Today, in George Bush's America, the media are more and more coming to
resemble Pravda, Isvestia and Gostelradio during the Stalin
regime. George Bush owes his ill-gotten office largely to the assistance
of the national media, now essentially owned by ten giant conglomerates (see
"The
Making of a Movement" in the
January 7 issue of The Nation). During the 2000 election campaign,
Al Gore was, quite frankly, slandered with flat-out false accusations, while
Bush's all-too manifest shortcomings were unreported. (See our "Post-Modern
Politics" and "The
Hijacked Election"). More recently, the media have
continued the cover-up of Bush's theft of the Florida, and hence the national,
election. Now the media are
promoting a Bush "cult of personality" that would astonish even Josef
Goebbels.
Except for a few token "liberal" voices (e.g., Mark Shields, Bill
Press, Phil Donahue, Mark Krugman and E. J. Dionne), the corporate media have
been effectively closed to serious presentation of progressive opinions.
It is a troublesome situation, but not hopeless.
In Russia during the Soviet era, "forbidden" works of literature
and political criticism were produced and circulated through a system known as
"samizdat." Those who received a manuscript would do so with the
implied promise that they would type out five carbon copies before passing it
on. And why not use a copier or mimeo machine? Simply because
private ownership of these devices was illegal, and access to the few that
existed was severely restricted.
Today, in what we like to call "the Free
World", computers, printers and copiers are abundant, and thus
Soviet-style control by the authorities is no longer possible, and the
inconvenience to the dissidents is thankfully no longer necessary. Most
significantly, perhaps, the computer has provided the internet -- "the last
refuge of the liberal" -- "the American Samizdat."
Of course, as anyone familiar with the internet is aware, ninety-plus percent
of the pages therein offer pure, certifiable crap -- porn sites, conservative rants,
commercial promotions, etc. Furthermore, internet material (including, lets face
it, original stuff at this site) is self-published, without editorial or
publishers' constraints. Still, to those who have searched and found a few
choice web sites, the internet offers much of what remains of free,
unconstrained, political and social commentary.
And so, as a service to those still looking for authentic dissent, we offer
below our suggested list of progressive web sites. There
you will find links to provocative political commentary and even some unspun
news reports -- generally from the foreign press. A good gateway site is
"The
Smirking Chimp," which we visit almost every night. In
addition, for a good antidote to Bushista snow-job that pretends to be
"journalism," visit "Media
Whores Online" and "Fairness
and Accuracy in Reporting."
My Russian friends tell me that during the Soviet era, most Russians came to
regard Pravda as an acceptable solution to the chronic toilet paper
shortage, but of little additional value. So they eagerly awaited receipt
of each new Samizdat and secretly tuned into the Voice of America and the
BBC. In short, the Russians developed very sensitive BS detectors. Alas, the time has
come for the American public to do the same.
Let the media know that you are fully aware that their "mushroom
tactics" (i.e., "keep 'em in the dark and feed them BS").
The news media put great value in their reputation and credibility. Tell
them that they have squandered both with their rightward "spin" and
their lies -- and specify those lies (e.g., the Gore smear, the Bush
coverup, the Florida election, etc.). Let them know that you are looking
elsewhere for your information.
