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.
I've stated many, many times over the past several weeks that I firmly believe the media to be our primary practical enemy to overcome. We have problems aplenty, but if the truth never makes it to the masses, none of those problems are likely to be cured. So, will we fight? Or will we go on griping in futility? I vote for the former.
There are already some great organizations out there doing a good job of finding and reporting the bias in nice, straightforward terms, such as MediaResearch.org. I applaud their efforts, but submit to you that it's time for We The People to take the next step. It's time for activism that uses the evidence of the bias to effect change. How do we do it?
I'll be the first to tell you that I'm no media expert, and that I claim no intimate knowlege of the mechanics of the business. I am, however, a dedicated Conservative who has simply had enough, and I'm willing to use the talents and resources that I do have in an effort to bring about meaningful change. I have a fair amount of writing and editing experience, and a more basic set of web design skills. Most importantly, I have a fire in the belly to fight the insanity of the liberal media.
If there are those of you who feel the same way and are willing to help, I'd appreciate your weighing in on the message boards I've set up HERE to indicate your interest in being a part of the campaign. General ideas and strategy suggestions would be best placed in the General Discussion forum. Willingness to to share your talents for the cause should be expressed in the Volunteer Your Talent forum.
Please understand that this effort is in no way intended to be competitive to this fine board. Its purpose must be narrow and focused. What I envision is a coordination center where we can plan and implement strategies designed to produce results. There needs to be discussion about identifying the strategies most likely to succeed. Boycotts? Letter writing campaigns? What are the most vulnerable pressure points for these giants, and how do we squeeze those points?
If you have ideas and talents to share, please let me know. We will need talented web designers, people with knowledge of the media industry, people who can write, and people who can brainstorm and be a part of figuring out how to make this work. If you know of an existing similar effort that's already underway, by all means let me know that, as well. I have no personal axe to grind at all, and it is crucial that we come together in a concerted, focused effort. I know full well that there is plenty of disgust out there for the current situation, but if we wind up trying to fight in ten different efforts, each of those ten will be doomed to failure. We must unite.
[
Reply |
Private Reply | Top | Last ]
I live in Bush Country, but there are things that can be done. If you're paper markets to conservative readers, you can convince them not to print AP(All Propaganda) stories. The first place we can hit the AP is in conservative towns where the papers might listen to the readers. AP must go, they are disgusting.
Two groups which offer some decent suggestions, although they are not "one of us":
Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting: The National Media Watch Group. See "Activism", then "FAIR'S Media Activism Kit". *barf alert* but useful suggestions.
BUMP
bump
Registered and Bumping
Great job, MississippiMan! I think the site has a lot of potential. Freepers, check it out. Report news in the different topics, brainstorm, make suggestions. If we all work together, we WILL be successful.
I just registered. Great idea you have!
Indeed, I came to the same conclusion. It is not Bill Clinton who is the problem, but it is his "enablers" in the establishment media. The Jennifer Flowers story or the execution of death row retarded man story should have sunk him. The utterly irresponsible bombing of an aspirin factory or the dirty deals with Red China or even the lying under oath should have buried his political life. But the media shrugged and as a result, the Boy President (and his lovely wife) became more and more arrogant.
They both realized that Bill would have to "rape and kill someone on national television" before he would be drummed from office.
What the media does not realize is that the Internet has only begun to run its course. We are living in the pentultimate days of the Information Age. This will hurt them more than neccesarily anything we do at the moment.
BUMP
BUMP
Absofreepinglutely!!!! Public enemy number 1!!!! We have to shut down the propaganda machine. We need to insist on a sweep of the FCC and that the libs do not have their liscenses renewed when the time comes, for attempting to throw an election!
Thanks, Spark. Help spread the word. The first thing we need is a critical mass of people involved.
It is not Bill Clinton who is the problem, but it is his "enablers" in the establishment media.
Exactly! Nixon's transgressions paled in comparison to any of a long list of things Clinton did and got away with, solely because the people sit back like sponges and soak up the crap from the mainstream media.
This point was really hammered home to me a couple of weeks ago. My best friend, who is a very well educated (PhD) conservative and who knows how biased the media is, was talking to me on the phone the day after SCOTUS vacated the first SCOFLAw ruling. He pays attention to politics. Lives in Tennessee and knows what Gore is. Quite well informed, yet after watching coverage of that ruling for 24 hours, he had no idea that the ruling had been vacated! He was blown away when I told him and kept asking if I was sure, because every bit of coverage he had seen had portrayed it as a neutral or non-decision.
People have no clue what's going on in this country and never will if left to the control of the current bunch of bozos.
It is not Bill Clinton who is the problem, but it is his "enablers" in the establishment media.
Exactly! Nixon's transgressions paled in comparison to any of a long list of things Clinton did and got away with, solely because the people sit back like sponges and soak up the crap from the mainstream media.
This point was really hammered home to me a couple of weeks ago. My best friend, who is a very well educated (PhD) conservative and who knows how biased the media is, was talking to me on the phone the day after SCOTUS vacated the first SCOFLAw ruling. He pays attention to politics. Lives in Tennessee and knows what Gore is. Quite well informed, yet after watching coverage of that ruling for 24 hours, he had no idea that the ruling had been vacated! He was blown away when I told him and kept asking if I was sure, because every bit of coverage he had seen had portrayed it as a neutral or non-decision.
People have no clue what's going on in this country and never will if left to the control of the current bunch of bozos.
It would take some committment and energy for no pay, but, the reason the media gets away with it is that the conversation is so one-sided. How much good does it do to write a letter to the editor? None. The editor is a committed subversive socialist and merely chuckles a bit befor he throws your letter in the round file, if he reads it at all.
What is needed is a public forum with the editor on the hotseat, having to answer factual questions concerning his practices. Have the community access channel of your local cable tv company there scoping out the proceedings and make ye old editor sweat where the general public can see him.
I don't know if it would be possible, but I think it would get some results if the media knew that there were intelligent people out here who are tired of their drivel and don't want to take it any more and are willing to go through considerable trouble to expose their irresponsible practices.
I'll say it again: Turn off your TV, turn off your radio and don't buy newspapers or mags. Scout your neighboorhood daily for jack-boots, white UN trucks, or any other unusul happenings and report your sightings here and on EZboard's TimeBomb2000 website.
"What the media does not realize is that the Internet has only begun to run its course. We are living in the pentultimate days of the Information Age. This will hurt them more than neccesarily anything we do at the moment."
Until They bring the Internet down, that is.
I'll say it again: Turn off your TV, turn off your radio and don't buy newspapers or mags.
We disagree on the way to handle it. To be honest, watching these jerks on TV absolutely sickens me, but I sure can't fight what I cannot see. I'll notice a UN truck if it shows up in my neighborhood, though. :-)
Your #9--I agree completely!
Mending Fences in Tennessee by JADA90 I found it honorable of Al Gore to acknowledge in his concession speech that he needed to go to Tennessee to "mend fences... literally and figuratively". Perhaps while he is in the 'fence mending' mood, Mr. Gore could pick up some building material at his local Carthage,Tennessee Home Depot and mend some seventy feet of fence row he took out while fleeing from two Tennessee Highway Patrol in his Corvette resulting in his arrest. Read the following release... Monday November 6, 2000; 5:55 PM ET http://www.NewsMax.com Tennessee Radio Host Claims Gore Hiding Arrest Record On Friday Vice President Al Gore told Tennessee's KCCI-TV that he'd never been arrested for drunk driving. "Absolutely not," Gore said. "I've had speeding tickets, but no. Absolutely not." Apparently the veep told the truth about not being arrested for DUI. But WREC AM Memphis talk show host Mike Fleming says there's more to the "speeding ticket" story than meets the eye. According to a Tennessee government source who Fleming describes as "unimpeachable," Gore was not just ticketed for speeding, he was arrested. And then he was arrested a second time for reckless driving. "It happened near his home in Carthage, Tennessee, in the late 1960s," Fleming told NewsMax.com Monday. "Not only did they arrest him twice,Gore tried to get away from them once." Fleming's source says Gore was driving a Corvette at the time and he "took out about seventy feet of fence row" while on the run from the cops. Fleming went public with the info on his radio show Friday afternoon, going so far as to name the two Tennessee Highway Patrol arresting officers - Capt. Ralph Swift and Officer R.C. Overstreet. Since his report, Fleming has had several inquiries from mainstream press outlets. But so far, no one has picked up the story. Calls by NewsMax.com to Capt. Swift and Officer Overstreet have yet to be returned. But when apprised of the subject of our inquiry, a secretary in Swift's Highway Patrol office seemed to know about the incident. "Oh yes," she said. "Capt. Swift will have to get back to you about that."
If we can document the damage incurred, then we can CLASS ACTION SUE them.
After all, they are BIG MEDIA, bigger then tobacco, and they caused more damage
to me than tobacco ever did.
By their adjectives ye shall know them. All adjectives are subjective and give away the bias of the writer. It would be a great exercise to find just one article written without any. I confronted Eleanor Clift with this on a call in talk show about 10 years ago and she had no comeback.
Nice work MM. I would support a stepped approach.
Step I Letter writing campaign (every morning list media abuses with a call to like-minded folks to write letters of complaint)
Step II Continued letter writing with threats of boycott
Step III Boycotts (first, of actual news broadcasts, secondly of sponsors of those programs, next local affiliates...)(A comment on boycotts--they take a long time to take hold--we need much greater strength in numbers than we have on FR to be effective--did you know that grapes are still being boycotted? Did you know that Disney's profits are still increasing annually, despite a boycott launced against them by Southern Baptists?)
As you know, I share your concern and have posted brainstorming threads. I've also contacted Media Research Center and have asked them if they know of any one else who might join us.
I also have a suggestion for a name--CORP--Citizens Organized for a Responsible Press
BTW, CORP rhymes with Gore
I adjusted my remote control to skip ABC, NBC, and CBS. I did this five years ago and have never looked at those channels again. I wrote to the networks and told them that I did so. I cancelled my subscriptions of almost 20 years to Time and Newsweek. I won't even read them in the dentist's office. As a matter of fact I got my sister who is a doctor to stop her subscriptions for her offices. I think one person from Free Republic should be assigned to report their misleading info and outright lies. The rest of us should help to cut their ratings and subscription rate done to the bone.
I've been reporting them here all week--cutting and pasting e-mails I've received from MRC...what I'd like to see is a call to action every morning in Free Republic. List the abuses with a call to action in Breaking News (if that would be allowed...).
(and his lovely wife)
Surely you jest. Hillary looks like a cross-dressed Bill.
BTW, I know of two other Freepers who have their own web sites under development with the same goal in mind--I'm already collaborating with one of them. Y'all need to pool your resources.
bump with a correctly spelled name
If any of ya have a webpage, please join conservatives against media bias webring!!! BUMPa!
BREAKING NEWS dissapears much to fast. I'd like to see a link to the marching orders of the day displayed on every page, just as 'self search' and 'bookmark' One click would take you to a page with links to addresses for the media as well as their snailmail addresses. Congesss contact info and addresses for the state legislators too.
A big project would be to log the commercial sponsors and provide contact info for these people. BTW..people should be prodded into making telephone calls first then follow up with snail mail rather than just emails as the former two carry more weight. And to be calm and reasoned. "YOU SUCK" is not an approach that leads to success.
One that same vien, I'm thinking that incrementalism may be the way to go. Pick out a little thing, and ask them if they see it, followed by your views on how it might be addressed. End the letter with I'm a continuing viewer but this is starting to bug me or I never see them do that on FOX. Threats to stop watching or declarations that I never watch you guys are usless. Why should they change their practices to suit non viewers?
Can someone explain just what the FCC offers as redress?
Too early...need coffee. Will visit and bookmark.
Right on! I was surrounded by 2nd hand smoke my whole life, don't have any health problems and despite the propaganda they've force fed me (or tried) my mind has not manufactured any related to smoking. However, my brain was very dead from being programmed by liberals and the media and it wasn't renewed until 1990! Until that time, I was a liberal zombie. Please don't fault me, I grew up in foster homes and being brainwashed by counselors and other liberal activists, was spoon fed Betty Freidan and Germaine Greer, et al. One counselor was a self-proclaimed "witch" who took it upon herself to cleanse me of my puritan religious beliefs. So please, have patience with me on this board but know one thing: I don't have a single respiratory or lung problem...wooohooo! DEATH TO THE MEDIA! I WANT TO SUE!!!
I went to your web ring, but my browser doesn't like it. The images keep distorting themselves...
Hmm...that's odd. What kind of browser do you have? You could also try this way. I'm currently in the process of moving my webring from yahoo to ringsurf..so we're still in the ''transfer'' stage..
I'm using IE 5...Mindspring (or Earthlink, if you will) has somehow prevented me from using Netscape as an alternative.
I tried the other way you suggested--it's the image of algore in the straight-jacket that keeps twisting itself (maybe al's trying to get out)--everything else is okay.
The only way to reverse the bias in the media is to use the exact same tactics that the demoncrats use. Divide and conquer......
Pick any good liberal media talking head. Rivera or Matthews would be a good 1st choice. Then flood that station and advertisers with negative opinions of that person. Watch the persons every move and word. When he stumbles, sue him. Sue him once, twice, a hundred times. Never let up until the station ousts him. When they do, move on to the next talking head.........
I'll take a look.
The best way is the way we are going; alternatives to the lamestreamers. We must support, with out patronage, those who are working to provide the alternatives.
Concerning TV, never forget, it is an entertainment medium, and is at its worst when purporting to be most serious. See Neil Postman's "Amusing Ourselves to Death."
Just let each and everyone of them that you are not reading, watching or listening to their propaganda and then keep your promise, thus they will change or collapse.
Thanks calypgin for the bump.
Let's make more noise than two hundred skeletons dancing on a tin roof..!! YeeHaa..!!!
bump
I'm in.
Archie Bunker writes:
"I live in Bush Country, but there are things that can be done. If you're paper markets to conservative readers, you can convince them not to print AP(All Propaganda) stories. The first place we can hit the AP is in conservative towns where the papers might listen to the readers. AP must go, they are disgusting."
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Excellent point. I too live in Bush Country..and read a conservative newspaper. There is a problem with that though, my paper of choice, "The Daily Oklahoman" is most certainly conservative on the editorial page. But it uses A.P., Reuters, Knight Ridder N.S. and the A. P. Writers.. ( That last one. Is it different than A.P...? Anyone? ) for the body of the paper. I can "see-thru" the malarkey..but the average non-freeper sheeple can't.
Anyway I've often thought the same as yourself on this subject. Time to write another letter..........I guess.
IceGirl writes:
"I think one person from Free Republic should be assigned to report their misleading info and outright lies."
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Won't that be cruel and unusual punishment? Do we find the most obnoxious poster, and give him/her that assignment for a week, as demanded by JimRob?
Good idea, though I just don't know how you assign such odious work.
MississippiMan writes:"People have no clue what's going on in this country and never will if left to the control of the current bunch of bozos."
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
Amen, brother. I've a hundred personal stories that verify and solidify that statement. I won't even bore anyone with just one of them. Let's just say what you've said shows me this ain't your first rodeo.
Most excellent post.
Might I humbly offer a few suggestions?:
1. Insist that your cable or satellite provider carries FOX NEWS. Threaten to cancel if they refuse.
2. Take your dog-eared copies of National Reviw, The Weekly Standard, The American Spectator or whatever non-liberal magazines you read and leave them in places where bored people might pick them up. (Remove the mailing label that has your name on it.) I've left copies at my health club where people on the stationary bikes are a captive audience, at the doctor and dentist, at the train station (people are really desparate for something to read on the train), etc. If each of us could get one person a month to read one article that might just get them to say, "hmmm..." then we've made a start.
3. I forward interesting articles from FreeRepublic to my friends on both sides of the political spectrum. My conservative contacts (about 90% of my list) are thrilled with the new ammunition they can use on their liberal friends. The liberals on my list still think I'm a Clymer, but at least now they know what a Clymer is. They treat me like some kind of lovable but naughty pet, as in
"Yeah, it must be true if you saw it on Free Republic (heard it on Rush Limbaugh,") Of course, they think the crap they see on Whorealdo or the Clinton News Network comes straight from the Mount.
If ya ask me, it's all some homo conspiracy.
Greetings...
Y'all can bet that I'm following the slooowwwwlllyyy-unwinding story of
"voter-disenfranchisement" in Florida, as put forth by Rev. Jesse Jackson, the NAACP and
other activism groups.
If minority voters were illegally harassed or disenfranchised, I want to see the
proper heads roll.
But all I've read to this point (including some posters remarks about O'Reilly being
unable to pry OBJECTIVE FACTS from a lawyer filing lawsuits in this matter) leaves
me feeling that the only outcome of all this will be:
The Rev. Jesse Jackson and the NAACP will owe a big apology to Dubya and Jeb Bush,
as well as law enforcement and polling officials in Florida.
With the exception of Ms. LaPore, the Democrat who designed the butterfly ballot,
and saw that it was approved, along with the voting instructions that read "Vote All Pages".
I can see this intersection of odd ballot and improper instuction with semi-literate voters
creating hugh "overvote"...with two punches where only one will be counted.
Thus, if any supporter of Jesse Jackson and/or the NAACP is lurking, I will give some
practical advise.
Sue the people who most likey disenfranchised you.
Ms. LaPore, her Democratic collegues, and The Democratic National Committee, who direct the
mentality and philosophy of these local officials.
I suggest asking for damages in the range of TEN TRILLION DOLLARS...something like
the amount of entitlement programs that Al Gore would have enacted and would have
been paid out over the 100 years to the current disenfranchised voters and their
succeeding generations.
Don't waste flames about me being mean-spirited...I hate corporate welfare as much or more.
Both multi-generational and corporate welfare just rob the people who keep this country
moving forward.
What wire service is conservative though?
"What wire service is conservative though?"
WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
None that I'm aware of. Surely there is one? Help, anyone? I claim ignorance here.
Whether or not there is or isn't, the task of changing the media remains a formidable one. Although not without hope...Witness the rise of Fox News, witness the rise of FreeRepublic.
I believe with all my heart that there is a gnawing in the souls of many sheeple, that something isn't quite right with the way they receive their news. I believe that many of them, know instinctively that something is amiss..but they cannot place their fingers on it. Least wise that was the way I was..many years ago. We shall see...what we shall see...sayth the blind man to the tree.....
Best Regards------
I've signed on to the forum. Thank you for providing this opportunity. One point I'd like to make here is that the schools of journalism in universities all over the country are really the beginning of the problem. The liberal media bias starts there, not in the newsrooms. Last year the Dallas Morning News printed a couple of extremely anti-American columns by a "distinguished" journalism professor at the U. of Texas Austin. I dare say his hateful leftist views are not rare among university faculty. These are the people who are molding the minds of our youth, turning them into future leftists.
I wonder what we might be able to do about this?
The EndtheBias forum is taking shape nicely (click link in first post by MississippiMan) ... I encourage all of you freepers concerned with media bias to get involved, as this forum will provide a repository of ideas and plans of action to tackle the media. Unlike the many excellent "media bias" threads here on FR that come and go so quickly, this is a permanent site we can add information to.
BTTT
BTTT for you night owls....
Bumpity Bump. I am always amazed at how much the media gets wrong in stories where I am familiar with the facts. Makes me really question how much is true in stories where I can't independently confirm the facts. (Maybe 5%?)
I know what you mean about firsthand experience. Just in our Tulsa Anti-Gore rally media coverage, I was surprised to find the local newspaper misquoted us, and television journalists asked endless questions, to which our answers were articulate, even brilliant, but the 15-second television spot aired only the one dorky response we came up with! LOL!
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.
[
Top
|
Latest Posts
|
Latest Articles
|
Self Search
|
Add Bookmark
|
Post
|
Abuse
|
Help!
]
FreeRepublic , LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794 Forum Version 2.0a Copyright © 1999 Free Republic, LLC |