I consider the growth of citizen journalism and the progressive blogosphere to be among the most important political developments in generations. This is why I am elated that a pillar of local Madison media, The Capital Times, has decided to take part in this information revolution by transitioning from print publishing to a 24/7 online model. This staple of Madison’s progressive media community will cease daily print publication by the end of the week, and I firmly believe that its impact on our great city could prove to be incalculable.
The Capital Times’ transition to a medium more conducive to spreading the truth over the roar of the right-wing noise machine is absolutely essential, as the vast majority of both print and broadcast mass media outlets have become highly susceptible to self-censorship in the increasingly corporatized environment in which they operate. Far too many newspapers and news channels have decided to privilege their stockholders’ interests over their readers’, and our democracy often finds itself drowning in a sea of propaganda.
Quite fortunately, the people have finally recognized the doublespeak. A recent Harris-interactive poll found that more than 54 percent of Americans say they tend not to trust the press, and a recent Harvard University study concluded “nearly two-thirds of Americans do not trust campaign coverage by the news media.”
The public has also discovered beltway media stars are far too insulated in their bubbles of self-serving pomposity to adequately meet the information needs of the average citizen, as evidenced by a Zogby poll showing 67 percent of Americans “believe traditional journalism is out of touch with what Americans want from their news.” The poll found the public views citizen journalism (77 percent) and blogging (59 percent) as important for the future of journalism as well, statistics that perhaps caught the attention of The Capital Times.
New journalism media are on the rise, largely due to the massive disparity in the diversity of authors and opinions made available through the free-flowing nature of the Internet. Our mass media system currently acts as an echo chamber through its constant use and reuse of the same heterogeneous set of opinion makers, despite the fact that large numbers of these “experts” are consistently and abhorrently wrong.
The fact that there is almost never any accountability when members of the media are proven incorrect is a large reason why people have been driven to the Internet in search of actual experts who — for whatever reason — could not prosper inside the beltway. The progressive blogosphere is full of brilliant scholars who, in stark contrast to members of the mass media, have been demonstrably correct despite having varying degrees of journalistic training. However, the lack of training in the field is a minor concern compared to getting it wrong on the major events of the last few decades like so many of these “professional journalists” have.
This dynamic is why I vehemently contest the notion that we currently have a one-sided liberal mass media. Chris Bowers of Openleft.com recently wrote about this issue when analyzing demographic groups Democrats appeal to, noting they do not do well among “straight, Christian, non-union whites who are not single women, do not self-identify as liberal and are over the age of 30.” Mr. Bowers explained how “Republicans win this group with more than 70 percent of the vote” and “90 percent of the punditry falls into that category.”
The lack of mass media diversity relative to our population has been crippling to our democracy, as our public discourse is easily hijacked by exploiting the inherent biases typical of the demographic patterns of the punditocracy. In his new book “Great American Hypocrites: Toppling the Big Myths of Republican Politics,” constitutional lawyer-turned-blogger Glenn Greenwald dissects just how the right accomplished this and how it manifests itself in our democratic institutions:
“Our elections are dominated by the same tired personality script, trotted out over and over and over. Democrats and liberals — no matter how poor their upbringing, no matter how self-made they are, no matter how egalitarian their policies — are the freakish, out-of-touch elitists who despise the values of the Regular Americans. Right-wing leaders — no matter how extravagantly rich they are by virtue of other people’s money, no matter how insulated their lives are, no matter how indifferent their policies are to the vast rich/poor gap — are the normal, salt-of-the-earth Regular Folk. These petty, cliched storylines drown out every meaningful consideration and dictate our election outcomes, and they are deployed automatically.”
Our mass media system gives the farthest reaching and loudest microphones only to pundits who see the world through this corrupted political framework, and it is precisely how a war hero like John Kerry could so easily be depicted as less courageous and more elitist than a National Guard-deserting, billionaire oil tycoon like George W. Bush. Of course, The Capital Times has not been nearly as susceptible to such rancid tactics as the typical media outlet. I am hoping its transition to the Internet will amplify and enhance its capacity to speak truth to power, and I firmly believe Madison, and the nation as a whole, can greatly benefit from it.
Harry Waisbren ([email protected]) is a senior majoring in communication arts.
