Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
Down to the wire : confronting climate collapse / David - Index of
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late-night thoughts about democracy S 63<br />
Exposed <strong>to</strong> a steady diet <strong>of</strong> right-wing talk radio, many Americans<br />
are misinformed about <strong>the</strong> major issues <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> day, including<br />
<strong>climate</strong> change.<br />
A third change would be <strong>to</strong> reverse <strong>the</strong> Telecommunications<br />
Act <strong>of</strong> 1996, which allowed corporations <strong>to</strong> buy up newspapers,<br />
radio, and television stations serving <strong>the</strong> same media market. The<br />
stated purpose was <strong>to</strong> encourage competition, but instead <strong>the</strong> act<br />
led <strong>to</strong> what media scholar Robert McChesney describes as “a<br />
massive wave <strong>of</strong> consolidation throughout <strong>the</strong> communications<br />
industries” (McChesney, 1999, p. 74; Bollier, 2003, pp. 148–153).<br />
Entire regions <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States are now blanketed by highly<br />
biased and dis<strong>to</strong>rted news coverage provided by a single company,<br />
with no dissenting voice on <strong>the</strong> airwaves. That goes a long way <strong>to</strong><br />
explaining why Americans are among <strong>the</strong> most media-saturated<br />
but worst informed people in <strong>the</strong> world and why we have been<br />
so confused and apa<strong>the</strong>tic about impending <strong>climate</strong> destabilization.<br />
The notion <strong>of</strong> a public service is, in McChesney’s view, “in<br />
rapid retreat if not <strong>to</strong>tal <strong>collapse</strong>” (p. 77). The International Press<br />
Association, unsurprisingly, rates <strong>the</strong> U.S. press 27th freest in <strong>the</strong><br />
world (Gore, 2005).<br />
Failures <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> media and press, however, result from <strong>the</strong> rising<br />
tide <strong>of</strong> money that fl ows through <strong>the</strong> political system, corrupting<br />
everything it <strong>to</strong>uches and compromising every politician,<br />
some more than o<strong>the</strong>rs. A long time ago, Will Rogers noted that<br />
we have <strong>the</strong> best Congress that money can buy. But he hadn’t<br />
seen anything. From his time <strong>to</strong> ours <strong>the</strong> situation has grown<br />
from a problem <strong>to</strong> a national disgrace, corrupting virtually every<br />
aspect <strong>of</strong> our public life, <strong>climate</strong> policy not <strong>the</strong> least. We’ve tried<br />
tinkering with <strong>the</strong> system <strong>to</strong> no avail. The solution, however, is<br />
straightforward: remove money from politics entirely. At <strong>the</strong> heart<br />
<strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> matter is <strong>the</strong> strange 1976 decision by <strong>the</strong> Supreme Court<br />
in Buckley v. Valeo that expenditure <strong>of</strong> money in political campaigns<br />
is a form <strong>of</strong> free speech and <strong>the</strong>refore protected by <strong>the</strong><br />
1st Amendment. As a result, a very few have a very large say in