I was a member of the mainstream media at a national level for more than 20 years. For personal reasons, I left the business recently, and now feel free to write this diary.
Many people here complain about the lies of Fox News and the refusal of the mainstream media to call them out on it. There is a reason for that, and not the one you might think.
And the time has come to fix that problem.
There is, obviously, no disputing that Fox is a political organization, one that is willing to say anything and do anything to advance the agenda of the Republican party. They are aggressive, mean-spirited, relentless and liars who have no right to call themselves journalists.
In the MM? The lazy, the fearful, the careerists, people who -- if it wasn't so patently ridiculous -- would say "On the one hand, the Nazis were genocidal maniacs. But on the other hand...)
Nothing will make the MM point out the obvious. Without any outside event, it will never, ever happen. Any reporter who did it would immediately be branded by Fox news and their cohorts as a "liberal" whatever, and that would be the end of a career.
So how is it done? Create a news event, one that cannot be ignore, one that carries the message of reality that the MM can cover without the requirement of a spine.
There needs to be picketing at the headquarters of Fox News in NY. Then, that effort should spread to every Fox News bureau in America. The picketers need to be given a media-friendly name -- Patriots for Truth comes to mind.
And what do the pickets say? "STOP THE LIES" Some will say 'DEATH PANELS WERE A FRAUD" etc. etc. Every single major lie should be pointed out. Moreover, hundreds of DVD's should be handed out to passers-by, showing lie after lie after lie told by this "news" organization. Tell Beck's lies, tell Hannity's lies, etc.
The more people, the longer it lasts, the less Fox can get away with this. The whole world of journalists will cover this -- as someone who has been on the inside, I promise you this. Reporters are willing to tell the story, but not if it means taking a risk. (Cowards.)
If each and every time a new lie is told, the pickets appear again, the whole world will know what Fox is, and the program will be less and less able to lie.
Next, go after the advertisers. Point out the "Patriots for Truth" campaign...accuse them of subverting America, which they are by sponsoring this garbage.
We need to stop complaining and pointing out the obvious to each other. We need to band together, in our strength, and take these people down.
For reasons that are too complicated to explain here, I cannot join this effort. Suffice to say, if I could physically go to the picket line, I would. But I can't.
So, please -- someone pick up the mantel here. We all need to organize ourself to stop this menace to our country.
And it will work.