Cheap Media - A Screed

William Randolph Hearst knew it - control of cheap media gives you power. Why can’t the left remember this clear lesson?

When FM radio gave better music production in the 1960's, the young and hip changed their dials. AM remained, often relying on all-news and talk shows. When laws changed, and the ownership of AM radio stations consolidated, programs like those of Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck expanded their audience. Those without the money to buy FM radios heard only one side.

When cable appeared, the young and hip changed their habits. Network TV remained for those who couldn’t afford the monthly fees. Fox defined itself as a network and was there.

Then, came digital TV, and some of us have been left with nothing, but radio. Limbaugh and Beck are still there.

Now, just as an important election is approaching, websites seem to be upgrading their technology, leaving those of us with older machines behind. Pages take longer to load, even locking up my machine. Ads cover stories, locking up my machine.

There are sites I’ve abandoned - sight obscuring ads drove me away from Salon and The Nation, registration drove me away from the New Republic and the Washington Post, locking machines threaten Salon and The Daily Beast, bad internet transfers force me out of Slate and Huffington Post.

What makes the owners of liberal websites thing advertisers like General Motors or General Electric Money really care if they destroy their web site so long as they get their message out for a few seconds. What makes them think rivals like the New York Times or The Economist really care if they survive? Don’t they think it worth while to hire someone, even in India, to constantly monitor their sites on all platforms?

Don’t they realize they’re as captivated by the market philosophy that says they’ve finally succeeded when they make money as those who brought on the mortgage crisis? That they’re no different than those who wanted to stay with an idea only until they sold the patent or issued an IPO, didn’t think it worthwhile to actually build something?

When given the choice of money or audience, they’ve been trained to think the first is the real affirmation of value.

And, then they wonder why conservatives are more effective at reaching the disenfranchised.

Even if the Drudge Report is also loading slowly and Fox is feuding with cheap cable networks, there’s still radio and Beck and Limbaugh to explain it all to the unhappy whose marginality is defined by the poor media they can afford.

If you want power, you don’t try to unify the bickering choir, you reach out to the apostate where ever they reside.