Seems like I haven't written in ages...but it's only been three days. I've been enthralled by what some call "the blogosphere," more specifically the political blogosphere. Starting a few months ago, I began reading some political websites on a regular basis, mostly Frontpagemagazine.com, an overtly (and sometimes annoyingly) conservative site mast headed by David Horowitz, author of the Academic Bill of Rights and the leader of the so-called "Academic Freedom movement" on college campuses across the US. It amuses me how riled up conservatives get about issues ranging from Marxism in academia to the horror of Terri Schivo being "starved" to death.
To balance out my conservative opinion intake, I began reading the online version of the Socialist Worker, the publication of the International Socialist Organization. Needless to say, these two sites are on quite opposite extremes of the political spectrum. I found myself fascinated by socialist thought as espoused on the Socialist Worker website but still rejected most of their ideas about how the country should be run. It is only updated once every few weeks and much of their material is tired and recycled issues (e.g. kill the Bush war machine). I did, however, see the parallel between that aspect of socialism and the staunch conservatism of Horowitz and Frontpagemagazine.com. The Nation is another online version I've started to read consistently. Knowing it to have a very progressive agenda, I was attracted to The Nation by its slogan ("Unconventional Wisdom Since 1865") and original mission statement, which they still adhere to. There is a professor in Bear Hall (home of the Philosophy and Religion, Mathematics, and Computer Science departments) with the famous George W. Bush-as-Alfred E. Neuman parody cover taped on his office door. Try putting a John Kerry or Bill Clinton parody drawing on your door and see how long it lasts in hallways of academia.
Perhaps my favorite political blog is written by Kevin Drum and titled The Washington Monthly. It seems to be one of the most unbiased, observational, and insightful opinion publications out there, blog or otherwise. If John Stewart wrote a blog, it would probably read like this one. So, while based on opinion, I find myself getting a large portion of my political news from Kevin Drum and his blog. I have only very recently started reading a couple of blogs written by two PhD candidates and their experiences. I haven't read enough of them yet to have an informed opinion, but they are entertaining nonetheless.
My new found interest in the world of politics on the internet can be attributed to my conclusion that popular media is shit. I have become disillusioned with cable news, network news, popular newspapers, local news, news magazines, etc. They all spew the same sensationalist garbage aimed at a public with the attention span of my aging cat and the intellect of his feces. Popular media does not give the American public the credit they deserve, so we fall into this trap of thinking that Terri Schivo and Michael Jackson are actually important news stories. It is a self-perpetuating cycle of instant gratification: news agencies want to be the first to break the story and in the process completely trample over any notion of journalistic integrity. Waiting on the other side is a willing public anxious to eat up the latest garbage as if it were actually worth something. What the public at large does not realize is that these news networks and corporations thrive on deceiving the public into thinking what they are reporting is truly important. Turn on Fox News, CNN, or even one of the big networks, or open up a Newsweek magazine and count how many stories you would consider important news. There was once a fine line between Entertainment Tonight and the nightly news, but that line has since disappeared.
So, after coming to the above realization and deciding that I did not want to live my life as a corporate bitch, I decided to venture out on my own to get my news from where I wanted to get it, as opposed to being spoon fed glossy stories and opinion-laden news reports. The internet has made that possible and its one saving grace. Computers are no longer just porn boxes and music-stealing machines but can now provide access to important information from around the world that can shape or destroy public and personal opinion.
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