Cozy Relationship Between Politicians And Press Leaves Public Out Of Policy

Email communication between Howie Fischer and Governor Jan Brewer's staff.

The vast majority of Arizonans read something every week by Howie Fischer. He is the funnel through which almost all information about the Capitol, and the policies that emanate from it, flow into our homes and consciousness.

More often than not, it is what information they decide not to publish and not the incessant editorializing in what used to be straight news that forms our world view and defines what is, and is not, acceptable thought.

Through them, we have learned the desire for secure borders is mean spirited, late term abortions are sacred, denying corporate welfare is fool hardy, and Arizona would go down in history as the most backward state in the country if we joined those other selfish, nasty, simple minded states like Wisconsin and rejected Medicaid expansion.

They are the arbiters of what is, and is not, sane thought, and what constitutes responsible behavior.

The conversation between Benson and Fischer demonstrates, in the most glaring manner, the cozy relationship between the powers-that-be and the mainstream media. Left out of the chit chat is the middle class who aren’t invited to their cocktail parties and policy decisions.

Make no mistake – unlike administrative assistants in government offices – the pundits and “reporters” are making policy decisions.

In the Horizon episode, Fischer and his fellow panelists invoke the names of Jan Brewer and John McCain when necessary to bash conservatives; after all nothing is a more effective a weapon with which to cudgel the average Republicans than the words of establishment corporatists.

When the Horizon host points out that the statement was not policy and merely an email, Fischer focuses only on the fact that the email “went viral.” And that is just it: to Fischer and his fellow journalists, it is not the implications of an event, but who that event offended is what matters most. How many people saw it and can this dog hunt?

Unfortunately for the public, the story about Gent wasn’t a dog the media wanted to follow or were too lazy to bother. When you have a cozy relationship with the powers-that-be you grow lazy and content.

Jacqueline Sharkey once said that the new press wanted to be fed the story…. not find it. Brewer served it up and they grazed on it.

What the handful of desperate-for-affirmation representatives in the Arizona Legislature understand, that the general public does not… is that it is not only fun and exciting to be part of the “cool kids’” group – rubbing elbows with the media types and hob knobbing with tycoons – but too many members of the public will obey the order to move along after they or one of their own has been betrayed.

Related articles:

Part I: Brewer “betrayal” consistent pattern

Part II: Brewer builds new narrative to appease democrat activists

Part III: Brewer brews up concoction, media serves it up

Part IV: Arizona veterans lose, Brewer wins

Censorship by AZ mainstream media exposed