It's the media stupid!

[rainy]

After watching video of the protest in DC yesterday with Jackson, Cobb and others, one question stands out as the biggest question of the day...WHERE WAS THE MEDIA?

We have been marginalized by the corporate media. Owned and operated by the ruling elite, the media will continue to marginalize us as we are no good for them. We will fight their control of information at every step and they will never give us fair coverage. It is not in their best interest, profit above all else.

The story about contesting Ohio electors was on page 6, 5 paragraphs today in my paper. I never saw a thing about it on TV. Even Jon Stewart didn't mention it. Maybe he'll cover it tonight.

Ending the corporate ownership of our air waves should be our first priority because without a free press we will always be marginalized. We are not good for business as usual in the would of corporate, private ownership of everything.

[WritersBlock]

1. Agree wholeheartedly.

When the Democrats sent out their "tell us what we should do next" questionnaire shortly after the election, I replied that we must focus on two things: auditable elections and the media.

We don't have a chance without addressing both issues.

[rainy]

2. It is absolutely our number one priority

Nothing will change until we take back our airwaves. Our government allows corporations to use them for free. They pay little or no fees to us for the use of our airwaves. If they had to pay us for this use we would be rich and could air anything we wanted to. We need to take bake OUR airwaves and demand payment and a network of our own, a REAL public broadcast that is fully funded by the users of our property.

[Ganja Ninja]

3. I didn't see any coverage of the Boxer rebellion last night.

So I disagree in part. I think it's more like "It's the Democrats stupid." The trouble with this party can be summed up like this. They don't know how to be a minority party. They still act like they have a majority. They needed to make a big splash. The whole thing fizzled because they didn't stand together.

[Warren Stupidity]

4. they stood together

<Rant>
74-1 - looks to me like the senate demopublicans were united in agreeing that fair open and honest elections are not to be tolerated. Only one snivelling terrorist supporting femi-nazi rocked the boat.

Besides what could be more important than Andrea Yates?

What if we put as much money into the Green Party as we put into the Demopublican Party? I guess Ralph was right all along. I hate the Democratic Party. Chickenshit wimpy assholes, almost every one of them.

Sorry.
</Rant>

[Ganja Ninja]

6. Right they stood together, just not on the right side. n/t

[HeeBGBz]

5. It's definitely the media

Have been scanning the major morning shows this am. No mention of the electoral count event.

We have lots of Andrea Yates and Mrs. Beasley, though.

The networks need to be smacked with some reality.

[Ganja Ninja]

8. Why should they cover cover some lone crackpot in the senate?

There was no story there. Boxers stood alone and was left hanging by her fellow senate Democrats. She was treated like a conspiracy nut and conspiracy nuts don't deserve to be taken seriously.

[OmmmSweetOmmm]

7. Media? Do you mean the Propaganda Bureau? n/t

[SueZhope]

9. well said , its the media

and the average Joe does not get it.
My friend who i have been explaining the trouble with the media said this

" Actually it was in our paper this morning and I saw it on CNN so I think they are covering it (MSM) its not headlines, but the Tsunami is and should be."

People really still think news is just the news.

[garybeck]

10. the media is in on it. that's why they're covering it up

here's part of the puzzle

http://www.solarbus.org/stealyourelection/articles/1222-media.html

[dlaliberte]

14. Forget the Mass Hypnosis Media

The internet allows us to build interactive media such as this. We must replace the Mass Hypnosis Media, which is necessarily centralized (due to the expense of the large-scale broadcast medium) and now it is largely in control of the "enemy". More and more people are moving to the internet to get the real news, and now more than ever, it has become a necessity.

To be effective, we still need quality filters on all this communication, because we can't all read everything written by everyone else, so we have to reduce it down to what is most valuable to each one of us. But a filtering system might tend to be centralized once again.

DU has no filters other than the threat of being tombstoned. The only rating on individuals is their number of posts. Inadequate. Let's look at systems like slashdot (http://slashdot.org) for examples of decentralized rating systems and quality filters.

[Helga Scow Stern]

18. Good article, Gary. n/t

[rainy]

11. kicking for more discussion because this is important

[renaissanceguy]

12. So how do we go about doing that?

What's the first step?

http://www.cafepress.com/liberalissues.16200506

[goodhue]

13. no doubt

[Greybnk48]

15. Conyers said something at his press conference that struck me

He said, accurately, that almost no one knew about the CBC contesting the vote in 2000 and the refusal of one senator to stand up until they saw it in F 911, and he thanked M.M. for that. I (now) remember the gasp and buzz that went up in my local theater when that scene was shown with everyone collectively wispering that they knew nothing about this ever occuring.

I don't know what the answer is to getting info to the public, but I agree that it is essential. I have my kids watch John Stuart since the fake news is better that the "real" crap.

[rainy]

16. The audience did the same thing when they saw the protesters

protesting the innaguration. They and I didn't know it had happened.

[Patsy Stone]

17. Andrea Yates

was on the front page of CNN.com the whole day. I think that says it all. When does that Michael Jackson trial start? :)

[Baclava]

19. The media already has it's marching orders...

They are charging up their batteries for the Inauguration.

[Old Mouse]

20. The whole point of contesting was to force media coverage

As much as the media is influenced by Republican politics, it is more influenced by ratings which are only gained by covering interesting and exciting CONFLICT.

By declaring the challenge only a gesture designed to foster debate and not an attempt to overturn the election they guaranteed a lack of media interest. Why should they dedicate time to what is essentially a "historical footnote" when they have tsunami child trafficking, baby-killing moms and Wacko Jacko's porn collection on stand-by?

What the democrats have consistently failed to learn is that the greater American public is not interested in logically, well organized statements of fact. They want impassioned theater, and the more at stake the better.

They should have said Bush didn't win regardless if they believed it or not. It would have been sensational, people would have screamed, thrown chairs, slammed their shoe on their desks, and the greater public would still be talking about the issue come Monday morning.

The Republicans have trained our Democratic leadership to irrationally fear negative publicity to the point of inactivity. They had absolutely nothing left to lose yesterday. They should have gone all the way.

[Helga Scow Stern]

21. See this excellent interview about the media at BuzzFlash:

http://www.buzzflash.com/interviews/05/01/int05002.html

Journalist and News Producer Kristina Borjesson Examines Mainstream Media...What They Don't Do...and Why?

In the news business...upsetting the government or the public makes no sense for the bottom line and should be avoided.... Not only is there no reason to change the status quo, there are actually good reasons to move more towards entertainment in every possible way because the more entertaining the program, the more audience it attracts.

A BUZZFLASH INTERVIEW

Kristina Borjesson is an investigative reporter--almost an oxymoron, these days. She's also a news producer with a long line of credits from CNN, CBS, PBS and Pacifica Radio. She garnered an Emmy and a Murrow Award, among others. She gained particular fame and notoriety for her reports on the mysterious "disintegration" of TWA Flight 800 off Long Island on July 17, 1996. Recently she has edited a revised, expanded volume of essays, Into the BuzzSaw: Leading Journalists Expose the Myth of a Free Press, which we proudly offer as a BuzzFlash premium.

"Into the buzzsaw" is journalistic lingo for where "sensitive" stories go (i.e., stories that the powers-that-be choose to shred). They are censored, altered, or marginalized as "conspiracy theory" rather than being allowed to present the unvarnished facts and unsettling investigative findings. Only the most intrepid journalists take on the powers that be, because their challenging stories, their very vulnerable careers (think Dan Rather and the Bush National Guard story), and their high salaries will suffer the wrath of government and conglomerate ownership (General Electric, owner of NBC; Viacom, owner of CBS; Disney, owner of ABC; Time Warner, owner of CNN; or Rupert Murdoch, owner of FOX NEWS). The same forces affect news writers for papers like the Washington Post and The New York Times, who have yet to do one serious long-term investigative piece on the chronic lying of the Bush Administration between them. Basically, nearly the entire American mainstream media has gone into the buzzsaw.

BuzzFlash interviews Kristina Borjesson--courageous investigative journalist and herself a survivor of the buzzsaw.

* * *

[Jo March]

22. Then we need to educate them, don't we?

Come on over to our thread:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=203&topic_id=262387&mesg_id=262387

DUers with a fighting spirit and the willingness to pester the crap out of our elected officials and the media are needed!

Come on over. Take off your shoes. Grab a task out of the list.

We will not give up. We have the momentum!!

We rock! :yourock:

[rainy]

23. kicking again, important issue

[roenyc]

24. If its not in the news it didn't happen!

thats why i guess people back in the day got violent. but things were always covered.

i miss the news. if i see one more little kid with doe eyes or a video of waves i am going to vomit. sorry but its all tsunami all the time. or other crazy Texans killing kids.

um, i dont know whats up with Jon Stewart he is starting to worry me. he did a great thing on Gonzalez. but thats about it. look he says he doesn't mind fox news so that kind of always worried me.

i feel like all my hero's are just falling off their pedestals. still have Randi.

you all heard about the guy taking 250 grand to hype no child left behind. so imagine how many more are out there being paid to keep quiet.

[rainy]

25. What was that old story about the CIA owning or paying

for media and propaganda? Our whole problem is that we are not being heard. Everyone says we failed at getting our points across to the American people. I say we were pounding our message, but, no one was covering it. Look at the huge protests before the war and after. Bush is the most protested man in history but you wouldn't know it by watching tv. We must concentrate our efforts here or we will never win again.

[rodeodance]

26. we should talk about the immorality of lack of health care, of the loss of

life (us and them) in Iraq, of the unethical behavior of Congresspersons and the administration. etc etc--get on the IMmoral bandwagon!!

[steve2470]

27. mediadiversity.blogspot.com

http://mediadiversity.blogspot.com

Check it out for a start on the road to a new media.

[seabeyond]

28. not stupid, corrupt. ok, corrupt an stupid n/t