Another Web Revolt Succeeds: Ron Paul and ABC News

Congressman Ron Paul was a clear stand-out from the usual suspects in the first GOP debate, with many viewers (and the majority of MSNBC poll responders) feeling he “won.” (See a compilation of Paul’s debate performance here.) Interesting, then, that his name wasn’t included in a Web-based check-off “rate the candidates” poll from ABC. And his was the only name left off the list.

This was no accident. Scores of online visitor comments relating to Dr. Paul’s exclusion were deleted, the candidate’s name was still prominently absent hours later, and before long a mini-scandal had made the front page of Digg, Reddit, and other social-networking sites.

Here’s a news-flash that some in the mainstream media still haven’t digested: there are a lot of sharp eyes out here, and these days, we can all talk to each other and to the rest of the world outside. Digg.com alone has an enormous, active, informed daily audience that any nightly news show would give anything to count among their ratings, but it’s not going to work out that way. The new media is changing things much faster than the old guard imagines.

So, Paul’s name was finally added to the now-unbiased poll, and the current results there show him as a runaway winner in the first GOP debate. These results are skewed by the response to the controversy, of course, but only differently-skewed than they would have been without it. The real message for anyone in the media who seeks to shape the news to a pre-formed agenda: You can’t fool all of the people any of the time anymore. 

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9 Comments

  2. Carl Deen
    ·

    Yahoo, Fox, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC, NBC, CBS, Disney and all of main stream media (MSM)is is owned by the same smail group. Some give the appearence of being liberal while others the appearence of being conservative on hot button issues. However, they speak as one voice in things that matter. They have been lying to the American public for decades.

    The only question is will the American public ever realize that MSM cannot be trusted.


  3. ·

    I say this with all seriousness. The country will probably disintegrate and be carved up the Chinese if Ron Paul does not win. It will take time, but we are on the road to perdition.

    America needs Ron Paul more than ever, and everyone who supports Ron Paul loves him as he is the closest thing to family we have ever seen in government.

    Ron Paul, for what is just, what is right, and what is our Nation’s root modus, the Constitution and Freedom and Liberty for All.

  4. Ragnar
    ·

    Ron Paul is definately a man going his own way!

    Just what we need!
    Keep the web revolt going.


  5. ·

    I spent two days campaigning for Dr. Ron Paul in New Hampshire and his support was unbelievable! He IS the antidote to the HUGE problems facing America–as best exemplified by Naomi Wolf in her recent (bestselling book), “The End of America.” EVERYONE who is a Ron Paul supporter needs to call ALL their friends (some of whom might not be Internet savvy) to let them know of this candidate. The New York Times just excluded him from a survey of all the candidates! Another example of corporate exclusion. If I were not in America, I wouldn’t be so surprised, but this is America! What’s going on here? EVERYONE who believes in the message of Ron Paul needs to turn off their television and get involved! For more info., go to ronpaul2008.com. Let’s save America from Fascism (another word for Corporatism)!


  6. ·

    i always thought that ABC news is even better than CNN when delivering up to date news,~:

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