I've been doing some heavy thinking about how we can create a greater sphere of influence on the televised media. I've watched what methods have worked, which have had some minimal impact, and which have been ignored over the past couple years. We've all had extensive discussion, debate, and experiences dealing with this, so I welcome anyone's input and criticism to help form a new, powerful plan of action.
- As shown by the Gannon and Sinclair explosions, as well as the Rather farce, blogs have officially become a major player in the media. Even if blogs such as DailyKos only hit a certain group of those who have internet access, even the major news sources have adopted blogs for their sites to encourage discussion and as a method to verify and discover news. We should continue to take advantage of these outlets and educate others of the many discussion sites available.
- We have overlooked a -MAJOR- method. While many of us have exercised our rights to assemble and protest the misgivings of our government, and while many of us have tried to lobby the media to lttle or no avail, we have not thought to create an active, continuous protest of the media itself.
As demonstrated by the Sinclair episode, bringing influence on investors and advertisers of a minor media player can have significant impact. However, due to the concentrated financial and political power that major media outlets wield, this would not work at all.
Therefore, I recommend we take our case directly to those who report and watch, bypassing the financial and political dumbing down process.
First and foremost, we must take advantage of all outlets where the public can be seen on a regular basis. The bext example of this is the NBC Today Show. The regular focus of this show on the outdoor crowd for three hours would be great to place signs, audible protests, and Code Pink-style events. We can bide our time and wait for the talent to start interviewing the crowd, then get our message out in a quick, hard-hitting moment. We can also buy tickets to talk and variety shows, and bring signs and shirts in without being denied by the Secret Service.
- Promote and support third-party independent media. If your town has a free, progressive newspaper, get a paid subscription. Of course, get a Sirius receiver and subscription so you can listen to Air America.
- Highway Blogging. It's mass media that does our work for us. The trick here will be to organize a regular highway blogging effort even in rural communities.
I looked at a map of California recently, and noticed that aside from major cities the state is extremely red when it comes to House districts. swinging just a few seats there can have an impact greater than the illegal Texas Redistricting. The same goes for states like New York, Florida, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and even smaller states like New Hampshire, Colorado, and Connecticut.
If I think of anything else, I'll be posting it in a reply here. Let me know what you think we can do along these lines, and others, to create a larger impact in the overall picture.
