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Progressive And Worked Up Over Clueless Corporate Media

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION
by Kimberley Edwards

Jonathan Klein, the new president of CNN recently remarked in a PBS interview that progressives could not sustain their own network because we "sample lots of opinions" and we "don’t get worked up about anything."

We do value many points of view, because that is how one becomes informed on different aspects of an issue and develops the ability to make intelligent decisions. This is an area where we differ markedly from our fellow citizens on the right, and the decisions that they have made regarding the direction of this country illustrate this point quite well. Unfortunately for all of us, the gullible, the uninformed, those most susceptible to propaganda and spin outnumber the well informed and tend to vote accordingly, and this is almost wholly the fault of a negligent and unquestioning media.

If Mr. Klein doesn’t think we are "worked up," he’s been spending too much time in the corporate media echo chamber where our voices are seldom allowed to penetrate in any meaningful way, because we are indeed outraged. Progressives (about half of the country) have largely abandoned corporate media outlets, because they do not provide us with anything resembling the necessary information our media is supposed to offer for the proper functioning of our republic. They have abrogated their responsibility to be watchdogs of those in power and have instead become sorry, subservient lap dogs.

Progressives have turned to alternative news sources; we look to the internet, to foreign newspapers, satellite broadcasts, and public radio. We tune into the BBC on NPR and Democracy Now! on World Link TV, we watch Canadian, European and Middle Eastern news – in short, we go to sources where we can find out what our government (BBC and The Guardian provide more information than any US outlet in any medium) is doing, what is going on in the rest of the world, and what other world leaders have to say. We have Pacifica, and sort of have NPR, and a new AM network in the form of Air America, which has grown its audience at an astounding rate. These sources do not provide us with an echo chamber that parrots our opinions the way Fox parrots the right; they do provide us with genuine information. What separates "conservatives" from "progressives" in this country is far more a function of how much genuine information one has access to. The more genuine, substantive information one receives, the more "progressive" their outlook will tend to be. We look to sources that will provide something of substance instead of endless discussion of Michael Jackson, Terri Shiavo and whatever mindless, manipulative propaganda the Bush administration decides to regurgitate on any given day.

George W. Bush recently appeared for a photo op in Fort Hood, TX, where he proceeded to tell the troops what a wonderful job they are doing. Corporate media covered that – what they are failing to cover thus far is the fact that House Republicans voted this week to cut $1.9 billion in benefits to returning veterans while maintaining the tax cuts for the top 3% of wealthy individuals. I’m sure we will see endless coverage of gasoline prices, but we probably won’t see a thing about fuel standards or peak oil. I’m sure we will get endless repetition of the 1957 influenza strain story; we won’t get anything at all on the number of Americans facing financial devastation because they cannot afford their medical bills, have no decent health care, and have had their ability to declare bankruptcy taken away from them by unanimous Republican congressional vote. Like I said, access to real information makes one tend progressive, and should you want to pass me off as some out of touch elitist, I’m typing this on my lunch hour at my $35,000 a year job, which helps me put gas in my 30 year old Volkswagen and pay rent on my $1100 a month one bedroom apartment. I’m certainly no elitist, but I am very, very worked up.

Kimberley Edwards
Los Angeles, CA

A BUZZFLASH READER CONTRIBUTION