What Happened?

This morning, the mainstream media are reporting that the Democrats have captured the Senate--pending a possible recount in Virginia.

Well, that's not quite what they are reporting. If you listen and/or look carefully, you'll hear and see that what is being reported is not the Democrats' achievement in the winning a majority in the upper house, but the blessing of that event by, yes, the media. Even the doyen of American newspapers, The New York Times succumbs: "Never mind that Senator George Allen of Virginia had not conceded. Jim Webb, his Democratic opponent, claimed victory Wednesday on the strength of a roughly 7,000-vote margin. And The Associated Press, a widely accepted authority for calling elections, agreed with Mr. Webb, declaring Mr. Allen, a Republican, the loser."

Let's be clear: The vote counting in Virginia was over by about noon yesterday. Jim Webb had a lead of about 7200 votes. Nothing's changed since then, except that news organizations have decided to bestow their imprimatur on the people's verdict.

There's nothing new in this, George Orwell, who died fifty years ago, wrote about the proliferation of manufactured events, such as news conferences, masquerading as real news. (Bush's news conference--called "a presser" in some quarters, a locution that we may adopt--was not an event. Rumsfeld's firing was the event yesterday, not the President's announcement of it.