Wendy I. P.: I would say the Telecommunications Act was passed BECAUSE the media hadn't been doing its job for some time. William Greider wrote "Who Will Tell The People" (Touchstone/Simon & Schuster) in 1992, and he was talking about the PAST, not predicting the future. The Telecommunications Act was Newt Gingrich's gift to the industry (for which he got his famous $4 million book advance).
No, this doesn't really explain the "see no evil" propensities of the Minneapolis media. They've contented themselves largely with channeling press releases for some time. In fact, just the other day I was reading a primer on lobbying for nonprofits. One point was have a press release for EVERYTHING because no way will the media follow up a mere "tip". The fact is that the anti-establishment establishment has been fighting battles on the fields chosen by the enemy for a long time. Ralph Nader fancied he could beat the enemy at his own game wherever the confrontation took place, and this last election is pretty much the death knell for that belief. Getting back to our fair city, some of us (specifically those connected with various news channels) find it TOO easy to say "these were the crimials, now let's move on till we have PROOF the iceberg beneath the water exists. Is that "crusading journalism"? Is that Upton Sinclair reborn? Not in my opinion. They should be raking the cinders, looking for disgruntled government employees who know where bodies are buried and aggressively following up leads. Or, if they don't, they are coasting. In Longfellow, we had a former city employee running for a neighborhood office with the mantra "I know where the bodies are buried". She didn't get elected. I'm not sure why. Did the Longfellowites not WANT to see the cadavers? Did they not believe her claims? Did they just think she was too pushy? I can't say. I didn't interview all the voters. But we really NEED inside spies, since I don't think we'll ever get invites. RT is not going to declare "the transparent government". Those of you who put mere faith in the man are doomed to disappointment. When we got a private sector manager, there were city employees who didn't like her reforms. They told her impertinently tht they would live to see the day she departed in despair. And it basically happened. She did make some changes. But she isn't there today. "Politics as usual", David, whether you like that verdict or not. I mean, give us your inside knowledge of the things that are really different today? Have you sat in on meetings and seen a real change? Departmental meetings where the PR is replaced by reality? I'd love to hear about it. I'm not really sure what St Paulite Andy Driscoll is getting at. Sure there is mountains of corruption in the corporate world. But from where I look at these things, I don't see the puppy-dog press (pat me on the head and I'll wag my tail) seeing the big picture there either. What is news with the corporate world is not the DIFFERENCE of Worldcom and Enron, it is the similarity to the other big corporations. But big corporations own the MEDIA, so the media has a huge conflict of interest in reporting the reality of corporate corruption. Moreover, one should never overlook the coziness of the two targets, public and private, with each other. So long as news is "free", we can't expect the Fourth Estate to growl like a tiger. More like mew like a kitty (excepting always Eddie Felien, but that merely puts him outside the pale of "credibility" to serious citizens). I won't be voting in the 3rd ward election, but I'm wondering if Brian Monroe really means what he said about "getting on the wrong track" in replacing the former leadership. From here in the 12th ward, I'd say that replacing them (and our former CM) were the RIGHT track. Now all we have to do is restrain the new leadership from picking up the baton that got dropped and getting us more indebted to hand funds to billionaires. We need that LEAST of all right now. ---------------------------------------- I got a newsletter from Longfellow Community Council, and one of the things it talked about was the stripping of funding from NRP. Anyway, I was thinking "funding, funding, what to do about it." Well, my conclusion is that there will never be ONE solution. But one thing occurred to me that really delighted me. I wish some loyal Minneapolis bank would come up with a "Minneapolis Visa". My wife's professional association has one (as do GM, Ford, and an endless variety of other sponsors). University of Minnesota has a Visa card with its colors and logo on it. I have no idea how much affinity cards make to the beneficary organization, but they must make some. And if one of those cards appeared, I'd buy it and USE it. I have lived here over half my life and have pride in the association. And a second thing that occurred to me is that Minneapolis-connected businesses could do joint promotions with the city. I can imagine all sorts of events with a price break when you charge it on your Minneapolis Visa. I think it would be a great way for us loyal citizens to keep our cash at home. I wish the city father/mothers would consider doing this. Now that I've imagined it, I want one. I'm using a Target Visa, but I'd drop it for a Minneapolis Visa. ===== Jim Mork -- Cooper Neighborhood ________________________________ "In 1984, George Orwell predicted the Ashcrofts and Patakis to come: 'There of course was no way of knowing whether you were being watched at any given moment.'" Nat Hentoff:http://villagevoice.com/issues/0247/hentoff.php __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Mail Plus � Powerful. Affordable. Sign up now. http://mailplus.yahoo.com _______________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
