Democracy, Blogging and the Waning Influence of Corporate Media Part 1

Technology – August 7th, 2007 by Don

What is Blogging

well according to wikipedia:

“A blog (a portmanteau of web log) is a website where entries are written in chronological order and commonly displayed in reverse chronological order. “Blog” can also be used as a verb, meaning to maintain or add content to a blog. Blogs provide commentary or news on a particular subject such as food, politics, or local news; some function as more personal online diaries.”

I started blogging because, I had just had a bloody gutful of mainstream corporatised media, and their absolute lack of balance.

All one has to do is watch current affairs Tv, for a few days and one would very quickly pick up the inherent bias, and downright sycophantic behaviour of the individual network or news anchor.

Any alternative viewpoint challenging vested interests or the prevailing orthodoxy would more often than not be demonised.

In my case, here I was in Sydney, a young educated, working inner-city living, black man, who turned on the Tv most days, hoping to find informative critical, balanced news sources, about national domestic events, ie government policies and their impacts not only for me and my family, but also my fellow Australians, either in similar or different circumstances.

Instead, the imagery that I would constantly receive, was of black people, either sitting in parks, drinking beer, all day, or of some other similar ethnic minority group like mine, being portrayed as a terrorist or some other type of criminal.

The other constantly irritating factor was pro-john howard rhetoric on commercial Tv. Just to ram home, the point that the Corporate Media, and the Conservatives/Liberal party were in bed together, Piers Ackerman and Gerard Henderson, were given prime time televison gigs. And they both took to it like the proverbial pig in mud. Read about it here

And their absolute abuse of their power here

Talk about giving illogical, irrelevent OLD MEN, a lifeline…..

THE SOLUTION:

Since i was familiar with the net, due to experiences from a previous life time, I thought, why not, I shall wack together one of these blog things and publicly voice my disenchantment with these sad state of affairs. And maybe, just maybe offer an idea or three….

FUN:

The results of my little, very public experiment have been, rather uplifting. The observations that I have garnered about the growth of blogging and its gradual pervasive influence on the tightly controlled mainstream corporate media, has been morally re-invigorating. Watching the re-emergence of democracy through the vibrancy of open frank conversations, has been good for the soul.

Personally: The growth in readership of my humble website has been mind boggling, to me. It is gradually increasing, a small amount, day after day, after all semi political rants from Dodgypress.com.au will never be sexy, when compared to blogs about Paris Hilton. Those type of blogs are receiving massive, Tv like audiences.

THE FUTURE:

What has really baked my cookie though is discovering so many like minded souls, from all around the country. Check out Talk It Out and this crew from Bris Vegas. And they come from all walks of life, far and wide.

Some live just around the corner, and write remarkbly well, and put my sad scribbles/dribbles to shame.

Individually, our voices have not had much impact, however collectively and indeed over time, Our Voices will unleash a Torrent.

One only has to look to America, for what, is to come here in OZ. In part 2 of this Series of Three, I shall have a chat to some prominent aussie and american polly bloggers, and discuss the global disenchantment with corporate media, and their waning influence.

So much so, that it could easily be argued that corporate mainstream media, is attempting to mimic bloggers, yes you heard right.

The corporations are attempting to copy our strategies, in order to stay RELEVANT.

Don’t Believe me, well in part 2 I shall Show You!

Long Live Blogging and Democracy.

DP!

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