As DJShay pointed out in the recent diary titled Chuck Todd: Powerful ObamaNation we, the Netroots, have made a real impact on the traditional media with our outspoken reaction to the debacle ABC called a debate. Yes, we shook them up and they have started to take notice.
The ABC News mailbox has probably already melted from angry e-mails about the questions' tit-for-tat focus. They concerned the gaffes and track-backs that we political elites obsess over but that inflame people who have ready access to e-mail and demand the candidates talk about substance.
-John Dickerson
Slate.com
It's time to realize the power we have in our hands. If we seize the moment this could be a turning point for the Netroots. We are the new and rising power and we must show that we are a force to be reckoned with. We've fired the first shot, so to speak, but the powers-that-be are hoping that it was just a fluke - a little venting that will let us feel better so they can get back to business as usual. If we really want to make things different we can't ease up. We have to channel all the righteous anger we feel into changing the status quo. We have to take that powerful idea of "YES WE CAN" and apply it not only to getting our candidate of choice elected but getting the traditional media to start doing their job. Their job, by the way, is not to "make candidates uncomfortable" as David Brooks of the New York Times would like us to believe, it is to inform the public. It takes no skill at all to make a candidate or anyone else uncomfortable. Asking stupid, irrelevant questions laced with innuendo is not doing your job if you are a journalist. The news media's job is to dig deep, to focus on vital issues, to seek out multiple sources rather than always relying on government officials or pundits to get your facts. The current lack of self-reflection that has infected the media is illustrated in Brooks' comment:
We may not like it, but issues like Jeremiah Wright, flag lapels and the Tuzla airport will be important in the fall.
These issues "will be important" because THE MEDIA makes them important. They do not rise full-blown out of the ground. It is only when the media itself harps on them ad infinitum that they have any weight. The fact that Brooks and so many others in the media are seemingly blind to this is as frightening as it is indicative of how lost they are.
It has gotten so bad that we even have disgusting displays of obsequiousness such as this from AP reporters - and listen to the questions!!
So what can we do?
Well, it is important to remember that traditional media is in trouble. They are weak and getting weaker, which gives us an advantage - because we are strong and getting stronger. Since the beginning of the decade there has been a steady rise of an alternative Progressive voice thanks to the miracle of the internet. No longer are We The People held hostage by the corporate gatekeepers who have maintained a stranglehold on channels of distribution for all forms of expression. The burgeoning alternative media that is frequented, supported and even created by real citizens is changing the game. We have been participating in a quiet but unstoppable revolution.
Here are few links and quotes to illustrate my point:
From The New York Times
The (New York Times) company’s main source of revenue, newspaper advertising in print and online, fell 10.6 percent, the sharpest drop in memory, as the industry suffers the twin blows of an economic downturn and the continuing long-term shift of readers and advertisers to the Internet...
...The poor showing stemmed from The Times Company’s core news media group, which includes The Times, The Boston Globe and The International Herald Tribune, as well as several regional newspapers.
From Hollywoodtoday.net
The writer’s strike may be over but the big six networks are still bleeding viewers. The shrinkage of the audience watching ABC, CBS, NBC, Fox, The CW and My Network TV continues at an alarming rate, according to new report specially prepared for advertisers this month by a Santa Monica, California ad agency. “The most significant development of the season’s first half was the continued audience erosion of the six primary English language broadcast networks,” says the report.
From Foreign Policy
Blogs are already influencing U.S. politics. The top five political blogs together attract over half a million visitors per day. Jimmy Orr, the White House Internet director, recently characterized the “blogosphere” (the all-encompassing term to describe the universe of weblogs) as instrumental, important, and underestimated in its influence. Nobody knows that better than Trent Lott, who in December 2002 resigned as U.S. Senate majority leader in the wake of inflammatory comments he made at Sen. Strom Thurmond’s 100th birthday party. Initially, Lott’s remarks received little attention in the mainstream media. But the incident was the subject of intense online commentary, prodding renewed media attention that converted Lott’s gaffe into a full-blown scan
From CrainsNewYork.com
Facing increased competition from cable and new forms of entertainment on the Internet, the broadcast networks have seen their hold on the American psyche slipping. This trend continued in 2007, when after a fairly promising upfront early in the year, the networks failed to produce the hits they needed to re-establish themselves. As of December, the networks' prime-time ratings in the key 18- to 49-year-old age category were all down: at NBC by 11%, at CBS by 10% and at ABC by 5%.
Newspapers also struggled mightily in 2007, in ways that hinted at underlying problems in the business. The New York Times canceled its Times Select online tool because not enough viewers were willing to pay for content
Meanwhile, the future of Time's giant parent, Time Warner, remains unsettled. Time Warner said last month that Chief Operating Officer Jeffrey Bewkes will take over the company when Chief Executive Richard Parsons steps down Jan. 1. Mr. Bewkes is charged with the tough task of reinvigorating the company—and preparing Time Inc. for a possible sale.
Sad songs
The old media business suffering the most in the new media upheaval may be music labels. In 2007, companies were beset by plunging album sales and shrinking profit margins. While sales of single songs have been rising, sales of traditional albums had fallen a whopping 15% through Dec. 16, according to Nielsen SoundScan.
I could go on and on but you get the point. It's only going to get worse for them. The internet is where it's happening and that's where we get our collective power.
Let's realize that sites like Daily Kos and all the other great Progressive meeting places are just as informative - if not more so - than anything the traditional media can provide. I literally go to Kos first thing in the morning to find out what's happening in the world. Sure, traditional media outlets are part of the source materials Kossacks refer to in their diaries - just as I have - but they use lots of other sources too. What we provide is an aggregate of information that can't be duplicated in the traditional media.
Then there are the the wonderful new online video-based news sources that are targeted specifically for Progressives. I highly recommend:
Go Left.tv
and
The Real News
and
Democracy Now
and
The Young Turks
a fascinating project:
Chat The Planet
I really urge you to support these great ventures with memberships or donations. Maybe cancel some of those traditional media subscriptions and give those dollars to these Progressive voices.
Radio of course:
Air America Radio (Yes, some love it-some hate it)
I listen to Internet Radio and hear Randi Rhodes on:
1090 Seattle
And more.... and it's all growing.
Finally- although we might prefer to tune out the traditional media for good - we can't afford to do that yet. Obviously they are still the primary framers of the national dialogue. But we can continue to use our growing clout to put some serious pressure on them. We did it with ABC. We can and will do it again.
I know that for me it was a simple as reading diaries on Kos that provided me with the phone numbers and emails of the ABC staff. Just armed with that information, I was able to make my displeasure known - and so did thousands of others. There was something about having that information right at my fingertips and joining in with others who were outraged that made me feel part of something bigger. That's the strength of our collective focus. That's exactly what makes the powers-that-be so nervous.
And as more of us start to make our presence felt in the traditional media it helps move us faster in the right (or the left!) direction. We have a champion in Keith Olbermann and a new one in Rachel Maddow. Witness how thrown off and upset Joe Scarborough gets when challenged with facts and confidence by Rachel. The "Big Boys" of the right have held sway unchallenged for so long that they've actually gone soft and "can't take the heat." Stunning but telling.
Let's do what the right wing has done for years - only let's do it better. Let's continue to hit media outlets and even individual journalists with tons of emails and phone calls. Let's send lists of questions we want answered and stories about John McCain we expect to have covered. Let's call them out on their "lovefest" with McCain in a huge and organized fashion. Let's put them on notice that we expect them to cover issues not distractions or they will continue to see their revenues melt away. And we can do it. We have their economic future in our hands, We really do. Because with the rise of the internet and Progressive forms of media we no longer have to rely on them. They want our business? They better start doing their jobs. We will remain polite, intelligent, informed and unrelenting. We don't need to be vulgar or abusive because, guess what - we have truth on our side- and believe it or not, the media was once much more like us than they are now. Remember Woodward and Bernstein? Remember when the media took pride in not being shills for the government or corporate interests? Well, many of them do too. Remind them of what they once stood for and never let up.
Now Is The Time! We Are The Change We've Been Waiting For! Long Live The Netroots!