Are we really interested in seeing a truly liberal media? Or do we really care that the mainstream media, including newspapers, radio, and television, still the main source of news for the United States, is owned and operated mostly by conservatives? Do we care that this affords people like Ann Coulter a place to vent their angry rhetoric while denying our viewpoint to the vast majority of people in this country?
We have a chance to change this right now, but we have to be willing to do something. The time is now, not later, and waiting could prevent our voice from being heard. Read below the fold for more.
Back on December 10th, I wrote a diary called "Media Opportunities in Disaster." In that piece, I described what was going on with the media right now, and how we could take advantage of the situation.
Here’s the summary: With the economy being as bad as it is, there is less money for advertising. Many media outlets, including newspapers, radio stations, and TV stations are going to be up for sale at firesale prices. Outlets that would have gone for 8 or 9 figures a couple of years ago may be had for 7 or 8 now. This puts the rich, and often conservative, people at a greater disadvantage that it does us. Even in bad economic times you can find a large number of people who can give a little bit each to buy one of these media outlets.
And here’s the part I didn’t mention in my previous diary entry, mostly because it seemed obvious to me at the time: These media outlets can reach more people in a concentrated area than we can using the internet in most cases. A site like The Daily Kos or MoveOn.org can reach tens of millions around the world almost instantly, whereas the San Jose Mercury News print edition can reach tens of thousands in 24 hours concentrated in Silicon Valley. That difference can make a huge difference in some cases. I signed up today for a rally that will be held in San Jose tomorrow started by a user at MoveOn.org. 27 people, including myself, have confirmed that they are going. Now, if the rally was printed in the Mercury News, or mentioned on KRON or KNTV news, I would bet that more than 27 people would be there tomorrow. Probably much more. The problem is that while MoveOn.org can reach large numbers of people worldwide, it perhaps isn’t as suited to blanketing a smaller area with information. In order to have gotten the message about the event, you had to be a member of MoveOn.org, and had to tell them where you live. The traditional media already hits your area regardless of your awareness of them. Someone you know will almost certainly have heard of what they are reporting.
Now, here is the reason I decided to write a follow-up piece. This last weekend, the Hearst family decided to put up the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, Seattle’s second newspaper, up for sale. This is the opportunity I was talking about. I have a hard time believing that there aren’t enough people in Seattle who would like a more liberal point-of-view printed each day in the news to buy this newspaper off of Hearst and make it work. While Boeing has fallen on hard times, I doubt that the Unions have disappeared. While Microsoft may not be raking in money like it was at the height of the tech bubble, I doubt that it’s going out of business, and I doubt that everyone working there is a dyed-in-the-wool neo-con. Now is the time for these people to get together and buy themselves a newspaper and show people what the liberal media actually looks like. Hearst has said they will only leave the newspaper up for sale for 60 days. We only have another 50-odd days left. Tag Seattle, you’re it!
And if you need some help raising the money from outside Seattle, well, that's what websites like The Daily Kos and MoveOn.org are really good at.
(Off topic, but has anyone considered that the "con" in "neo-con" may not stand for "conservative?" It may stand for "confidence" as in "con-man." Or am I just slow to realize this?)