Thursday, June 07, 2007

More Media Bias

I wanted to insert a quick note to point out a small milestone. Depending on which of my visitor counters you prefer this blog either has just, or will soon, roll over 500 visits. I appreciate your support and comments.

And now, on to the story...

This past Sunday night, June 3, Sojourners hosted a forum for the Democratic Party candidates to talk about "Faith, Values, and Poverty". As Rep. Dennis Kucinich's site reports, Sojourners had no intention of including any "second-tier" candidates. It was only Kucinich discussed the problem of leaving out half of the Democratic field with CNN executives that the remaining five candidates were invited to participate, albeit only in the second half of the program and with half as much time for comments.

Steven Thomma notes that the mass media outlets seem to think that the American people can only understand and participate in a dualistic decision-making process. As I've pointed out before (here, and here), its undemocratic to narrow the field so early in the race, and will likely result in a ticket that is so bland as to not provide a real alternative to the status quo.

A few weeks ago, I was contacted by the DNC looking for a donation. I clearly and emphatically noted that so long as the DNC did nothing to agitate for more fair media treatment of all candidates, I would continue funding my candidate of choice directly.

I encourage you to act similarly. Don't accept the inevitability of a choice made for you by those who purport to represent you. Use the power of your support to ensure that our election process remains (or becomes, if you prefer) open, democratic, and representative.