Audiocast 010: Local Media Relevance, Profit Taking, VeganMoFo [24:26m]: Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadThe topics we’re discussing today are:
- Charlie Trentelman will get us up to speed on what he means when he blogs “Signs of the end times”.
- I’ll also start a discussion about how I think the national media is actually responsible for keeping America divided into “left” and “right”.
- A VeganMoFo isn’t what you think it is. Cathy Burt will tell us what it means.
Today’s show is presented by UtahFindIt. The Top of Utah is at your fingertips with UtahFindIt.com.
Joining Casey Shultz today:
- Catherine Burt- Vegan Blogger and Online Developer for the Standard-Examiner
- Charles Trentelman- Reporter,Columnist, Blogger for Standard-Examiner
VeganMoFo
- Cathy’s Blog: http://blogs.standard.net/in-a-gadda-da-vegan/
- Vegan Month of Food Home: http://theppk.com/blog/2008/09/16/veganmofo-is-upon-us/
End of times with Charlie
A group called Utahns for Ethical Government is working to get an initiative on the State ballot that would try to reform ethics in the legislature. Doug Gibson attended a recent meeting on the issue at Mound Fort Middle School in Ogden.
- Charlie’s Post: http://blogs.standard.net/2009/10/06/signs-of-the-end-times/
- NY Times/Poison Angus story: http://www.nytimes.com/…
- NYTimes/Company flipping story: http://www.nytimes.com/…
Casey rants on national media
I think the national media is actually responsible for keeping America divided into the “left” and “right” camps. It’s not because that’s naturally how things are. It’s because television and radio networks have found a way to maximize their profits by creating their own system of demographics that deliver eyes and ears to the corporate advertisers.
At stake is a lot of money. Billions of dollars. Some may say that politicians are responsible for setting the talking points for the American debate but press secretaries can only do so much to steer the media. Our elected officials are not without blame for our country’s division but in a culture where you can’t get elected if you don’t take one side or the other, they are forced to be perceived as more left or more right than they actually are. If they don’t, the press won’t cover them because no one will tune in for a story about “the middle-of-the-road Senator from wherever.”
The issue of the press’ responsibility to report on our government seems to be more skewed the farther away you get from the local coverage. That’s not to say that local stories don’t look for the sensational but when the top national news story for a week is what kind of dog will Barak and Michelle get for Sasha and Malia.
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Have a great week.
Mark Shenefelt
on Oct 13th, 2009
@ 11:11 am:
Interesting topics, folks. Nice work.
You’ve driven me to the reoccurring question, why do I keep eating hamburgers? After this podcast, the next burger I consume won’t be enjoyed. But I’m probably going to keep chomping them. This must be a little how smokers and drunks feel when they’re trying to kick a habit.