The failures of the "progressive" media
author: independent reporter
This week George W. Bush faces a week of intense, non-stop protests. But you would never realize the importance or significance of these events if you relied on the corporate media or even the so called "alternative" or "progressive" media.
Bush and his administration faces a week of protest, first in the UK and then in Miami. To get the news as it happens, unfiltered by corporate editors and journalists, and untampered by money, follow  http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ and http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ and link to www.ftaaimc.org.
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This week George W. Bush faces a week of intense, non-stop protests. But you would never realize the importance or significance of these events if you relied on the corporate media or even the so called "alternative" or "progressive" media.
At commondreams.org their top link ( http://www.commondreams.org/headlines03/1119-01.htm) is to a story about the FTAA protests, reposted from the Miami Herald. The story is about how many "ordinary people"are involved in protesting the FTAA. Is this an important story? Yes, it is important to convey that people from all walks of life engage in protests in this country. Is this story an accurate reflection of what is happening? Absolutely not. First, it perpetuates the myth that most people that protest are somehow different from other people. I know several individuals who have traveled from Portland, OR to Miami, FL and I they are no different than people I know who didn't travel to protest. They work 40 hours jobs, own houses, have families, and their lives do not revolve around protesting. While some people do lead lives dedicated to organizing protests if all that ever showed up to protests were those people, they would be insignificant. It is always regular people that take time off from their lives to protest that make protests effective.
Furthermore neither that article, nor the one on workingforchange.org ( http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=15992) that was linked from the michaelmoore.com must read section, nor another from commondreams.org ( http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1116-09.htm), nor one from the nation ( http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031201&s=anderson) have any information on police harassment, surveillance, and intimidation ( http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/904.shtml, http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/894.shtml, http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/862.shtml, http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/354.shtml), arrests and raids ( http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/895.shtml, http://ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/889.shtml), or the restrictions in civil rights passed by the "Protest Ordinance" ( http://www.workingforchange.com/article.cfm?itemid=15992) that was linked from the michaelmoore.com must read section, nor another from commondreams.org ( http://www.commondreams.org/views03/1116-09.htm), nor one from the nation ( http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20031201&s=anderson) have any information on police harassment, surveillance, and intimidation ( http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/904.shtml, http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/894.shtml, http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/862.shtml, http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/354.shtml), arrests and raids ( http://www.ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/895.shtml, http://ftaaimc.org/en/2003/11/889.shtml), or the restrictions in civil rights passed by the "Protest Ordinance" ( link to www.ftaaimc.org).
At least michaelmoore.com has a link ( http://michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php) to uk indymedia ( http://michaelmoore.com/mustread/index.php) to uk indymedia ( link to www.indymedia.org.uk).
In fact, you would think that protesters fall into one homogeneous group and that they generically protest rather than the reality which is that numerous groups have planned numerous events and actions in Miami and across the UK in protest this week.
And I listed a few sites but nothing is different on counterpunch, inthesetimes, buzzflash, progress.org, or any other "progressive" news site ( http://directory.google.com/Top/News/Politics/Progressive_and_Left/). Even the progressive blogs, while containing some good information, also lack much of this information. Cursor ( http://cursor.org) has a link to a hilarious piece about "anarchists"( http://directory.google.com/Top/News/Politics/Progressive_and_Left/). Even the progressive blogs, while containing some good information, also lack much of this information. Cursor ( http://cursor.org) has a link to a hilarious piece about "anarchists"( link to www.sun-sentinel.com) and a couple of other FTAA Miami links but again, nothing of much substance about what is actually happening down there.
And the sad thing is that none of this surprises me because this is how it has always been. The so called "alternative" or "progressive" press basically just takes corporate media stories and tries to spin them to fit their agenda without ever questioning the underlying assumptions of the stories themselves. Nor do these sites ever get information about what is really happening on the streets of the United States and in other countries.
The choice for each site that wishes to present progressive news and analysis is to decide whether they want to support the continuations of the status quo, perhaps with a Clinton-esque democrat president, or would they rather represent the voices of the people who are increasingly being able to tell their own stories utilizing resources such as indymedia. This is a choice for the editors and for the journalists themselves. During the Sacramento Agricultural Ministerial in June we watched as amazing coverage was presented by biotech indymedia ( http://www.biotechimc.org/or/topic/sacramento/) and portland indymedia ( http://www.biotechimc.org/or/topic/sacramento/) and portland indymedia ( link to portland.indymedia.org. This was a decent story covering a number of aspects absent from other stories. But what was most telling was for the information that got out, the author also posted the material that didn't get past the editors thereby highlighting their own biases.
If I had the ability to post to the progressive media or convince them to convey and carry certain information I would give the following information:
Bush and his administration faces a week of protest, first in the UK and then in Miami. To get the news as it happens, unfiltered by corporate editors and journalists, and untampered by money, follow http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ and http://www.indymedia.org.uk/ and link to www.ftaaimc.org.
And then I would ask that they make their coverage and reporting more inclusive and not rely so heavily on the corporate media whose ills they regularly speak out against and whose corruption by financial interests is well-understood.
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