Adam Nagourney, Is Anybody Home?
02 April 2006 12:29 pm by Taylor Marsh
Adam Nagourney, Is Anybody Home?
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| Hey, Adam, remember this one? |
… Bloggers, for all the benefits they might bring
to both parties, have proved to be a complicating political influence for
Democrats. They have tugged the party consistently to the left, particularly
on issues like the war, and have been openly critical of such moderate Democrats
as Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut.Still, Democrats have been particularly enthusiastic
about the potential of this technology to get the party back on track, with
many Democratic leaders arguing that the Internet is today for Democrats what
talk radio was for Republicans 10 years ago. “This new media
becomes much more important to us because conservatives have been more dominant
in traditional media,” said Simon Rosenberg, the president of the centrist
New Democratic Network. “This stuff becomes really critical for us.”
…
Internet
Injects Sweeping Change Into U.S. Politics
I know this has been covered and it's from yesterday, but considering
we were changing out servers and uploading a new format and design, I didn't
get to weigh in.
The obvious comment to make is something akin to If Joe Lieberman
is a “moderate” Democrat, I'm a peroxide blonde.
Joe Lieberman is to the right of 80%+ of the Democratic base,
most of whom want a solution and exit strategy on Iraq. Joe Lieberman, on the
other hand, seems to want to stay in Iraq until Saudi Arabia decides to let
women drive. Polar bears will fly first.
But the real kicker in Mr. Nagourney's article was where he talks
about “the Internet is today for Democrats what talk
radio was for Republicans 10 years ago.”
That statement is likely the most uninformed, inexperienced and
sloppy attempt at making an apt analogy I have read in a long time. Does Adam
know anything about radio 10 years ago? Does he know anything about it today? Well, I do, even if he doesn't.
If the Internet today was like radio 10 years ago, John Kerry
would be president.
One reason that would be so is that Dan Rather, Mary Mapes and
others at CBS would not have been pilloried for their National Guard story on
George W. Bush. People would have been sickened by our champagne prince and
never voted for him in 2004.
It was the right-wing blogs who jumped all over that one. I guess
Adam didn't catch it. No wonder people are turning away from newspapers.
If that wasn't enough evidence, what about the Swiftboat Vets?
Sure, a lot of damage was done, no doubt, over cable, but it continued non-stop
on the web. My message board at the time was inundated with the stuff about
Swiftboat Vets. It was the fair all day, every day.
Today, right-wing blogs now inhabit corporate media houses, which
allows their outreach into magazines.
To put a finer point on it, if the Internet was our radio there
would be no right-wing blogs, because that's what the right-wing machine does
to progressives on radio. They throw them off, or never let them on in the first
place.
The web is an open field where everyone can participate and Democrats
do, because we're hungry to get our message out.
When I finally got my radio show, after getting very close in
L.A., only to get the hint that I was of the wrong party. My co-exec. producer
and I had to buy our way on to the airwaves in Las Vegas. The closest town with
a station opening that would work. I'm still trying to get back on today.
Nobody is keeping right-wing blogs off the Internet, or imposing
a monopoly. Progressives, unable to get hosts on terrestrical radio, finally
got fed up and started our own outfit by the name of Air America. It's a start,
but not enough. Podcasts and web radio just doesn't get it done.
Progressive blogs are leading on the web, no doubt. Americans
are finding out that we were right about Iraq, the Terry Schiavo case, the Dubai port deal, and George W. Bush, as well as a host
of other issues. We, in fact, represent the majority now. The web helped us
do that, but we're not out here by ourselves and Rush and Ken doll Sean, plus
Melanie Morgan, Laura Ingraham, Fox “News,” not to mention Christian
Broadcasting, still have us beat by a mile.
Adam needs to get his facts straight and when he decides to talk
about radio, maybe he should talk to someone who knows something about the subject.
His ignorance is now emblazoned in print in perpetuity, which didn't have to
be the case if he'd cared enough to actually do reporting instead of opining,
which isn't his job.
