To me, journalism is a mechanism for delivering information, including

interpretation, analysis and opinion. Above all, Journalists should be considered the loyal opposition, another check in our system of

checks and balances. Journalists should question those with power, liberal or conservative.

The Radical Right has done many things

very well. Among those, they have simultaneously discredited the “liberal” Media while building a very powerful conservative Media. (This

assault on the media began as it helped topple a conservative president.) Don’t believe what you read, unless you read it in a

sanctioned place like the Washington Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fox, or the Bible. Bias is everywhere, but Truth belongs to God’s

Party. Don’t dare to question the Righteous Authority — that would be disloyalty, anti-patriotism, and socio-communo-atheo-homo-

feminism.

This was a sensible tactic when the leaders of the far right were ignored as a small band of extremists. Indeed, they

were left out of day to day culture, as kooks often are. But they never gave up; they never let down the attack. Unfortunately, the

attack involved poisoning the well. By undermining the role of the Free Press to protect all our freedoms while developing a Sanctioned

Media to advance and defend their cause, they have weakened the entire System. Even this possibly accidental fallout advances the avowed

goal of destroying the Federal Government, through legislation and bankruptcy.

So, what’s a liberal to do with MSM? Eschew it?

Trust it? Use it? Are we to imitate those who successfully captured the flag by closing our minds to all but the One True Word as spoken

by our own Limbaughs and Roves? Will Liberal Blogs topple the King?

We need a free and antagonistic National Media. As important

as local media is, it can’t defend the Nation anymore than your local NRA chapter can. So, we need MSM — MSM we don’t trust without

question, but which we can trust more than advertisers, marketers, spin-doctors and king-makers. We need to challenge the value of

separate and unequal media that simply tell you what you’re supposed to hear. True conservatives, not the Radical Wrong, believe that,

as should true progressives.

It was a recent pulse in the blogosphere that got me to thinking about this this way. But that

discussion was about local MSM more so than national MSM. Local MSM has all the burdens of national and more, while having fewer

resources. It is the job of the Albuquerque Journal, et. al., to inform us about national issues and local, and, maybe, even to connect

the dots between the two levels — corruption and reform move in both directions.

We’ve recently seen “The Media” perform well

nationally and locally with Katrina and the Gulf Coast (not a band). Thanks in large part to MSM (yes, yes, I read the local blogs, too),

we saw what was happening outside of our community and we have heard much of how our own community was affected and reacted — dots were

connected. Key to this was a large number and diverse group of unembedded journalists in the area, including many from communities all

around the country. We’ve also seen the old adversarial Media reappear, asking questions those with power, from President down to Mayor,

would rather not have to answer. (When did we last discuss Race and Poverty as a nation? Just before the Radical Wrong began their

march.) This performance was so much better than the Media’s handling of Iraq (far away & embedded) and 9-11 (overwhelming pain and

passion crushing all discussion). Until Rove shot back, the issue lacked the knee-jerk “you’re with us or you’re against the troops”

spin, where the administration claims it is the nation. We’ve all seen failure and suffering on a massive scale at home, where it is

harder to ignore than “over there.”

Great storms leave more than destruction. They recharge and reinvigorate, they sweep clean and

make room. Perhaps we will remember Katrina and its victims less for supposed harm to petty players soon to be forgotten and more for

restoring our vital, aggressive, alert, adversarial Free Press to its rightful role and honor. mjh