Autocrats & fascists, know the importance of media ownership (Hitler &Mussolini also took over radio & newspapers during their time). Why this simple lesson is lost on progressives is confounding...
Murdoch understood that long ago too. Look at the damages he has done to UK (ie news of the world scandal, brexit insane failure). Not mentioning his fucking fox news of course
Yes! This! So very far out of my field of expertise. Nonetheless it has been apparent to me for the last 12 or so years that the democrats need to counter Fox News and the ilk. And yes, having just driven across the vast emptiness of west Texas and east New Mexico, I can attest that there are no “decent” radio stations to listen to. And the buy up of local newspapers is limiting the ability to report on local stories and news.
The right wing take over of the media has coincided with the decline in the quality of public education. We now have a population that is less engaged and unable/unwilling to question and think critically.
It would appear that Clinton paid the price for her comment on the “free market”.
I am continually stunned at the dystopia of our modern society. The earth is round, the sky is blue, vaccines save lives, and sadly Sandy Hook really happened.
I’ve been saying this for over two decades! But I never had an audience. I’m glad to hear that you tried. The Democrats resistance to your message is beyond comprehension.
The lack of understanding of how ideas are promoted and exactly what base campaigning is truly confounds the health of the Dem Party. The truth ought to be enough but always comes short to kabuki theater. Constant echos from right wingers on radio complaining about the state of the economy and crime has made the population believe the economy and crime are worse despite reality. How long can we withstand these toxic lies before it destroys society? We need fighters to fight for the truth and media outlets to promote truth. The media is working against the truth. The Dem Party needs media that supports facts before we die in a swamp of lies. Make Free Speech TV our Fox and shoot down lies. Just show some fight and see how much that rallies the people from the swamp of lies.
Around 1992, Americans thought they won the “Cold War.” In truth, the winner was hyper-capitalism, not democracy and freedom. Since then, America has been increasingly bought and run by billionaires. Musk even runs the US space program and the satellite communications system in Ukraine. Zueckerberg, Gates, and a few dozen other billionaires whom you have never heard of are buying up neighborhoods, school systems, newspapers, radio, and influencing all of the other media. Some of these people are supporting progressive causes, but the rest are supporting messages that the wealthy should become wealthier, and everyone else should become Christian.
But, there are several TikTok sites that are fighting for democracy and we need to at least watch them to increase their chances of getting the algorithm to spread them around. TikTok is the new radio. I heard on Hard Fork that some 14 year-old are spending 12 to 18 hours a day on TikTok. While this is certainly a problem, it offers a way to reach the younger generations.
Last May, I deleted my long time Facebook page. Though I followed many liberal pages, I was incredibly agitated by right wing commenters and trolls....the hate, vitriol and misinformation were more than I could take.
This week, I opened a new Facebook account, strictly to follow some of the great groups I used to follow.
My entire news feed was full of right wing propaganda and misinformation.
Another far reaching piece by our dear Thom! Sadly, in our massively overpopulated nation and world, now in a progressive state of climate collapse, folks sort ourselves out in our massive status hierarchies by our sole measure of status: MONEY. I don't know about anyone else, but I live just below the median income level, own no stocks or bonds, and buy books, with food purchases if any money is left over. I say, let the materialists race on, I-phone in hand, until they one day soon wake-up at the Gates of Hades, but it will be too late then. Just imagine how long that line of millionaires like Romney will be trying to squeeze themselves through the eye of a needle.
Probably the most important article Thom has written in a while.
There is almost no real strategy or process to craft, then deliver, a Progressive vision of society. And there is absolutely no organized program for playing hardball to expose, dismantle, and discredit the right wing message.
Colbert and a few others are fine in making fun of the obvious fools. It will not make a difference.
We are at war and that requires a policy, strategy and tactics to research, frame, and then deliver a unified progressive vision. It is no good to keep featuring yet another group that deserves support. The Right's message designers salivate every time the newest Handicapped Lesbians with AIDs gets up in front of the microphone and begins demanding their rights.
If progressive action means endlessly splintering the American community and its commonwealth, we are doomed. Every new suffering minority only provides more ammunition for FOX, etc, to .deepen the anger and distrust of Americans in general.
The goal must be to develop a single, common vision that functions for everyone, leaving Identities at the door.
We need a process that includes research -- to ensure accuracy of our facts and uncover the falsehoods or theirs.
We need a group skilled in framing messages that move people, not lecture them in what they SHOULD be thinking. And we need a tight team of talented deliverers of the message.
And we need an overall structure that funds and keeps the three points in touch and able to react quickly.
Too much corporate Democratic Party money is being spent on their buddies in tired, old polling organizations with their study groups.
The media's Fairness Doctrine desperately needs to be updated and reinstated. (It was allowed to die during Reagan's reign and gave rise to RWNJ talk radio and to Faux News, etc.)
History really is a great teacher. Three things to review: 1) the undoing of the Fairness Doctrine in broadcast content, 2) Newt Gingrich’s sponsorship of Rupert Murdoch’s US citizenship, 3) the Telecommunications Act of 1996. And one to remember from disgraced former CBSNews CEO Les Moonves: Trump’s buffoonish candidacy “May not be good for America, but he’s damned good for CBSNews.” Last week I did a TrumpvsBiden check on HuffPost and Yahoo, a top-to-bottom scroll of one page for each site. The results: HuffPost 111 Trump windows, 20 Biden windows ; Yahoo offered 25 Trump clicks and 7 Biden clicks, 3 of which were windows split with Trump. So, the Trump beat goes on, and on, and on. After all, he’s SO newsworthy! And, importantly, how did he color his hair today?
This excellent offering offers timely solutions re possibly the most critical area of needed efforts to keep democracy alive. What should merit equal attention is why, just why, there has been very little action from progressive fronts to accountably join in. Start with the billionaires. Accountability must be demanded here. If frail emotions spur them to distance themselves farther in participation, so be it. Many billionaires are actually emotionally febrile. There is gain coming from needed sunshine. Equally strong demands must be applied to the structured Democratic Party. Why the passive no action? I could talk for weeks about the no action response on many fronts of the Democratic Party in the face of this coup, but more salient crticisms might be directed at Democratic voters nationwide re their inaction demanding more action from the players they voted into office. Key word--DEMAND.
Well Thom we told you that and I gave you guys our information so that you could interview an actual Whistleblower who knows what is going on. Instead you guys just ignore it and keep doing the wrong things.
In 2005 I was introduced to am760 out of Denver, Colorado.
That's when Thom Hartmann came into my life - and I've been an ardent student of all things Thom ever since. Thom has my ear on just about every issue because he's shown me his wisdom and good intent - every single day - for almost 20 years now.
Thom literally changed the course of my life, for the better. He put to words those massive and amorphous clouds of elusive thought that I hadn't been able to properly construct nor articulate to others. Through his radio program I found comfort knowing I was not alone in my hope for a world that could be better for everyone. My book collection exploded as a result. So did my knowledge. So did my belief that, one day - perhaps far beyond my lifetime - this world could be a better place for all that is Life.
That's the power of radio, of mass communications accessibility. I had a situation where I could listen and learn from Thom 5 days out of every single week. It's not rocket surgery - if people have easy access to truth and compassion, the world is reborn.
Why hasn’t Soros bought up a good newspaper? (Knight-Ridder would have been a wise choice !). We don’t have many centrist newspapers left. A Wall Street hedge fund bought two of our hood area papers.
Murdoch understood that long ago too. Look at the damages he has done to UK (ie news of the world scandal, brexit insane failure). Not mentioning his fucking fox news of course
I would invest in a crowdfunded Democratic Party media conglomerate owning radio, tv and social mass medias.
Yes! This! So very far out of my field of expertise. Nonetheless it has been apparent to me for the last 12 or so years that the democrats need to counter Fox News and the ilk. And yes, having just driven across the vast emptiness of west Texas and east New Mexico, I can attest that there are no “decent” radio stations to listen to. And the buy up of local newspapers is limiting the ability to report on local stories and news.
The right wing take over of the media has coincided with the decline in the quality of public education. We now have a population that is less engaged and unable/unwilling to question and think critically.
It would appear that Clinton paid the price for her comment on the “free market”.
I am continually stunned at the dystopia of our modern society. The earth is round, the sky is blue, vaccines save lives, and sadly Sandy Hook really happened.
I’ve been saying this for over two decades! But I never had an audience. I’m glad to hear that you tried. The Democrats resistance to your message is beyond comprehension.
The lack of understanding of how ideas are promoted and exactly what base campaigning is truly confounds the health of the Dem Party. The truth ought to be enough but always comes short to kabuki theater. Constant echos from right wingers on radio complaining about the state of the economy and crime has made the population believe the economy and crime are worse despite reality. How long can we withstand these toxic lies before it destroys society? We need fighters to fight for the truth and media outlets to promote truth. The media is working against the truth. The Dem Party needs media that supports facts before we die in a swamp of lies. Make Free Speech TV our Fox and shoot down lies. Just show some fight and see how much that rallies the people from the swamp of lies.
Around 1992, Americans thought they won the “Cold War.” In truth, the winner was hyper-capitalism, not democracy and freedom. Since then, America has been increasingly bought and run by billionaires. Musk even runs the US space program and the satellite communications system in Ukraine. Zueckerberg, Gates, and a few dozen other billionaires whom you have never heard of are buying up neighborhoods, school systems, newspapers, radio, and influencing all of the other media. Some of these people are supporting progressive causes, but the rest are supporting messages that the wealthy should become wealthier, and everyone else should become Christian.
But, there are several TikTok sites that are fighting for democracy and we need to at least watch them to increase their chances of getting the algorithm to spread them around. TikTok is the new radio. I heard on Hard Fork that some 14 year-old are spending 12 to 18 hours a day on TikTok. While this is certainly a problem, it offers a way to reach the younger generations.
All true, and I have a further example.
Last May, I deleted my long time Facebook page. Though I followed many liberal pages, I was incredibly agitated by right wing commenters and trolls....the hate, vitriol and misinformation were more than I could take.
This week, I opened a new Facebook account, strictly to follow some of the great groups I used to follow.
My entire news feed was full of right wing propaganda and misinformation.
One hundred percent of it.
Another far reaching piece by our dear Thom! Sadly, in our massively overpopulated nation and world, now in a progressive state of climate collapse, folks sort ourselves out in our massive status hierarchies by our sole measure of status: MONEY. I don't know about anyone else, but I live just below the median income level, own no stocks or bonds, and buy books, with food purchases if any money is left over. I say, let the materialists race on, I-phone in hand, until they one day soon wake-up at the Gates of Hades, but it will be too late then. Just imagine how long that line of millionaires like Romney will be trying to squeeze themselves through the eye of a needle.
Probably the most important article Thom has written in a while.
There is almost no real strategy or process to craft, then deliver, a Progressive vision of society. And there is absolutely no organized program for playing hardball to expose, dismantle, and discredit the right wing message.
Colbert and a few others are fine in making fun of the obvious fools. It will not make a difference.
We are at war and that requires a policy, strategy and tactics to research, frame, and then deliver a unified progressive vision. It is no good to keep featuring yet another group that deserves support. The Right's message designers salivate every time the newest Handicapped Lesbians with AIDs gets up in front of the microphone and begins demanding their rights.
If progressive action means endlessly splintering the American community and its commonwealth, we are doomed. Every new suffering minority only provides more ammunition for FOX, etc, to .deepen the anger and distrust of Americans in general.
The goal must be to develop a single, common vision that functions for everyone, leaving Identities at the door.
We need a process that includes research -- to ensure accuracy of our facts and uncover the falsehoods or theirs.
We need a group skilled in framing messages that move people, not lecture them in what they SHOULD be thinking. And we need a tight team of talented deliverers of the message.
And we need an overall structure that funds and keeps the three points in touch and able to react quickly.
Too much corporate Democratic Party money is being spent on their buddies in tired, old polling organizations with their study groups.
We are running out of time.
D. Laghezza
The media's Fairness Doctrine desperately needs to be updated and reinstated. (It was allowed to die during Reagan's reign and gave rise to RWNJ talk radio and to Faux News, etc.)
History really is a great teacher. Three things to review: 1) the undoing of the Fairness Doctrine in broadcast content, 2) Newt Gingrich’s sponsorship of Rupert Murdoch’s US citizenship, 3) the Telecommunications Act of 1996. And one to remember from disgraced former CBSNews CEO Les Moonves: Trump’s buffoonish candidacy “May not be good for America, but he’s damned good for CBSNews.” Last week I did a TrumpvsBiden check on HuffPost and Yahoo, a top-to-bottom scroll of one page for each site. The results: HuffPost 111 Trump windows, 20 Biden windows ; Yahoo offered 25 Trump clicks and 7 Biden clicks, 3 of which were windows split with Trump. So, the Trump beat goes on, and on, and on. After all, he’s SO newsworthy! And, importantly, how did he color his hair today?
This excellent offering offers timely solutions re possibly the most critical area of needed efforts to keep democracy alive. What should merit equal attention is why, just why, there has been very little action from progressive fronts to accountably join in. Start with the billionaires. Accountability must be demanded here. If frail emotions spur them to distance themselves farther in participation, so be it. Many billionaires are actually emotionally febrile. There is gain coming from needed sunshine. Equally strong demands must be applied to the structured Democratic Party. Why the passive no action? I could talk for weeks about the no action response on many fronts of the Democratic Party in the face of this coup, but more salient crticisms might be directed at Democratic voters nationwide re their inaction demanding more action from the players they voted into office. Key word--DEMAND.
Well Thom we told you that and I gave you guys our information so that you could interview an actual Whistleblower who knows what is going on. Instead you guys just ignore it and keep doing the wrong things.
In 2005 I was introduced to am760 out of Denver, Colorado.
That's when Thom Hartmann came into my life - and I've been an ardent student of all things Thom ever since. Thom has my ear on just about every issue because he's shown me his wisdom and good intent - every single day - for almost 20 years now.
Thom literally changed the course of my life, for the better. He put to words those massive and amorphous clouds of elusive thought that I hadn't been able to properly construct nor articulate to others. Through his radio program I found comfort knowing I was not alone in my hope for a world that could be better for everyone. My book collection exploded as a result. So did my knowledge. So did my belief that, one day - perhaps far beyond my lifetime - this world could be a better place for all that is Life.
That's the power of radio, of mass communications accessibility. I had a situation where I could listen and learn from Thom 5 days out of every single week. It's not rocket surgery - if people have easy access to truth and compassion, the world is reborn.
Why hasn’t Soros bought up a good newspaper? (Knight-Ridder would have been a wise choice !). We don’t have many centrist newspapers left. A Wall Street hedge fund bought two of our hood area papers.
"It’s time to get started!"
I already am with my podcast every week, The Village Oak Tree. Thank you Thom Hartmann for giving me the idea over a year ago.