Robert Greenwald and the crew at Brave New Films released a new short video today, “Fox Attacks-Michelle Obama.” It’s got some real cringe-inducing moments from those oh-so-lovely Fauxers–Michelle Malkin, Sean Hannity, etc…
Watch the video and sign the petition. If you have a digg account, “digg it,” as well. BNF has been one of the most successful track records in virally spreading their video clips around (also doesn’t hurt that they partner with the likes of Huffington Post, MoveOn and AlterNet to raise awareness of their productions.)
Remember this period during the 2004 campaigns? John Kerry was struggling to pick a running mate that would bolster his low polling numbers, even as Fahrenheit 9/11 was breaking box office records. Democratic representatives were asking the U.N. to send observers to monitor U.S. elections. Even though the case against the Republicans was crystal clear, electoral prospects were grim.
Now? Bush’s approval rating is at an all time low according to a recent L.A. Times/Bloomberg poll: 23 percent. Obama’s approval rating in the U.S. is topped only by his popularity overseas. Progressives should be psyched, right? Mission accomplished.
Look out.
With the interminable primaries over, now is the time for progressive outlets and commentators to really get down to business. They need to be watching not only for conservative dirty tricks, but keeping a close eye on candidate trianguations. As Glenn Greenwald writes today:
One of the primary reasons that blogs emerged over the last seven years was as a reaction to, an attempt to battle against, exactly this narrative which the media propagated and Democratic institutions embraced — that it is the duty of every Democrat to repudiate and attack their own base; that the truly pernicious elements are on the “Far Left”, whose values must be rejected, while the Far Right is entitled to profound respect and accommodation; that “Strength” in National Security is determined by agreement with GOP policies, which is where “the Center” is found; that Seriousness is demonstrated by contempt for the liberal masses; that every Democrat must apologize for any statement over which Republicans feign offense.
Plenty of Beltway institutions already existed for the purpose of cheering on any and all Democrats no matter what they do. If that’s all that blogs are supposed to do, then there is no need for them. From the beginning, blogs have been devoted to opposing Democratic complicity and capitulation — to the lack of Democratic responsiveness to their supporters — every bit as much as opposing GOP corruption and media malfeasance. That role is at least as important as the others.
Greenwald’s impulses are spot-on, but of course, bloggers aren’t the only ones capable of holding Democrats’ feet to the fire. A wide range of progressive media-makers—from journalists to filmmakers to Twitterers and beyond—are now connected to one another through formal and informal social networks, which allow for rapid response like never before. There’s no reason to fetishize one platform over another when we’re faced with such creative possibilities. How will we use them to make this election year different?
So I’ve been a little slow on the blogging the last week and a half and that’s for a couple reasons.
1) I have carpal tunnel and tendonitis in my left wrist. Very painful and hard to type.
2) Jess and I were prepping for a presentation at the academic National Conference for Media Reform pre-conference where we presented our theories and latest examples from our book. (Happy to share if you want. We’re also figuring out how to get it on slide share.)
3) I was also prepping for my moderation of the NCMR panel, “How the Independent Media Makes Change.” In short, the panel rocked. (And I don’t usually say that about panels.) Panelists included Jane Hamsher of Firedoglake, Robert Greenwald of Brave New Films, Jeff Morely of the Center for Independent Media and Daisy Hernandez of ColorLines. I’m going to be posting video and commentary on that asap. (I’m struggling through learning the new Imovie8 and having problems importing. Ah, technology.)
But most of all, I and the rest of The Media Consortium team were consumed by preparations for the launch of Live From Main Street. I could tell you all about it, but let me just repeat snippets of what LFMS host Laura Flanders wrote at the Huffington Post.
A year ago, a group of independent media professionals looked ahead to the 2008 election season. Anticipating the same stump speech in 50 states and the same old reporting to go along with it, they wondered, ‘what if, instead of the candidates’ horse-race, we covered goings-on around the track?’ The project we came up with together is Live from Main Street: a series of live events, in five states in five months, bringing audiences the local perspective on critical national issues.
On June 8, in Minneapolis, Live From Main Street kicked off in the Twin Cities. Locals weren’t just backdrop for a report a national story: they were the main event. On stage — discussing the election, organizing, media and more, were organizers, journalists, artists — sharing their accounts of the free speech challenges their community’s facing in the run-up to the Republican National Convention. And it wasn’t all bad news. Alongside the grim reports of permits denied and protests squashed, we heard the latest word on “unconventional” convention plans — “our roving reporters will be mounted on bicycles connected by GPS” Marlina Gonzales of the UnConvention told Live From Main Street. “Today’s Main Street is a new Main Street” said Malkia Cyril, Executive Director of the Center for Media Justice. Politicians make old assumptions at their peril, she added. It’s not just about bias, it’s about getting the story wrong.
Over the next five months, Live From Main Street will be hosting town-hall type discussions about critical issues in Miami, Denver, Columbus and Seattle. We want to take the agenda-setting out of the hands candidates’ consultants — and put an ear to the voters themselves. In Minneapolis, the focus was on civil liberties and the need for media diversity. In Miami in July, the attention will shift to cities and sustainable development. In Columbus, the topic’s voting; in Seattle, national security from a female point of view. We’ve heard from the politiicans. At the end of the election season, Live From Main Street hopes to have heard– and amplified what voters mean by that catchword “change.”
The first LFMS was an amazing success–with a raucous crowd of 450 people. But instead of me telling you about it: let’s just watch, shall we?
Welcome to Live From Main Street
Amy Goodman on Independent Media
Civil Liberties in the Twin Cities Pre-RNC
Live From Main Street: What the nation can learn from Minnesota
So I’m going to expand the idea “new directions in progressive media” (our tag line above) to implicitly include, “bad directions for the right wing media.” Because a) it’s fun! and b) it’s important to see where the right wing media is cracking.
In light of this, I’m going to give Chris Matthews a virtual high five (never thought I’d do that!) for calling out Kevin James, a crazy right wing radio host on yesterday’s edition of Hardball. BTW–when I asked myself “just who is this Kevin James?” Wikipedia had already been updated with the incident. Love it!
I first saw the video on Talking Points Memo yesterday, and as one poster on The Houston Chronicle’s citizen journalism/member blog noted today:
In a very funny, yet sad exchange on Hardball yesterday, host Chris Matthews humiliated right wingnut radio jabber Kevin James over the “appeasement” uproar stupidly started by GWB in Israel yesterday. This guy looks about 16 years old and is like a giant Chatty Kathy - just pull the string and he repeats the same talking points in order ad infinitum. Chris couldn’t control the conversation, or this guy’s mouth, so he tried to quizz him on appeasement by Neville Chamberlain, prime minister of Britain in the ’30s, and the Munich Agreement where Britain ceded part of Czechoslovakia to Hitler. This guy didn’t even know who Chamberlain was, how he got tagged with the appeaser label, or what he did.After making a complete fool of himself, Kevin just started repeating “appeasement; faster and faster linking the accusation to Obama.
But you know what? Words can not do justice. Just watch the video. Enjoy.
They started with the Iowa primary and have been going strong since. Brave New Films and The Young Turks are teaming up to bring us their unique brand of election coverage. I caught a bit of their show during the Iowa primary and was impressed not only with the cool technology (streaming video, community blogging) but that these two have created a new partnership that continues to leverages the resources that each media outlet offers and comes up with an interesting model for election coverage. And they are funny.
You should check it out. And not just cause I think Cenk rocks.
