Tired of turning on the TV and not seeing your views represented? Sick of watching Republican squawkers browbeating journalists and moderates? Then tune in to one of the several excellent projects monitoring Meet the Press for ammo, and then let the MSM know that your views are really in the mainstream:
- Start out with the recent report from Media Matters for America, If It's Sunday, It's Conservative, which tracks the marked increase in right-wing commentators on the influential Sunday shows over the past several years.
- Then flip the channel to the Huffington Post's Russert Watch for a week-by-week dissection of the show. This week, she notes, "it was Meet the Republicans, as Russert's well-rounded lineup included Republican Senator John Warner, Republican Congressman Peter King and Republican Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger. Perhaps the phone lines are down on the other side of the political divide."
- Feeling epistolary? Consult Peter Daou's Open Letter to Tim Russert, precipitated by a seemingly racist exchange between Russert and Barack Obama, for more inspiration.
- OK--primed for action? Now join MoveOn Media Action's Monday Project to talk back to Russert and other Sunday show hosts about what you've seen.
We'll be keeping our own eyes on Russert here at the ITT LIst in the coming weeks.
Jessica Clark is a writer, editor and researcher, with more than 15 years of experience spanning commercial, educational, independent and public media production. Currently she is the Research Director for American University’s Center for Social Media. She also writes a monthly column for PBS’ MediaShift on new directions in public media. She is the author, with Tracy Van Slyke, of Beyond the Echo Chamber: Reshaping Politics Through Networked Progressive Media (2010, New Press).
