blargblog
An expulsive extension of
The vast right wing conspiracy, the right wing echo chamber, the network of right wing radio talk shows, FOXNews Channel, Rush Limbaugh—where complaining of such things made one seem paranoid or slightly unhinged, today these bogeys are the status quo, thanks in part to their political successes in the White House and the Congress. Liberals and the Left have been outflanked, outspent, out organized, and nearly outlawed by the well funded tactics of the right for so long now, lefties have started fighting back. This year alone we have seen high rolling investors back the coordination of Liberal Radio (well, sorta liberal) and the best-seller success for books by angry lefties like Joe Conason, Molly Ivins and Michael Moore and the more establishment lib types like Al Franken and Paul Krugman. To name only a few.
This is but the tip of the iceberg, thank goodness. In summarizing his report on the far right's tactics to gut consumer protections and advance the cause of "tort reform", Dave Johnson advocates fighting fire with fire:
They call themselves the "conservative movement," but can be more accurately described as the far right. Many of these organizations are disguised as pseudo-scholarly "think tanks," but are really communications and advocacy organizations, marketing ideas the same way detergent is sold to the public.I'll say. So, is it a "vast left wing conspiracy"? Conspiring out in the open, of course. Johnson's not advocating getting our own Linda Tripp or Richard Mellon Scaife. But assailing the political chat fests with leftie bow-tied eggheads who can talk over Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity would be a good step.The primary method of these organizations is the coordinated repetition of phrases designed to influence public attitudes and opinions. By repeating messages through multiple channels over a sustained period of time, they manufacture "conventional wisdom." Examples of this "conventional wisdom" include falsehoods like "Social Security is going broke," and "public schools are failing." The use of many supposedly independent organizations, all communicating the same messages through various channels, gives the impression that many learned people and organizations have a consensus of opinion on important issues, bringing credibility to their perspective. But the voices all turn out to be components of what amounts to one overall organization, set up and funded by this core group.
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The solution, it seems to me, is for progressives to employ the same tactics and methods that have worked so well for the organized Right. That is, they should fund multi-issue think tank/communication organizations designed to reach the broad public with repeated messaging that will change underlying public attitudes. The "conservative movement" has provided an excellent model. Of course progressives don't need to use deceit, lies and smears as the conservatives do (mainly because most people agree with Progressives on the issues), but clearly there is a need to build a comparable infrastructure of organizations and communication channels. Organizations like the Commonweal Institute, Cursor, Inc. (publisher of MediaTransparency.org and Cursor.org) and the Center for American Progress are examples of these types of organizations.While that it may seem to be a monumental task, it is also undeniably necessary. And as it turns out, building a comparable network of advocacy and communication organizations might not be as daunting as first appears. There is actually quite a bit of money available from moderate and progressive funders, but it has not been applied as effectively as the conservatives' resources. The fundamental difference between progressive and conservative philanthropic funding, described by various authors, is that the conservative movement provides general operating support to ideological advocacy organizations, while moderate and progressive funders do not. Moderate and progressive funders tend to provide support for programs, and avoid funding advocacy, or funding organizations that might upset the established political order. This must change.
The more important struggle—as both Johnson and Nathan Newman, from whom I found this link, point out—is ideological. Liberals and the left get themselves easily bedevilled by the details, winning little battles while losing the war, only to find that they've been beating a dead horse of a different color. (That sentence was for you, Kip.)
UPDATE: Speaking of liberal radio, The NY Times reports further developments in the efforts of AnShell Media, now called Progress Media. The newly named company is "close to" buying radio stations in 5 major cities—New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Philadelphia and Boston—and expects to begin broadcasting in the spring.
The group is planning to present a daily schedule filled with liberal personalities as hosts of a range of programs, including news analysis segments, talk shows and entertainment programs in the spirit of "The Daily Show," the spoof news program on cable television's Comedy Central that skewers Washington.Many thanks to Carolyn Kay who participated in getting AnShell Media off the ground and for sending humble folks like me these informative updates.Jon Sinton, Progress Media's president, said the company had hired Lizz Winstead, one of the creators of "The Daily Show," to oversee entertainment programming. Shelley Lewis, a longtime network news producer who was most recently in charge of "American Morning" on CNN, will oversee news programming, Mr. Sinton said.
He said Progress Media was pursuing a deal to give the comedian Al Franken a daily talk show. The company, whose programming division is to be called Central Air, is also talking with representatives of the comedian Janeane Garofalo.