!
Nice takedown, Andrew!
This stupid list divetails well with the Time person of the year: the morally bereft, intellectually bereft, bowel control bereft, dignity bereft...aw heck, let's save time and just say the bereft of all that is decent, noble, honorable, Law abiding and American, OWSers (crickets mean thunderous applause in proregressive speak)!
Note: haven't read all the comments so apologies if someone mentioned this already.
DUQ, I can see a pretty incredible list of rule.
1. Don't mention horses, you might upset PETA.
2. Don't forget to praise the Indians because it was their land first.
3. Cowboys sounds so discriminatory and sexist. Can't we call them "animal herder"?
Thanks Ben, the list deserves to be taken down!
And you're right, this fits in perfectly with the "Person of the Year" garbage. OWS? Give me a break. It's hard to think of anything less consequential than OWS.
Some of my top stories:
1. Muslim Brotherhood/Jihadist Spring.
Obama does what Carter did with Iran but with two countries...so far!
Yeah, didn't see that coming.
This will make the instability of the middle east far, far worse.
It is horrible news for liberty and for Israel (and any country that ain't totalitarian to a lesser extent).
Expect an explosion in Islamic terrorist recruits since these countries will also now explicitely support them, just like Iran.
Egypt has already been attacking and killing Cristians, burning churches and supporting Hamas with arms.
Sharia is a foregone conclusion for both countries so there goes any appearance of a representative government (unless you're Muslim).
The women in both countries are frightened (for good reason!) at the certain prospect of the loss of their rights (such as they were).
But of course this won't make the headlines because Obama saved them all and gave them democracy (mob rule)! Especially the Jihadists.
Mission accomplished Barrack! You couldn't have made it worse for Israel, America, the world, Egypt, Libya, and their women if you had tried.
(Continued)
2. Climategate 2, electric boondoggle boogaloo!
Lessee, scientists, bureaucrats and politicians colluding to lie about AGW in order to keep their political "cause" to exert more control over people, stifle liberty, make themselves and their friends wealthi(er) with outright thievery and raise taxes ain't a top story?
Like the Jihadist Spring this has seriously negative consequences for the entire world!
Ben, I think the Muslim Spring is something we're going to pay for for years to come. I expect the internal civil war isn't over yet and then if/when Muslims win, I expect they will set about exporting their version of Islam to their neighbors.
And you're right, this likely to basically create more Iran's in the Middle East... something we absolutely don't need.
Interestingly, one of the things The Economist is upset about is that the new parties might not give women equal rights. Really? What part of "Islam sees women as property" did they not get before now?
And you're right, the MSM will never blame Obama for mishandling this, they'll just wonder how it all went wrong.
Ben, I love the "electric boogaloo" addition. All sequels should be called "electric boogaloo"!
Yep... the Muslim Spring wants to kill us and the Climategate Liars want to bankrupt and control us.
Dang it! I almost threw in the electric boogaloo reference. But noooooo, I had to be so serious and let Ben snag it up. Pthzzz! :P
Electric boogaloo rocks! :)
Sorry Tryanmax.
Best to go with your first boogaloo instincts I have found, lol.
It is a cool, almost iconic catch phrase that never seems to get dated.
Of course, I also don't think that most of the slang of the 1920-40's is outdated either.
They had very creative slang in those days that had a coolness factor of the jazz equivalent of Coltrane or Armstrong. :^)
Ben, Slang is never outdated because it's rad man. . . totally tubular! ;)
P.S. I don't know if anyone is watching MNF, but this is pretty funny with the power outages.
Don't make me use my heater Andrew, lol.
I just turned on the game so I must've missed it...so far.
LOL! Some slang should probably be forgotten, though I admit I am partial to the current "throw down on".
The power outage happened before the game and then again maybe 20 minutes ago.
MNF is having power issues? Well, that pretty much puts the exclamation point on this sports year, doesn't it?
"West by God Virginia," huh? I think they must have shipped a few natives into Missouri for Christmas shopping over the weekend. You know it's a good day when you see more than one 400-pound woman with silvery whiskers at Wal-Mart.
T-Rav, That's what the locals called it -- "West by God Virginia." You wouldn't believe how many times I heard that.
You sound like a man who could use a quick trip to The People of WalMart! (Evil Link)
i know i'm late for this party, but the death of jong il must have filled the coffers of the "team america" peeps, as the youtube video clips of that movie are everywhere.
"hans blix! oh, no!"
Jeez, I hope you're right about the two top stories of 2012! :)
AP's list just goes to show how out of touch they are. The US Economy at #5?! Pleeeeze.
Patti, I'm sure rentals of the video are through the roof right now! LOL!
Writer X, You and me both, though I'd settle for an anti-Obama landslide if I could only have one. :)
Yeah, the AP is truly out of touch. That's what happens when you hire only leftists for decades. It becomes an out-of-touch groupthink bubble.
since I am way late to this hoopty-do, I'll just ask that you add the Texas fires to the Midwest/south weather phenomena on tryanmax's list.
(I know hoopty-do isn't nearly as cool as boogaloo, but today is my Monday...)
rlaWTX, Good point, that's yet another natural disaster Obama neglected because it affected people who "don't like him very much." What a wonderful president we have. :(
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