Telling the Media to MoveOn

U.S. media "gives inordinate attention to fly-by-night groups with little evidence of real support. Why? Because these groups' sensational claims make for entertaining and easily produced news stories. The result is that a Swift Boats Veterans for Truth has greater impact on the national debate than long-established activist organizations," writes the Center for Media and Democracy's Diane Farsetta. The "easy formula to influence a national election - scrounge together enough money to air a sensational ad a few times" relies on journalists' tendency to "marginalize real grassroots efforts ... [and] focus on groups whose sole purpose is to introduce contrived controversies into political discourse."