Three can become thirty or even more.
When planning a party or an event, success in terms of turn out depends upon getting the word out.
Last week, we saw some do their part (KPFK) and others do little to nothing.
Imagine if The Progressive, The Nation, Democracy Now!, ZNet, KPFA, WBAI and other so-called "allies" and "lefties" had bothered to get the word out? No, KPFA and Democracy Now!, the day before the rally, two to three minutes doesn't count as getting the word out.
But if they got the word out? Well imagine the wars ended.
Imagine if they did a damn thing.
Last week, the House Armed Services Military Personnel Subcomittee held a hearing where they met with DoD officials to discuss the White House's proposed health care cuts. If you counted on the Beggar Media to tell you about it, you counted in vain. Cuts in military health care. At a time of war.
A functioning independent media would be covering that, would be informing you of it. Instead, they do their pet causes. They're a niche market because they're niche thinkers. They can't think about things that effect the average American because, honestly, the average American bores them to tears.
Time and again, they fail at the most basic of functions. As Ava and C.I. document this edition, KPFA devoted -- according to the promotion -- two hours to the San Francisco rally yesterday. But in two hours, only one guest, speaking for approximately 3 minutes, discussed the Iraq War. There was time for Libya, there was time for the nuclear industry and Japan, there was time for issues related to Palestine, there was time for Wisconsin, there was time for Dennis Bernstein to have an on-air meltdown, in fact KPFA managed to check off all the basics except for the Iraq War. 3 out of 120 minutes is not covering the Iraq War.
They keep getting away with it. The fact that Panhandle Media has lost readers and listeners and watchers doesn't concern them because they really don't work for a living.
They get these 'jobs for life' -- or that's how they see them. Then, when they're let go, they want the whole country to join them -- in solidarity! -- in protesting this awful thing that's happened to them! You get fired from your job, you go looking for another one. But if you're Bernard White or Brian Edwards-Tiekert or any of the other losers, you start whining and staging protests.
The Nation's current owners know there's a problem. It might be big enough to finally kill the magazine. If so, no great loss. But Pacifica needs to get its act together.
And the way you start with that? Start firing.
We're not joking. These on-airs who think they have jobs for life? In what world? We were shocked to read a WBAI-er whining that she 'lost' her job when she's over 65-years-old. How long did she think her tired ass belonged on the air?
That question needs to be asked of a lot of people. At commercial stations, when you're not doing your job, you're fired. It should be that simple at Pacifica. And if it were that simple, you might find an e-mail and telephone campaign wasn't necessary to force KPFA to do their half-assed protest coverage yesterday.
But these people who think they own their air time don't see to realize it's not their air time. It's the people's air time. And if they're not serving the people, they and their huge egos need to go.
Every victory we seem to garner appears to come in spite of our 'independent' media not because of it.
