[Mb-civic] Networks Missed a Historic Speech

[ean at sbcglobal.net]

Networks Missed a Historic Speech  by John Nichols
http://www.thenation.com/thebeat/index.mhtml?bid=1&pid=1633
BOSTON -- When Barack Obama was delivering the finest keynote 
address heard at a Democratic National Convention since Mario 
Cuomo's 1984 speech in San Francisco, the nation's broadcast 
television networks were airing their usual mix of police dramas, a 
program about a Disney cruise and a show that asked the question: 
"Who says pageant girls don't eat?' 
ABC, NBC and CBS chose not to air any of Tuesday night's 
convention proceedings. For the first time since the development of 
broadcast television, Americans could not tune into one of their local 
commercial television stations and watch nation's oldest political party 
reinventing itself for the newest campaign. 
To be sure, the cable networks offered a reasonable mix of live 
convention coverage -- ranging from the incessant play-by-play chatter 
of CNN to the potshots from Fox and the uninterrupted feed of CSpan 
-- but the broadcast networks chose not to be carry the convention. As 
such, they sent a powerful signal regarding the extent to which they 
take seriously their responsibility to provide citizens with the 
information that is the lifeblood of democracy. 
It is true that much of what is said from the convention podium these 
days adds up to little more than a partisan informercial. But there are 
still meaningful moments, and Obama's address was one of them. In 
fact, the Illinois state senator's speech was an exceptionally significant 
expression of the ever-evolving story of American citizenship and 
political engagement. Obama's often poetic message -- with its "E 
pluribus unum. Out of many one" theme -- was the talk of the 
convention. 
It was not, however, the talk of the nation because, of course, the 
networks chose not give it the same time and attention they devoted to 
that program about the eating habits of their "pageant girls." 
The failure to broadcast the speech by a man many believe could be 
the country's first African-American president struck even some media 
veterans as troubling. On ABC's "The View," co-host Meredith Vieira 
spoke of how, "After (Obama) got done speaking, I had chills" and 
complained about the decision of the networks to neglect the keynote 
address. "He is a man that America needed to see," she said. 
By any measure, Vieira is right. 
But don't expect broadcast television to get the message. The networks 
have replaced the civil and democratic values that once a played a role 
in decisions about what to cover with commercial and entertainment 
values that dictate a denial of seriousness or perspective when it comes 
to political stories. 
That's one of the reasons why so many Americans objected last year to 
Federal Communications Commission proposals that would have 
lifted the cap on the number of local TV stations a corporation could 
own -- and the amount of the viewing audience network-owned 
stations could reach. 
Despite the intensity of the FCC rule fight, the campaign for media 
reform in America is only beginning to have a serious impact on the 
political process. But it is growing. And, while the neglect by the 
networks of the Obama speech is troubling sign, there is an 
encouraging sign coming out of this convention. 
On Tuesday night, delegates approved a platform that recognizes the 
burgeoning media reform movement in the United States. The 
language that was added to the platform, under pressure from unions 
such as the Communication Workers of America that have become 
increasing active in the fight for media reform, was not radical. But it 
was on message. "Because our democracy thrives on public access to 
diverse sources of information from multiple sources, we support 
measures to ensure diversity, competition, and localism in media 
ownership," argues the new platform language. 
There's a lot more that Democrats should stand for with regard to 
media reform. And, hopefully, anger over the decision of the networks 
to skip coverage of Tuesday night's proceedings will cause party 
activists to recognize that complaining about the conservative bias of 
Fox is not enough. When the major networks choose pageant girls 
over political history, they themselves are making the case that 
democratic renewal cannot be achieved without radically altering the 
style and structure of our media system. 

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Action is the antidote to despair.  ----Joan Baez
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