How bad do we liberals want our own TV network?

[mandyky]

Here are 2 articles on the subject -

http://www.wired.com/news/politics/0,1283,64378,00.html?tw=wn_tophead_3

Liberals Want Their Own Network
By Mark Baard
Jul. 30, 2004 PT


http://www.nytimes.com/2004/07/25/magazine/25DEMOCRATS.html?th=&adxnnl=0&adxnnlx=1090921052-5k97zEU+88sK7uBw3TRpZA&pagewanted=print&position=

July 25, 2004
Wiring the Vast Left-Wing Conspiracy
By MATT BAI


Let's brainstorm on ideas for programming and funding this idea. I know symbolman posts here so we can send this link to him once we have some ideas. It is becoming increasingly clear the current cable news networks are not going to be fair, more or less define what a liberal is. As David Brock's site name implies - Media Matters!

[LTR]

1. How about just a 'fair' news network?

How about a news channel that does hard news, without all the pundits?

I don't need my food pre-chewed. Just give me the facts, all of them, and I'll make up my own mind.

[0007]

4. Goddamn right, let me do my own thinking.

Case in point after Al Sharpton's speech the other night every network was trashing him, except c-span. Then the next night on Jon Stewart show he exposed how mean all those so called pundits were.

Many folks are swayed by their favorite so called pundit.
FAUX CNN and MSNBC are especially good at pre-chewing your food. Fuck 'em!!

[tewl]

6. I agree

There are good shows on PBS that do this, but nothing that compares to having a 24 hour network. I just want the facts, ma'am!

[LTR]

7. CBS seems to be the only network capable of pulling this kind of thing off

Though their news sometimes turns into puff pieces for reality shows.

Their news is the fairest of all the major TV news outlets.

[tewl]

11. It certainly is

I'd love to see a 24 hour station with 60 Minutes-style reporting.

[LTR]

13. They should just ditch SpikeTV and go all-news

Viacom owns it. And wrestling is the only thing keeping that network alive.

For now, seek out NewsWorld International on your cable system (likely buried, if actually there) or satellite dish. Real reporting out of Canada.

[mandyky]

31. I agree - a "liberal" network does not have to be the DNC version

of Fox, unfair and unbalanced. Nor should it become a Kerry administration propoganda tool. Fair new, real news, and even opinion shows like Hardball could tone down the rhetoric enough to make it palatable and do something to help unite our country rather than divide us further.

[OSheaman]

32. C-SPAN

n/t

[randr]

2. How about we campaign to roll back the telecommunications act

that helped to get us in this mess.
Give control of local media markets to a more diverse ownership and remove any foreigners from ownership.

[Crachet2004]

3. I agree with you...and no more than 5% ownership of any particular...

media type as well. Plus, in smaller communities, if you own the radio station, you cannot own the tv station or any radio stations, as well.

[ClassWarrior]

27. And reinstate the Fairness Doctrine!

[Q]

5. Keep in mind: there's only about...

...a dozen 'liberals' on this board. So this might not be the forum to discuss this issue in particular.

-

[Mortos]

8. I want a show

tha pits smart, logical, informed agressive liberals and democrats against those smarmy, vitriolic, lying aggressive fucking conservative pundits who bash and trash our people non-stop and are never contradicted in a forceful way. I want a liberal pundit who is not afraid to punch Sean Hannity in his ugly smug face. Better yet there should be two or three liberals to each conservative "guest". That's what I want, to give back what we have been taking for so long.

I think I am getting an ulcer from listening to and trying to fight the right wing conservative media in this country and my town (OKC) specifically.

I have made this challenge before and I will make it again; I will fight any conservative pundit anywhere, anytime. I am not in great shape and I have never been in a fight in my life, but I will accept any challenge from anyone. I am not talking about a debate, I am talking about a boxing match, fist fight, no holds barred wrestling, whatever. I want to kick some ass. Phewwww! Deep breaths......

[Eric J in MN]

10. Do you like CNN's "Crossfire?" nt

nt

[Mortos]

12. Come to think of it

there's a show, a combination of Crossfire and Ultimate Fighting Championship. Governer Howard Dean (The Wrestler) versus Tucker Carlson (The Natty Dresser().

[LTR]

14. You just described "Real Time with Bill Maher"

Especially last night's show.

I would have hated to be David Drier last night.

[Spiffarino]

16. I don't have cable.

What happened to David Dreier on Maher's show? Did Bill clean his clock? I hope so...I can't stand that self-righteous spin doctor.

[LTR]

20. He got his ass handed to him

Went after Michael Moore, calling his movie a pack of lies. Moore asked if he actually saw the movie, and Drier said no. But said he saw enough of it on TV to know it was false.

Things went rapidly downhill from there. Drier quietly walked off before the end of it.

Read about it here:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2120283&mesg_id=2120283&page=

[Spiffarino]

24. Thanks for the link

I read the whole thread. Jeez, I wish I had HBO!

[LTR]

26. "Real Time" is worth the price of HBO

Along with "The Sopranos" and "Da Ali G Show", which is one of the funniest things on television.

HBO and Showtime are perhaps the two most progressive channels in cable. I got both (and Cinemax) as a package through Time Warner Digital. Very reasonable.

[ContraBass Black]

9. I don't want our own network...

I want all of theirs! :evilgrin:

[SoCalDem]

30. Hey now... you're thinking like a repube now..

They want EVERYTHING..:evilgrin:

I just want "some"..:) :angel:


A "liberal" network is not really the best idea.. Just a REAL news network..

No missing blonde cutie-pies
No sports-bad-boys' trials
No S H A R K !!!!!
No "editorializing".."analysis"

Just who, what when, where.... The "why" CAN be there as well, but only as an IN DEPTH..all sides covered.. discussion... No screaming..no spinning..no lying..

There used to be a show called "white paper".. I can remember as a kid, I thought it was B O R I N G ..but I was always made to watch.. It was at least an hour long (maybe longer) and it covered ONE SUBJECT.. There were news people, experts, etc.. I remember one about civil rights and a few about auto safety..

[mandyky]

15. We NEED our own network to pull the media to the center

Just as Fox has pulled CNN and MSNBC to the right, we need a FAIR network that is positive to liberal and progressive ideals. We need this to combat the rest of the RW media including the hateriots on the radio.

I don't want the liberal network to behave like FOX, or lie or spew propoganda, I want real news and politics sans Scott and Laci Peterson, Kobe Bryant, etc.

We NEED a network not owned by corporations that can be fair (and calanced). We need journalists to report to us news, not TV personalities scripted by producers. I think pundits serve a purpose, but shows like Crossfire and Hardball with everyone yelling over the others does no service. We need the Phil Donahue model, not the Geraldo Rivera model - you can't have the Black Panthers and the KKK on the same show without problems, maybe in different segments of a show so both sides get a say...

To me a liberal network would be an fair and openminded one, not just liberal talking points.

[Spiffarino]

22. How can we do it?

The right wing has taken control of the airwaves because their ultra-rich sugar daddies - most notably Richard Mellon Scaife, Rev. Moon, and Rupert Murdoch - have bought up national and local media, which they then use as repeaters for conservative talking points.

Wealthy individuals with left-leaning tendencies - George Soros springs to mind - can counter this by buying up media all over the country. Soros is wasting his money if all he does is fund MoveOn.org and dole out campaign money. Those are temporary fixes. Mass media ownership is the key to countering right-wing media bias.

Major news media, to a greater or lesser extent, used to adhere to the traditional journalistic ethics of truth and fairness. Right-wing media has never been restricted by such ethics. They simply take talking points from Grover Norquist et al, then come up with 100 ways to express them, truth be damned.

Sadly, major media has become so lazy and so cheap that they have mostly abandoned journalism in favor of reporting items straight from the Republican Echo Chamber. This imbalance can only be countered by feeding news to the major media from an echo chamber of our own.

The best way to accomplish this is to cultivate a corps of media owners who believe in the basic American ideals of fairness, honesty, opportunity for all, etc.


On edit: fixd speling erors

[mandyky]

28. On funding we need maybe a PBS model

Funded by viewers, with seed money from the Soros and the Rappaports, et al. Also websites like TBTM, Media Matters, Democracy for America, could do fundraising. The websites and progressive groups like ACT, Wellstone Action, DFA, etc, could provide news items to cover.

I'd like to see a network that covers news in 10 to 15 minute segments as opposed to 30 second soundbytes. We don't need it to be liberal, we need it to counteract FOX, CNN, and NBC.

[Eric J in MN]

17. The word television doesn't appear in the second article (nt)

nt

[mandyky]

21. Yes, I know

But a movement (like in the second article) would go nowhere without press and media willing to report it. Part of the wiring has to be creating our own media outlets beyond the internet, because many of our base (poor people) don't have internet. Many don't have cable. We need more than a TV network, we need more magazines, like the Nation and Mother Jones, and some newspapers. We need more liberal radio networks.

[AnnInLa]

18. You guys are not addressing the MAIN PROBLEM:

I think the financing will come from the usual liberal sources...but most of the articles I wrote emphasize the point that this attempt will be fought tooth and nail by every conservative faction in America...insurance companies, drug companies, oil companies, the Bush controlled government (Bush just made 2 appointments to the FCC).

The obstacle to overcome is all of the pressure that will be put on the TV cable companies (Cox Comm, and others) and on the satellite companies. This will be a HUGE problem.

To me, this means that we need a grass-root, groundswell of support, really getting the liberals out to pressure the cable and satellite companies.

This is an issue that I would work tirelessly for!!!!

[AnnInLa]

19. I meant to say, "most of the articles I READ, not wrote" LOL

I wish

[Q]

23. Drop the labels...

...how about a news network that simply reports the news without slant or partisan bias?

- This is why I watch "Free speech" Television now instead of the mainstream media. They report the news, provide information and let the viewer make up their own mind. They're definitely anti-Bush*...but take the Democrats to task as well.

- What we need is an honest media...without giving it labels of liberal or conservative.

[Spiffarino]

25. Unfortunately, mass media won't provide real news

Let's just take TV as an example:

CNN - Time-Warner
NBC - General Electric
CBS - Viacom
ABC - Disney

What do these four all have in common?

All are driven by a requirement to make a profit for their shareholders. As publically traded corporations, this is a critical - and ethical - business requirement.

If their news departments are losing money because they spend time and resources on real news stories, guess what gets cut?

So those who say that we need to roll back the Telecom Act, I say you are absolutely correct. But we must also go further and undo the damage that was done during Reagan's era. Time to bust them up into "Baby Bells" like we did AT&T.

[mandyky]

29. Why are so many DUers against a REAL liberal media?

I can't believe noone wanted to talk aboout how we'd do this! I guess it is just easier to play victim and make excuses for Democrats losing all the time.

[TexasSissy]

33. I thought Gore was going to buy NewsWorld International? I've been

waiting, ever since I heard that a year or two ago. Since I have DirecTV satellite, I get NWI, so I would be thrilled if it had some liberal or even truly fair and balanced stories. It seems balanced now (it's owned by Canada), but it isn't particularly geared to the U.S., since it's NewsWORLD.