The frustration lies in knowing that this is happening and not being able to do anything to stop it or prevent it. What can we do as individuals? We READ and keep informed and I don't know about you, but this drives me nuts!
The problem is that a great many people are decent and believe as you do -- and are almost as well informed -- but they are up against rage and nastiness (as I just said on another thread and got hassled about it!) I don't think this is a civilized dispute between one group of Americans and another, but rather a smooth and vicious desire to eliminate discourse, comity and (frankly) democracy. Being informed is not a high value on the other side of the debate; being educated in a particular attitude seems to be the goal.
First, what I remember is hearing Miller on the PBS Lehrer show, not seeing her.....she was speaking from Iraq and did talk about the silver bullet. Upon questioning from Jim Lehrer, the story did not sound as positive as it later appeared.
Secondly, I couldn't agree more, Tartarin. It's something we started remarking upon a while ago - that ediorializing had begun replacing reporting. In the book "All the President's Men," one of the things I remember clearly is Ben Bradlee of the Washington Post telling Woodward and Bernstein to check and verify, that at least three separate sources of information had to be confirmed before it appeared in print.
But I think anyone who has read Judith Miller in the Times for a while has to have recognized that her stories have not been reporting - they've had a certain bias. It's one of the reasons I stopped reading articles by her.
And very disturbing is the way the media has been corrupted by the special allowances given to the movers and shakers. In the New York City area Rupert Murdoch was given carte blanche to own and operate several newspapers and tv and radio stations, despite the restrictions that apply. And the head of the FCC is Michael Powell, son of Colin Powell, part of the warring Bush team. So what kinds of political games are being played there?
Very little is new under the sun. But I'll bet anything this administration goes down in history as one of our more corrupt ones.
I have twice had my photo in local papers - once I was captioned as being the wrong person's wife and the second time I was supposedly recieving an award that I never received. If they can get it so grossly wrong at that level how can I believe the big stories which have so many angles to them.
I just take it all with a grain of salt.
An email I received today:
Quote:Dear MoveOn member,
On June 2, the Federal Communications Commission is planning on authorizing sweeping changes to the American news media. The rule changes could allow your local TV stations, newspaper, radio stations, and cable provider to all be owned by one company. NBC, ABC, CBS and Fox could have the same corporate parent. The resulting concentration of ownership could be deeply destructive to our democracy.
When we talk to Congresspeople about this issue, their response is usually the same: "We only hear from media lobbyists on this. It seems like my constituents aren't very concerned with this issue." A few thousand emails could permanently change that perception. Please join us in asking Congress and the FCC to fight media deregulation at:
http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/?id=1344-930931-uaw4ZNvFvYIl84XIkE.zUw
After the FCC and Congress relaxed radio ownership rules, corporate giant Clear Channel Communications swept in and bought hundreds of stations. Clear Channel has used its might to support pro-war political rallies and conservative talk shows, keep anti-war songs off its stations, coerce musicians into playing free promotional concerts, and bully them into performing at its music venues. In many towns that used to have a diverse array of radio options, Clear Channel is now the only thing on the dial.
Monopoly power is a dangerous thing, and Congress is supposed to guard against it. But the upcoming rule change could change the landscape for all media and usher in an era in which a few corporations control your access to news and entertainment. Please tell Congress and the FCC to support a diverse, competitive media landscape by going to:
http://www.moveon.org/stopthefcc/?id=1344-930931-uaw4ZNvFvYIl84XIkE.zUw
You can also automatically have your comments publicly filed at the FCC.
Democracy is built on the idea that the views and beliefs of an informed citizenry are the best basis for political decision-making. Without access to fair and balanced news, the system simply doesn't work. And media corporations can't be trusted to balance themselves: news corporations have shown again and again that they're willing to sacrifice journalism to improve the bottom line. That's why we need many media entities -- to keep each other honest, and to provide the information and ideas that make democracy happen.
Please join this critical campaign, and let Congress know you care.
Sincerely,
--Eli Pariser
MoveOn.org
May 8th, 2003
P.S. Here's a copy of our recent bulletin on this subject. To sign up for the bulletin, just click here:
http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/
SHOWDOWN AT THE FCC
MoveOn Bulletin
Friday, May 2, 2003
Co-Editors: Don Hazen and Lakshmi Chaudry, AlterNet
Subscribe online at:
http://www.moveon.org/moveonbulletin/
Oh! Just came here to post that! Guess we're all on the same mailing list.
The story of the LA Times doctoring a photo to make a soldier helping look like a soldier threatening.
I don't think anyone should take anything they hear in the media at face value, without researching a couple of different sources.
I guess a lot of us signed on with moveon. I received 5 of these in email from friends.
Back when I was a democratic committeewoman, I used to attend the meetings at borough hall. The guy from the paper who covered these meetings quite often would get some stuff wrong. Once I asked him about some of the nutsy headlines, and he told me they had a nightly contest at the paper to see who could come up with the best headlines. The winner bought the pizza. This was not a weekly shopper, either.
mamajauna - glad to hear so many people get emails from moveon.
mamajuana wrote: But I'll bet anything this administration goes down in history as one of our more corrupt ones.
Not so sure. Not that it's not a deeply corrupt administration but it's my belief that we've become a deeply corrupt country whose judgments are also corrupted.
Been a MoveOn member from the get-go and got in touch with Wes Boyd and Eli Pariser before they got so busy and so famous. I think they are remarkable and a beacon of hope. Hope y'll saw the story on Pariser and the photo of him doing the whole MoveOn thing out of his bedroom-cum-office, sitting on the edge of his bed with his laptop, communicating with the world! Really really proud of those guys...
More on Judith Miller. Today's NY Times (9 May) carries a story by her that's just amplification of that earlier report, with picturesque details. But something struck me. I had actually seen what she's writing about some little time ago - in my local paper, which picks up AP and Reuter's dispatches. No byline.
Yes, tartarin - saw the picture. I am more and more impressed with this group. Their organizational skills, their idealistic approach tempered with reality, their ability to do rather than just talk. And their increasing presence being able to set the repubs off.
Wasn't that a picture!! Did it get to you the way it did to me? Partly because he's so young.
Because things have been busy around here, I've been somewhat hasty in my reading of the Times. (footnote: The NYTimes is printed in Austin and distributed mostly by UTexas students early in the a.m. When there are exams or they're off on vacation or whatever, the Times's distribution is erratic at best, sometimes coming in every other day, two papers at a time. I'll sometimes even avoid reading Times posts here so as not to spoil a later reading!) What do you think is going on with Miller? Did you also see the Kristoff op-ed column Blatham posted?
Have you also noticed a recrudescence of seriously pro-McCarthy talk? B-a-d, and supported by some of the more respectable media, that is if you consider the WSJ respectable...!
