Calling all DC bloggers and videographers!
Rep. Lynn Woolsey's office is asking for bloggers and videographers who are able, to cover tomorrow's Second Congressional Forum on How to Bring Our Troops Home on Capitol Hill from 8:30-11 a.m. ET at 2325 Rayburn House Office Building, Washington, DC. Contact her Washington, DC office (Ph.: 202-225-5161 Fax: 202-225-5163) to be added to the list. Pacifica Radio will carry a live broadcast tomorrow of the event. Find your local stations here.
The larger question here is: where the hell is the media? (I know, I know...)
I just did a Google News search on
"veterans march washington dc" and what did I come up with? Nothing. Look carefully at the dates on the top articles returned; those that have anything at all to do with the
Veterans March 2006 are all written before the event kicked off:
This is my pet peeve -- media blackout of our veterans, their families, and their advocates.
Veterans have been travelling from all corners of the nation, and we get nothing? No coverage of this 2-day event which started yesterday and continues through today? Arrrrrrrrrghhhhhhhhhh.
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Wartime with No Veteran Voices
Have you noticed? I have...
Veteran voices are routinely barred from a seat at the table on virtually all cable news shows. We never hear what they have to say on the war -- something that affects them more than it does a retired General tapped routinely on MSNBC or FOX News to repeat the 'rah rah' military message.
We hear nothing of their wants or desires or needs or frustrations or petitions or grievances -- even when thousands are marching on Washington! Is that not news? Tony Snow and his appointment is more important than our veterans who we as a nation claim to support so much?
If you notice, we don't hear any voices coming from organizations like Veterans for Common Sense or Vietnam Veterans Against the War or the Iraq Veterans Against the War or the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. It's not for lack of trying on their part.
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Media as Parent, Media as Keeper
The media squelches the voice of veterans, veterans families, and veterans groups just as they stomp out the voices of unions, union workers, environmentalists, civil rights proponents, pro-choice activists, the ACLU, or any number of organizations that work in the interest of the common good, or 'the people'.
Interesting how the media lumps all these groups together.
Apparently, they doesn't like what these groups have to say, so they're not interested in giving them a seat at the table. It's as if they tell us: we own the news, we own reality, we own history. We'll make it what we think it should be. What astounds me is that they don't even offer a seat to the more 'traditional' or 'conservative' veterans groups like the American Legion or AMVETS, for cryin' out loud.
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Traditional Media: What is it Good For? Absolutely Nothin'
So, people like Rep. Lynn Woolsey are left to cry out for help from independent bloggers and videographers to ask them to bring the real news to the people she serves. She knows the traditional media won't do it.
They're too busy cooing over Tony Snow.