The major news outlets are like walls with cracks. The confining structures of big media loom large every day—yet progressives have countless opportunities to find, utilize and widen the cracks in the corporate media’s barriers to democratic communication. Steadily worsening concentrations of ownership and the hefty clout of advertising combine to severely limit the range of information and debate in news… return to article
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Reader Comments (6)Page 1 of 1 pagesconservatives spend a lot more time consuming news and information than liberals/progressives. this is a problem b/c shows like donahue’s (msnbc) get dropped and conservative ones come on.
also, then the only way we can get funding then is to have the government pay a bigger chunk of our news outlets (npr, moyers on pbs, etc).we need to demand more money from the government to subsidize our alternative news outlets.
thank you for work and keep it up!
Posted by Chet on Oct 22, 2003 at 6:43 PM “we need to demand more money from the government to subsidize our alternative news outlets.”
Isn’t it unfair if the government gives money to one company and not another? Is it even more unfair if a company gives money to a group based on a political view?
Donahoe got dropped because his show was not entertaining, which is why the O’reilly factor is so successful, as O’reilly (among others) present there news/analysis in a more fun way for the viewer.
Posted by brad on Oct 22, 2003 at 11:07 PM Another fine piece, M. Soloman. Thanks for the intellectual integrity.
Now, why don’t we get together and throw some rocks through the windows at MSNBC, Viacom, etc. After my aged mother passes, I’ve nothing left to lose.
As Thoreau said to Emerson from jail when asked, “What are you doing in there?” “What are you doing _out there_?”
Posted by ryokan on Oct 24, 2003 at 8:06 AM Wake up! we dont need to demand more money from the government to subsidize alternative news outlets. That IS the problem. We just need to think for ourselves and not watch the mainstream media, educate ourselves and take back our democracy from corporate issue.
Find me any passage in our constitution where it states the government has any responsibility to fund public programs, to assert itself in our education, our businesses.
It is chatter like this that has caused this situation in the first place! VOTE and take back your democracy.
Posted by db thomas on Oct 27, 2003 at 5:47 AM How right you are!
The right-wing, conservative movement learned their lessons well. And ironically from the ‘left’ during the sixties when protests and attention-grabbing tactics affected change.
How do we counteract? Simple. Learn the facts and speak up. Everyone has a right their own opinions. And more importantly everyone will side with themselves if we can demonstrate (notice I didn’t say ‘explain’) how much more in synch with the vast majority of us who work, pay taxes, etc. the ‘liberal’ politicians are.
It’s no secret that the bulk of Americans favor universal health care, unemployment, etc. What is a secret is that voice is now the famous Nixon-coined term ‘silent majority.’
It’s time we are no longer silent. So speakup at work and at play and at your childrens’ schools. And wherever else you can find a group of people.
Posted by Chris Stevens on Oct 27, 2003 at 8:16 PM Can you blame mainstream media for trying to be objective? Your idea of news is just as colored as the conservative variety.
It makes more sense to me to subvert the dominant media than to create new media that no one cares about.
Posted by Stephen Baxter on Nov 21, 2003 at 6:19 PM Page 1 of 1 pages -
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