|
1. With the free market, niche marketing, and now the internet, we have so many choices, that it is our duty, as citizens of this country to discern what is bullshit and what is good reporting and analysis. But people get lazy and they either fall for the stupid stories (that Aruba girl, Michael Jackson, for example) or they only listen to or read what is comfortable for them to hear. I know plenty of people who ARE engaged who fall into one of the above traps. And it's not just from the Right, it's the Left, too.
2. If you haven't already seen it, I encourage you to check out "Journeys with George", which with all its "fun" atmosphere, is a documentary about how an entire press corps was seduced by W, and surrendered their responsibilities as journalists. He was the "popular kid" and made them feel good for being invited to the party.
3. The reporters seem to think that cynicism is a necessary credential for covering a campaign or the White House. Part of this is the politicians' fault, with their stupid spin doctors, who just bullshit the truth away. I want a press corps. who gives candidates a benefit of the doubt, until they can get real facts to prove that they are being lied to on a regular basis. I'm not saying that Kerry hasn't embellished the facts a bit -- all politicians are going to pull out the stats that back up their policy ideas -- but I don't think he blatantly ever lied to or disrespected the press corps. But since they started from a position as adversaries before the game even started, they blew it in telling the right story.
4. As far as TV goes, I'm like GinnyinWI. I DVR a bunch of TV news programs, and then skim through them to get different perspectives, but I try to go international, too, because I think American news outlets are HIGHLY lacking in good reporting and analysis. I program Jim Lehrer (PBS), Democracy Now! (Link TV), BBC World (BBC America), and Deutsche Welle (German & Int'l News in English on LINK TV). I rarely tune to Cable news for the same reason I don't look at E! -- I don't want to rot my brains!! Democracy Now! is blatantly left wing biassed, and some of it, I am laughing it's so skewed. But I check it out because it is SO different from regular news. The BBC is anti-Bush, anti-Iraq War, and they don't even try that hard to hide it. DW TV is just fun to see what's up in Germany, and their coverage of Iraq is like our coverage of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict -- sad, frustrating, a mess, BUT so far away, and not the German people's problem. I enjoy that perspective, when I just can't take it anymore. Lastly, there's Jim Lehrer, which I think is the top news show on TV (although because it's an hour, I'll often skip some of their in depth segments). It IS mainstream, of course, and falls into some of those traps, but if Kerry is working on some obscure thing like eliminating government funded propaganda in the U.S., they are more likely than most to cover the issue in depth and give Kerry his due and his soundbite (which are MUCH longer than commercial TV).
5. I'm a dinosaur, I still believe in paper!! I read The Economist, The New Yorker, our daily paper, and The Atlantic. And, by the way, I STILL can't figure out Iraq.
With all that effort, I think I have some bragging rights to say I am a pretty damned good informed citizen!! And I think Kerry is the finest candidate I have ever had the pleasure to vote for president (I've been voting since '88). And I feel like I have the data in my head and the hard evidence on the internet to back up that claim. Anybody else think that Kerry is at his best in print? Yes, he is a handsome man, but its his words that are most attractive to me. But if a person doesn't read, then they're not going to know, and before we know it, enough ignorant people have gone and voted that nit wit president again. I say to them, next time, if you're not willing to put in the necessary time into making such an important decision, then stay the hell away from the polls!!!!
|