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Over the last week, two of America's largest daily newspapers gave us good examples of exactly how the traditional media can push America's political debate to the right, particularly on economic issues. I use my new newspaper column out this week to show how it works. Read it here.
I reference one article from the Boston Globe and an editorial from the Denver Post (the latter which runs my column).
When you read the column, ask yourself whether you believe these publications meant to skew the terms of the debate, or whether it was inadvertent. My guess is that it wasn't conscious - that the terms of our debate are so skewed that this is considered objective. And that's the problem.
This isn't to say that Bernie Sanders doesn't represent a progressive perspective. He does. And it isn't to say Hickenlooper won't end up being a decent statewide candidate, nor that he won't move to the real center (as opposed to the manufactured right-wing center) as a candidate and governor. He might. The point here is to show how the language of politics can be rigged - and language is really important in politics.
As I wrote in my first book, Hostile Takeover, the media - whether deliberately or inadvertently - set the parameters for what is and is not allowed in our political discourse. And when it comes to economic issues, most of the time, genuine centrism - that is, issue positions generally in line with the center of public opinion - is portrayed as fringe, while the fringe conservative agenda of Big Money and the corporate class are depicted as the center.
In the end, it's like an Orwell novel - the newspeak works to skew what we the public considers acceptable and unacceptable, possible and impossible.
Read the whole column here.
The column relies on grassroots support -- and because of that support, it is getting wider and wider circulation (a big thank you to all who have helped with that). So if you'd like to see my column regularly in your local paper, use this directory to find the contact info for your local editorial page editors. Get get in touch with them and point them to my Creators Syndicate site. Thanks, as always, for your ongoing readership and help contacting local editors. This column couldn't be what it is without your help.
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