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Take Back The Media. The public airwaves in this country have slowly been taken away from the public. There was a time when broadcasters were called upon to be responsive to the needs of the citizenry and present all sides of any given issue. It was part of their calling - to be the Watchdog of Democracy. In the year 2002, our media has abandoned their responsibility to the country. The view that gets advanced is no longer the view of the 'little guy' - it's the view of ownership, of top management, of major corporations. Editorial decisions are made with one eye on the political slant that will best benefit the company, and one eye on the bottom line. The corporate view is tainted, in that it looks for the best way to advance the corporation's financial interests. The result is this - instead of behaving as the Watchdog of Democracy, the media has become the Lapdog of government. We are fed hours and hours of distraction instead of hard news. Instead of hearing both sides of the debate on the pending war on Iraq, we are given hours of justification for going to war. The anti-war position is marginalized, even mocked, by supposedly 'objective' journalists. Instead of an open debate on both sides of any issue, the side which will benefit the Corporate Media is advanced as the 'correct' side. Talk radio in this country is a hotbed of vicious right-wing hate speech. Rush Limbaugh and Michael Savage routinely proclaim that progressive thought is tantamount to an assault on Democracy. Any questioning of government policy is framed as 'obstructionist'. And instead of attempting to call any of these hate-mongers to account, they are dismissed as 'entertainment' and the government focuses on the 'indecency' of a harmless Victoria's Secret fashion show. Something is wrong here. Very, very wrong. What Can We Do About It? As the media in this country continues to consolidate into the hands of larger corporations, they become less and less responsive to the concerns of the average citizen. But one thing has not changed - these media outlets rely on advertising revenue from sponsors to fatten their bottom line, and we are the ones who patronize those companies who advertise on their airwaves. Nothing gets a media outlet's attention faster than reduced revenues. And that is the pressure point we must attack in order to get their attention. We are in the midst of researching just who buys advertising time on the cable news networks, and we will publish comprehensive lists of those sponsors on this site shortly. Our intention is to call targetted boycotts of specific media outlets over the next few months. The actions you can take will include contacting sponsor companies and local media outlets, and notifying them that your household will not purchase any product or service they manufacture unless and until they bring pressure to bear to better represent the full spectrum of American opinion. The second line of attack is the media outlets themselves. We have already listed the main offices and contact information for news outlets in this country. A simple email, letter or phone call registering your dissatisfaction with a media outlet's news policy may not seem like much in itself, but a few thousand phone calls to a media outlet will surely get their attention. Over time, we will publish the more egregious instances of corporate bias by the news networks and call for an action against specific new bureaus or 'talking heads'. They think they can operate with impunity because no one is paying attention. We must make them aware that we are keeping a close eye on what they're reporting (or not reporting), and we will not hesitate to stop providing revenue by avoiding their sponsors. This tactic has been used for years by the Religious Right in this country, and while we're late to the game in terms of organization, we will try to provide our viewers with every tool possible to bring the media to account. Take Back The Media. It may not be as easy as it looks, but it's not as hard as it seems. If we make our presence felt, they will have no choice but to respond. |
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