Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.
Posted on 10/23/2004 9:18:36 PM PDT by Cableguy
By the time Election Day arrives, millions of Americans will have contributed to a presidential candidate this year. Hundreds of political organizations -- from the Sierra Club to the NRA, from MoveOn.org to the Swift Boat Veterans for Truth -- will have taken an active part in the campaign, supported by Americans from every part of the political spectrum. All of this is democracy in action, and it is so commonplace that we take it for granted. Yet this kind of mass citizen involvement in the political process is a relatively recent phenomenon, spanning less than a half-century of our nation's history.
How did it happen? And what does it suggest for this election, and for presidential elections to come?
The answers can be found in the rise of what we conservatives call the "alternative" media -- beginning with the conservative movement's development of political direct mail in the 1960s, followed by the growth of talk radio and cable TV news in the 1990s and, since then, by the remarkable role of the Internet in the political process. In this year's presidential election, it is the alternative media that are largely framing the issues, engaging the public, raising money and getting out the vote.
Whatever the outcome on Nov. 2, this election will be remembered as the year when these alternative media all came together to change how politics in America is practiced.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
Ah, Mr. Mass Mailing himself. He lives.
It's a might good read. And I've said it before and I'll say it again: Free Republic has some of the finest minds I'll ever know.
The thing is that the mainstream media could easily get its credibility back, not by being shills for conservatives, but just by making some effort at being objective and letting well spoken conservatives speak and be heard.
They buried themselves with their lopsided point of view - it's the natural end to their strategy. By shilling for any side, your credibility plummets.
That's not going to happen.
From the time "journalists" leaves college they're imbued with a liberal mindset that precludes an "alternate approach" to news.
They will eventualy go the way of the dinosaurs, and the media will change from personal ownership of news items to news items owned by no one.
bttt
Pajamahadeen Rule... rise of the New Media
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1219250/posts
The "media"-- and I include the entertainment side of it ( two wings of the same bird of prey ) simply does not "get" it.
The problem is not that they are prejudiced... the problem is that they will not ever admit to it. So how can you trust anything else they tell you, when they cannot take the fundamental step of admitting that they, like all failed humans, have biases?
Please FReepmail me if you want on or off my FoxFan list. *Warning: This can be a high-volume ping list at times.
Thanks for the ping!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.