By Gavin Dahl
Television and radio host Laura Flanders ripped into what she called "the all-about the-money media" and encouraged 150 radio enthusiasts to work harder at storytelling in a keynote address to the Grassroots Radio Conference May 14.
Calling the Obama administration "a veneer of new backed up by the same old same old," Flanders took shots across the political spectrum garnering bursts of applause with her characteristic mix of humor and breaking news.
She stressed that there is a failure in the media to report on important news from the perspective of the public, and insisted that those stories can be told better at the grassroots level.
"There is a narrative that's missing," Flanders insisted. "Rupert Murdoch bought the narrative when he paid $5 billion for Wall Street Journal... And we are being played and played and played and played."Her most recent book Blue Grit looked at an upsurge in grassroots activism during the previous presidential administration. She said Friday night that there was more progressive politics than anything reflected in the Democratic party. On keeping President Obama accountable to those who elected him she said,
"We're not doing any better job than the civilians of Afghanistan."She broke the news of Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger proposing the elimination of $12 billion in California welfare spending, which she said would affect 1.4 million people. She talked about the controversial new climate bill, the 27 drilling licenses approved since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and said sometimes Congressional hearings can make good viewing on CSPAN.
http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0516/laura-flanders-interview-audio/