I don’t know about you, but I’m getting pretty sick and tired of seeing these Tea Party idiots all over my television. I turn on the “news,” and there they are, holding badly spelled signs and chanting nonsense. The networks just love to show these people, probably for the same reasons they love to show car accidents. And now, thanks to that ceaseless media affection, the Tea Party is winning elections!
Click the image to view larger version. (Image: Stephen Pitt / Truthout)
This is a case of media coverage making political nightmares come true. Whenever these far-right activists hold one of their gatherings, you can’t help but notice how small the crowds are. I seem to remember a few hundred protests during the Bush era that involved hundreds of thousands of people, and smaller daily protests that took place in every corner of the country. Somehow, however, that spectacle didn’t warrant the same level of daily news coverage as these small bands of fringe right wingers.
Why, when the Republicans are angry, does it get called “news,” and when progressives are angry, it’s ignored? Why, when Tea Party activists defeat mainstream Republicans, does it get top billing, but when progressives defeat centrist Democrats (which also happened last night, in New Hampshire) is it skipped over? Maybe I’m paranoid, but I get the definite sense the so-called “mainstream” news media have a deeper agenda behind their constant coverage of this phenomenon that goes beyond simply showing the spectacle.
There has never been a more important time for the kind of honest, independent journalism that Truthout brings to you every day. Unlike the major media outlets, we don’t have an agenda beyond the truth. Unlike the “mainstream” news, we are not funded or owned by massive corporations that do not operate with your best interests in mind. We are beholden only to you, our readers and donors, and we take great pride in our efforts to bring you only the undiluted facts of the day and the analysis that can lead us to solutions. In other words, we leave the car accidents and the poorly spelled protest signs to the other guys. They can have them.
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Thank you so much,
William Rivers Pitt
Editor and Columnist, Truthout
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