Did you know that “there has been a profound and negative change in the relationship of America’s media with the American people”? I didn’t know that until Senator John F Kerry illumined me via his speech to fellow Democrats on February 28, 2005 at the John F. Kennedy Presidential Library in Boston.

It’s so disturbing to me to know that there is this counterculture which now exists, actively undermining our heroic “mainstream” media voice, turning the hearts and minds of Americans everywhere from the true path. Woe is me!

And what exactly is this satanic influence all about? Kerry, of course, goes on to tell us:

“We learned,” Kerry continued, “that the mainstream media, over the course of the last year, did a pretty good job of discerning [i.e., beating up on the President and giving Kerry himself a pass]. But there’s a subculture and a sub-media that talks and keeps things going for entertainment purposes rather than for the flow of information [you mean, the mainstream media NEVER talks for entertainment purposes?]. And that has a profound impact and undermines what we call the mainstream media of the country. And so the decision-making ability of the American electorate has been profoundly impacted as a consequence of that. The question is, what are we going to do about it?”

Yeah! What are we going to do about this?!

Well, I’m doing something right now… Using my “sub-media” connections to undermine the very voice of reason [John F Kerry], trying to expose me and my fellow sub-media-ators to light of day! And in light of this revelation, I want to add that, well, I knew we were good, but I never knew we were THAT good!

I’m the king of the wooooorrrrldd!!

Or maybe not…

Really, which makes more sense to you, that the “sub-media” aka, blogs, talk radio, the Internet, and conservative media in general, are out-performing the mainstream media, or that the mainstream media right now is performing poorly?

I do think that new media has been very effective in influencing Americans, but that is mainly because new media and Americans in general are in greater agreement on the issues. At the same time, the mainstream media, has been losing touch with Americans, increasingly pushing its own agenda.

In my opinion, there are two main reasons why the MSM is hurting right now:
1) MSM companies care more about what they think than what we think.
2) After decades of unchallenged market dominance, the MSM has grown sloppy and unprofessional.

The fact is, there’s plenty of “low hanging fruit,” as they say, when it comes to attacking the MSM. While not true in all cases, the MSM generally comes off as arrogant, self-serving, elitist, and out of touch.

In a way, you could say that the MSM has gone counter-culture. Their views just don’t reflect the views of most Americans, and some in the MSM, such as Dan Rather, are all too willing to allow their personal views and beliefs to influence the type and quality of news they report.

And so it’s easy for us low-life bloggers to beat up on them. They make it easy! They have their proverbial chin right where we can wind up and unload with everything we’ve got.

MSM incompetence and partisanship has, in a real way, magnified the power and the voice of alternate media, especially the blogosphere. So what does that mean?

I think if people like Senator Kerry REALLY wants to see the influence now wielded by the new media dented, then the mainstream media will have to clean up it’s act. It’s time for the Great Media Reformation, as Hugh Hewitt in his book, Blog, has correctly asserted.

So, rather than seeking excuses and pointing fingers, I think Democratic leaders and some of those MSM moguls need to take a long, hard look in the mirror and ask one simple question:

“What have I (not they) done or not done to lose public confidence?”

It’s not about what we, the bloggers, have done to confuse or deceive our fellow citizens; it’s about what they have done, or not done, to earn and maintain our support and loyalty. Sure, there are a lots of bloggers who, as Kerry asserts, do this for entertainment purposes, but we are entertained because we are competing in the marketplace of ideas. We are learning as we go, and sometimes — every now and again — actually making a difference.

In the end, what we are going to see is a stronger MSM, and a more robust global information network overall. And, in case you were wondering, this is a good thing!

Why? Because it’s exactly the opposite of Orwell’s “1984″ scenario. In that world, every scrap of information was tightly controlled. Information was scanned, filtered, selected, altered, reformatted, spun, and then, MAYBE, broadcast.

You can accuse bloggers of doing this, or anyone in the media for that matter, but at least no one person or organization controls it all. We know now, because of Rathergate, Easongate, Swiftvets, and other blog-driven events that when the MSM spins too hard, they get whacked over the head by the “sub-media.” If I spin too hard — as so many have accused me of doing — then I get whacked over the head too.

There are lots of fact-checkers, lots of critics, and TONS of information flowing freely to support all those fact-checkers and critics. In this imperfect world, that is a good thing.

David Flanagan
Viewpointjournal.com