"Envision what you need to happen, then work backwards from there."
This was the advice of a young panelist at the Netroots Nation conference this past weekend.
What we need is a media that doesn't promote the agenda of specific industry or CEO interests and the general pro-materialist, anti-worker, anti-environmental agenda. We need a media that doesn't sensor content that might displease one or more corporate CEOs or their world view. We need a media that gives voters fair and honest information and thoughtful policy debate and dialogue. We need media that does not host adds by Super PACs.
This media already exits. For politics there are websites like Free Speech TV, and for entertainment there is Netflix and similar services. When my children were young I was very concerned about the influence of TV commercials that promote junk food and anytime snacking, and subtle ways that branding, consumerism, greed and materialism are sold to children. So, they had videos and eventually online streaming of TV shows from Netflix where they saw no commercials! Admittedly, they were exposed to advertisements at the homes of friends, neighbors and relatives, but their total dose was less.
One can rent movies and TV shows through Netflix, Amazon, ITunes, and others, that are commercial free and available to stream through the internet instantly. Even PBS has some online options.
Could we start a movement that says dump the cable bill and watch TV via the internet? Free your mind from the tentacles of the consumerist greed monster! As a bonus, we can push back against the anti-worker lobbying of Comcast.
I invite people to share your favorite internet TV options in the comments. Would this fly? How do we promote it?