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Connecting the Dots



For the past several decades, the mass media has been projecting the message "Corporate Freemarket: Efficient, Good. Collective Decisions through Government: Wasteful, Bad."

This message is the foundation of freemarket fundamentalism, which is the theoretical construct that justifies corporate globalization. This mass media message has enabled the imposition of an international trade regime that favors a privilaged minority at the expense of the environment and the majority of humankind.

This mass media drumbeat has resulted in a deep cultural shift that accepts the current economic regime as the only option. This economic regime rejects collective rule-making to protect the environment as a "drag on market efficiency." The same unquestioned norm damns our ability to staff health clinics, led to this year's flu vaccine shortage, undermines our ability to ensure safety inspections are being conducted for our airliners and bridges, has resulted in the erosion of our public school systems (I watched this happen in my lifetime in California). I could go on adding more "dots" between a corrupted mass media system and the ills of corporate globalization, but you are probably aware of them.

Investing in the Long Term



We arrived at this point in history through a gradual process, with moments of rapid change. The transition from a Keynesian "mixed economy" framework to a "corporate freemarket" framework tracked with and fed off of the mass media transformation. During the 1980s Ronald Reagan and Maraget Thatcher started the transformation (anyone who thinks Bush's second term doesn't matter should study the role of Reagan's second term in pushing the world into one of freemarket fundamentalism).

On the media side, in 1987 Reagan's Federal Communications Comission abolished the long-standing fairness doctrine, which required radio and television broadcasters to air contrasting views on controversial public issues. This radical change in public policy constituted "privatization" of the media. People my age (40s) sill make reference to the fairness doctrine, failing to realize it was abolished almose twenty years ago.

I could go on, talking about the consolidation of the media from about 55 major players down to about 5 in that same period. I could discuss the radical 1996 Telecommunications act, which consolidated radio stations making the extreme right-wing oriented Clear Channel a near monopoly in rural America. But, you probably already know this.



So what's the point? The point is that these changes were intentional, occured over many years, and have a dominant impact on the level of public discourse in our country. People act uniformed because they are uninformed, and they are uniformed because the public has lost control of the mass media. Thus, any social mass movement worth its salt must re-establish a healthy mass media. The re-establishment must be fought for bit by bit. It won't come about due to a huge stree protest, or even a long string of such protests.

A Fleeting Media Reform Opportunity in Baltimore

We have to roll up our sleves and reform our media institutions. It is going to take decades, and will happen step by step, hopefully with a few large victories thrown in to put a smile on our collective faces.

We have a fleeting opportunity to take a small step on this long road to media reform. Federal law still requires cable monopolies to provide channels for "Public Access TV." However, it's a truism that public access channels that don't also receive a dedicated source of funds in the cable contract are ineffective.

A dedicated group of people has been jumping up and down, waving its arms the last six months saying, "Hey everybody. The City is re-negotiating its contract with Comcast Cable. Other cities like DC get $1 million per year and have robust stations that support alternative voices and have a significant viewing audience. Hurry, hurry, help us pressure the City government to do the same in Baltimore."

Unfortunately, the groundswell of public support has not been there. The Mayor's office has negotiated a 12-year contract with Comcast that fails to include dedicated funding*, gives back four channels worth $76 million to Comcast, and will establish a Mayor-appointed oversight board that is likely to undermine "public" control of the content. The City Counsel is only allowed to vote the contract "up" or "down," and is scheduled to do so on Thursday, November 18 at 12:30.

The prognosis is not good, but it's not time to give up. An explosion of public sentiment could buy us the toe hold we need to turn this near-loss into a victory.

You can Help Make a Difference

Over the next few days (Nov 12-Nov 18) you can help put a "win" in the progressive column of our multi-generational struggle. A well-funded public access TV station in Baltimore would be such a "win."

Go to the following website and take the actions suggested in the article on public access TV". Invest now. It's not too late.

www.baltimore.indymedia.org


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