With this morning’s announcement that John Edwards would be suspending his quest for the Democratic nomination for president, the media reform movement has also dropped out of the campaign.

Edwards was the only candidate to have directly addressed the problem of the media in this country. He recognized the danger of unregulated corporations controlling access to the media megaphone that all candidates and initiatives rely on if they harbor any hope of success. His own candidacy was a victim of the exclusionary predilections of Big Media.

Who will carry on the fight for media reform now that its strongest advocate in the race has withdrawn?

Brought to you by…

News Corpse

The Internet’s Chronicle Of Media Decay.

Here are some memorable moments from Edwards’ campaign:

“I am not particularly interested in seeing Rupert Murdoch own every newspaper in America.”

“High levels of media consolidation threaten free speech, they tilt the public dialogue towards corporate priorities and away from local concerns, and they make it increasingly difficult for women and people of color to own meaningful stakes in our nation’s media.”

“It’s time for all Democrats, including those running for president, to stand up and speak out against this [News Corp./Dow Jones] merger and other forms of media consolidation.”

“The basis of a strong democracy begins and ends with a strong, unbiased and fair media – all qualities which are pretty hard to [ascribe] to Fox News and News Corp.”

Contrast that with this watered-down criticism by Hillary Clinton. It started off as a rejection of media consolidation, but ended up letting her contributer Rupert Murdoch off the hook:

“I’m not saying anything against any company in particular. I just want to see more competition, especially in the same markets.”

On a positive note, both Clinton and Barack Obama are co-sponsors of the Media Ownership Act of 2007. And they have made statements in support of reform. Last year Clinton told supporters at a campaign rally that…

“There have been a lot of media consolidations in the last several years, and it is quite troubling. The fact is, most people still get their news from television, from radio, even from newspapers. If they’re all owned by a very small group of people – and particularly if they all have a very similar point of view – it really stifles free speech.”

That was right before she handed Murdoch the reprieve above. Obama co-authored an editorial with John Kerry that said in part…

“…to engage in the debates that have always made America stronger, it takes a stage and a platform for discussion – and never before have these platforms been more endangered.”

“In recent years, we have witnessed unprecedented consolidation in our traditional media outlets. Large mergers and corporate deals have reduced the number of voices and viewpoints in the media marketplace.”

But neither Clinton nor Obama have been nearly as aggressive as Edwards in this battle. Both have appeared on Fox News despite the dreadful treatment to which they are subjected. (Note to Dems: NEVER appear on Fox News! Starve The Beast!) And neither has made a point of making the media, the FCC, Rupert Murdoch, etc., a significant part of their campaign. Clinton has an arguably greater moral obligation to address these issues given that it was her husband who saddled us with the abhorrent Communications Act of 1996 that opened the floodgates of consolidation.

The remaining candidates in the race had better wise up. The media that has purposefully marginalized and/or disparaged candidacies that are now defunct, is now free to shift its aim to you. Don’t fool yourselves into thinking that you can weather their assault or bat your eyes demurely and hope that they will leave you alone. They will turn on you and, when they do, you will have little recourse but to whither and disappear or submit to their will. Both of those options will likely lead to a loss of the election, not to mention your soul.

As for the rest of us, we must take affirmative steps to see to it that our candidates understand how important this is – to them and to us. Be sure to write them and demand that they make media reform a plank in their platforms. Ask them about it at rallies and debates. It is up to us to remind them that the fate of EVERY issue we hold dear is dependent on the ability to educate and inform the public. For this we need a fair, diverse, and independent media. No matter what issue motivates you, if you don’t spend at least some of your time reforming the media you are allowing an obstacle to remain in your path that will lead to unnecessary hardship and, perhaps, failure.

(wow. – promoted by pfiore8)

I live in rural Columbia County, New York.  Columbia County is about 25 miles SE of Albany, New York, in the Hudson Valley.  It abuts Berkshire County, Massachusetts.  And it’s really beautiful.  It’s also experiencing the same recession as the rest of the country.

The current recession has already thrown the real estate market into a deep freeze, so that home sales are very, very slow.  Fortunately, there have not been a huge number of subprime mortgage foreclosures, though there have been a few.  Gasoline is down to $3.21/gallon today.  Heating oil is $3.389/gallon.  There was an announcement last week that the state was going to close the Hudson Correctional Facility, the second largest employer in the county, within a year.  The Correctional Facility employs 277 workers.  Local politicians of all stripes are fighting the proposal; I’m not optimistic that those jobs will be spared.  Most likely, the jobs will be moved away.

Two decades ago Columbia County used to be filled with dairy farms.  Those farms disappeared during Reagan’s dairy farm liquidations.  There are few dairy farms left.  This has resulted in huge herds of deer, which browse land that was formerly pasture, and a large growth of second homes for people from New York City, New Jersey, Long Island, and Boston (all about 2 hours away).  Two decades ago Columbia County had factories.  Now there are very few.  Mostly, the county is filled with rural, second homes, people who provide services, or telecommute, or commute to Albany, or to Hudson.  There is no Starbucks in Columbia County.  There is a Wal-mart.  There is no Home Depot or Lowes.  There is no large mall though one is planned.  There is a lovely, new food coop in Chatham.  There are many restaurants. There is theater, and an excellent film festival, and art and sculpture.  There are amazing, organic farms.  But I digress.

An important strategy for rural counties like Columbia County is to put land back into production for food.  Not for animal corn.  Not for soybeans.  For food.  Why?  Because local, organically produced food is healthier.  And it tastes better.  And it does not need long distance transport, so its price does not depend on oil prices or the cost of transporting it or the cost of chemical fertilizers.  But, alas, I’m not really a farmer.  I raised sheep for about a decade, but ultimately gave that up: it was impossible for me not to lose serious money.  I would have needed a flock of thousands, and to do that I would have had to give up my usual work. Instead, I quit raising them.

I have some lovely fertile land, land that will grow beautiful vegetables and flowers, land that for at least two decades has never had chemical fertilizers on it or pesticides.  And I wanted to get it back into production.  Know what? I don’t care if I make any money from it at all.  If I can get an agricultural tax exemption on my land taxes, that will be great, but that’s not really the point.  If I get the inside price of vegetables that will be enough. The point is to find ways to get local land into production of food that will be sold and consumed locally.  That makes ecological and economic sense.

So I scouted around the local natural food store, the local food coop, the local organic, biodynamic farm, and I found an organic farmer who wanted to grow vegetables and flowers and was doing so successfully on other land nearby.  A farmer who wanted more land.  An organic, skilled farmer.  And I made him a deal he couldn’t refuse: I’d lease him between 5 and 10 acres for $1.00 a year for 5 years or longer if he’d put it into production, if he’d promise not to use chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and he could keep whatever money he made from the crop he grew.  If he made enough that I could get an Ag exemption, great.  If not, that’s fine also.  What I really want is for the land to be productive and to feed people.  And I want the land to become more fertile, and better farming land as we go along.

My hope is that by doing this I can inspire other people who own land or who have abutting lots with enough vacant land (5 acres seems to be the minimum) to find farmers to put their land back into production of food.  I want them to give the same deal I’m giving.

Is this a stimulus?  Absolutely.  It’s a modest one to be sure.  But it’s a real stimulus.  Unlike the one they’re talking about in Congress, it’s a real one.  It’s new production.  It’s turning fallow land into food.  And does the money stay in the local community?  Definitely.  And does it decrease food prices for organic local vegetables?  Sure.  And does it provide a farmer with additional income that he will spend in the local community?  Yes.  In other words, it’s a real stimulus.  And my hope is that it’s an example: we can find ways of making our lives better by being creative.  And we can begin to change the way the economy runs for the better when we do that.