I’m as cynical about advertising campaigns as anyone, including cable news channels’ attempts to gin up their own viewership. Most are boring as well as self-serving. MSNBC’s “This is Who We Are” is particularly lackluster, so what I write next is not a puff-piece for MSNBC.
But last night I saw a new ad, one I hadn’t seen anywhere. It said, “Don’t just watch MSNBC.” Then it listed a huge number news organizations it wanted viewers to watch or read and not all of one ideological leaning. I didn’t memorize the list, but it included the following: Urging viewers to read: The Guardian, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, The Atlantic, The New York TImes, The Washington Post, The National Review, among others I don’t recall. Viewers were urged to watch: NBC News, listen to NPR, watch Fox News, watch the BBC, watch CNN, and others I don’t recall.
The closing line was excellent, “Watch more, read more, learn more.”
Now, it goes without saying that Fixed Noise would never say this. They want people like Trump watching them all day, every day and no one else. That’s their entire business model. They also want ill-informed citizens. But most of us, especially progressives, should NOT want that. We want people reading, watching, and listening widely. Democracy depends upon a well-informed citizenry, including exposure to viewpoints outside our progressive bubble. I find it hard to read Redstate, but I am grateful for summaries of those who do. I do force myself to read the Weekly Standard and the Wall Street Journal including the right wing editorial pages.
Now, my list is not identical to that ad on MSNBC: I’d have urged reading The Nation, The Progressive, The Independent, The Jerusalem Post (English language version online), and the once-liberal New Republic. I’d want folks to listen to or watch Democracy Now and PBS’ Frontline and Bill Moyers’ Journal. But I want to give a shout-out to this ad campaign for a well-informed citizenry.