People are fretting about the success of Fox News, because of its blatantly slanted coverage. “What happened to objectivity?” they wonder. (It’s cerainly not found on CNN…) However, I think this is missing the point. People aren’t watching Fox because they’re so right wing they can’t stand the facts; they’re watching it because it’s more entertaining.
This means there’s a vast untapped market for left-wing TV coverage. Call it Cox News. Tom Tomorrow and other peacebloggers as talking heads. Occasional movie segments from Michael Moore. Semi-weekly updates from Seymour M. Hersh. Rebroadcasts of the Daily Show. Updates from the ACLU and the EFF.
Plus we can use all sorts of TV news gimicks. A deficit clock. A daily profile of a child suffering because they have no health care. Ignored world news. Real social problems. Best of all is the name-calling. “Operation Iraqi Slaughter.” Unelected President Bush. Treasonous John Ashcroft. Un-american Constitution Rewriters. Boycott the Spanish (for slaughtering Iraqis against the country’s will).
Encourage Green Party candidates and start the creation of a real left party. Get people to support a real candidate, rather than choosing between two who auction of most of their opinions to the highest bidder. Call the right on their lies. Be even more extreme than them. The time seems right.