Our government is willing to bailout and support businesses, at the same time neglecting it’s people by allowing foreclosure evictions and poverty wages?
It has recently come to me while watching national and regional news programs: Television news has one purpose, to generate advertising dollars for it’s corporation. Helping it’s viewers just doesn’t pay, so why even do it?
Everything in the main stream media is designed to sensationalize current events, captivate the viewer, and keep them watching long enough to be subjected to a flash of 30 second commercial advertising. Revenue, advertising dollars, and job security of the newscasters that “hype the news”. Doing what’s right is not high on the priority list, unless the story is sexy and drives ratings.
Change and truth are probably the lowest priority of any news organization, as is evident in the poor quality of reporting in the main stream media with respect to corruption and incompetence of our politicians and system of government. Demand for change and truth obviously needs to become a local action for two reasons: 1) The mainstream media refuses to hold our politicians accountable 2) National politicians are not accessible, nor is Washington, DC. (This day in age, we couldn’t organize a million man march on Washington because gas prices are too high, and it would be impossible to get us all there & back– affordably )
To each and every one of my fellow Americans I say, “People……my fellow Americans….change and truth will have to come from within.” If we want change in government, and truth from our government & media, we will have to demand it at the local level. If we truly want the “change” that presidential candidate John McCain has been promising, but not delivering over the past few days, we’re going to have to reach out to our local politicians.
Here’s my call to action. Each of us needs to propose real and immediate change to our local government offices, and demand needed changes to our housing, economic, political and social environments. Again, our local governments are accessible, and I think our county, state and federal systems will be surprised to see so many common people on the doorsteps of our local government demanding change.
It’s obvious through their bailouts and seizures of corporations (while at the same time individual families are thrown to the wolves to fend for themselves, or go homeless), the federal government won’t do the right things for our citizens. The state & county won’t either. It’s time to go “grass roots” and get our city government to change things for the benefit of it’s own citizens. It’s the moral thing to do, and it’s also a matter of preserving our civil rights to fair wages and equality for everyone.
As an example of demanding change, read this letter sent to my local City Council that I fully intend to make public locally, as well as hold our local city council members accountable for their responses. Of the many issues affecting the lives of Americans and their families, three problems have gone unresolved by our government: 1) Housing & mortgage meltdown 2) Affordable health care 3) Minimum wages.
Both Barack Obama and John McCain are in office, and are both promoting change. At the same time, they are on the campaign trail day and night promising that “change is coming”. Folks, in my own neighborhood there are vacant properties as a result of foreclosure evictions — people are run out of their homes, and the market doesn’t even support of the re-sale of the property, so it sits vacant and deteriorated—-, some of my neighbors don’t have affordable healthcare eligibility, and even more of our city residents are being paid menial wages comparable to third world countries. My biggest question during this political season: “MR. McCAIN, WHY DO WE HAVE TO WAIT AN ADDITIONAL 57 DAYS FOR OUR PEOPLE TO BENEFIT FROM THE CHANGE YOU PROMISE ? WHY WAIT 57 MORE DAYS —- AT WHOSE EXPENSE? CHANGE THINGS IMMEDIATELY!”
All of us need to demand change now!
Wish me luck in this endeavor because it won’t be very popular among local and national politicians and businesses alike.
CLICK HERE FOR A COPY OF THE LETTER: hesp_cty-council-letter_090808
Please help me promote IMMEDIATE change!
I’ve been reading along for a while now. I just wanted to drop you a comment to say keep up the good work.
“It has recently come to me while watching national and regional news programs: Television news has one purpose, to generate advertising dollars for it’s corporation. Helping it’s viewers just doesn’t pay, so why even do it?”
I have known this since September 11, 2001. I was a young reporter – and had been working in my Clear Channel newsroom for just under one year. That morning, just moments after the towers collapsed, the program director walked in and said, “Keep up the good work people, this is going to be GREAT for ratings.”
I quit the profession of “journalist” soon after. Another News Director of mine told me, “Scare them! Make it scary.” Seriously. I wish I were kidding.
And then the Iraq War happened. On March 3rd (the morning we all KNEW we’d be “invading”) CNN’s ratings jumped 300%. And to think they didn’t pre-sell those ad spots? Nonsense.
The media is as much responsible for this mess as the politicians and now it’s time for the people to step up and demand our country back – this is what Barack believes in – the people taking control. And he makes this point, time and time again, that we are the ones who must take on much of the heavy lifting.
I love your blog.
Thank you for doing this.