Several years ago, a foundation executive told me that my point about media had finally sunk in. However, the foundation's decision was to pour money into what was called "media reform," or "organizing" around the goal of rolling back media deregulation, a quixotic dream in today's political environment.
There were other magic words, like "citizen journalism," a fad of having untrained -- and usually unpaid -- laymen report and write stories, rather than hire professional journalists who are trained in vetting information and presenting it in an easy-to-read form.
The Internet became another panacea. Though the Web surely offered opportunities to convey information inexpensively, the Internet became one more excuse not to invest much money, to ignore the expense of serious journalism and to bypass the need for other media transmission outlets -- radio, TV and print -- to get the information to a larger audience.
By contrast, the Right has not only poured money into its Internet outlets, but the Right's Web sites coordinated with talk radio, Fox News and a myriad of print publications. There is a repetition and a resonance to the Right's propaganda machinery, which makes even patently false claims appear true.
Wake-up Calls
Beyond nagging from people like me, the Left experienced what should have been alarming wake-up calls.
Not only did Ronald Reagan succeed in wooing many working-class Democrats to right-wing policies that savaged their own economic interests, but he showed how anti-factual propaganda could gull millions of Americans if they didn't hear a strong counter-argument.
Many on the Left expected that the mainstream journalists would do the thankless job of debunking Reagan's fact-free storytelling. But honest journalists were under assault from the Right's anti-journalism shock troops. I know because I was in the media trenches at AP and Newsweek.
Democratic politicians encountered this media phenomenon, too. In 1988, Massachusetts Gov. Michael Dukakis was politically destroyed by a combination of ruthless attacks from George H.W. Bush's campaign and their reverberation through the Right's media echo chamber.
During Bill Clinton's presidency, a maturing right-wing media again showed its muscle. Talk show host Rush Limbaugh was so important in rallying the right-wing troops against Clinton's health-care plan that he was made an honorary member of the House Republican caucus in 1995, as the GOP took the gavel for the first time in a generation.
During the latter half of the 1990s, I encountered many well-to-do liberals who seemed baffled over how the Right's media war against Clinton proved so successful. They had the stunned look of a routed army that had been overwhelmed by a surprise attack.
Still, the Left continued to reject media-building proposals. Some progressives simply advised turning off the radio and the TV, as if their wishful thinking would prevent countless Americans from being persuaded by liberal-hating arguments when there was no rebuttal.
Many on the Left also blamed Clinton -- and later Al Gore -- for making mistakes or not somehow countering the right-wing onslaughts themselves.
George W. Bush's success in seizing the White House in 2000 despite losing the national popular vote and Florida -- if all the legally cast ballots had been counted -- was another shock to the system that should have roused wealthy liberals from their slumber, but didn't.
Then came the Iraq War in 2003 -- when large percentages of Americans were convinced that Saddam Hussein was behind the 9/11 attacks -- and the Swift-boating of Sen. John Kerry in 2004. Still the well-to-do liberals kept their heads down and their wallet shut regarding media appeals.
Wealthy progressives even resisted practical proposals like directing a small percentage of their businesses' ad budgets to independent Web sites struggling to make ends meet. There remained a hope against hope that some pendulum would swing, solving the problem without further effort.
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