The Western Front will be taking a break for a couple weeks, but new posts, pictures, music recommendations and more will resume later this month.
Meantime, give a listen to some of the records I list over at right, visit and explore some of the linked blogs and sites (also at right)...and of course catch up on previous Western Front posts where you can learn how to free the world from music by the band Genesis, pick up some political knowledge and find out where to score the best hotdog in New York City.
All best,
Marc
Wednesday, May 7, 2008
Something not "Wright" about media coverage of NC/Indiana primaries
I tuned in last night to see results of the big Indiana and North Carolina Democratic primaries and quickly became confused.
Somehow, some way, the media inexplicably was completely ignoring the most influential man in US politics and the dominating personality in the Democratic primary race...a man the media has spent weeks and weeks focusing on, talking about, soliciting opinions about, conducing polls about, criticizing, reviewing, showing, interviewing, etc., etc., etc.
Indeed, where was Reverend Jeremiah Wright?
Based on the incessant media coverage I thought for sure that it was Rev. Wright who was running for president.
Instead, the talking heads last night were consistently talking about a fellow named Barack Obama. Now, I certainly had heard that this Mr. Obama may have had something to do with Rev. Wright...hell, you couldn't avoid it as part of the wall-to-wall Wright-o-thon the media has been running over the past few weeks.
And then it dawned on me...oh, I get it...this Barack Obama guy must be the one running for office since on election night it was his name and face the media showed and talked about. Boy did I feel duped. With all the attention on Rev. Wright, I thought for sure he was actually running.
OK, so I'm not as dumb as all that, but I think you get my point. The media really, really stink and they're doing everything they can to keep this primary going for their own ratings.
I think this has two big impacts. First, the average American voter may not be too much savvier than the sarcastic personality I indulged in above. Based on media coverage, people actually think that Obama in some way is 100% the same as this Reverend and won't vote for him. Second, I think the corporate media (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox) that are owned by some of the biggest companies in the world (Disney, GE, Time/Warner, News Corp) will all continue to focus on the Reverend as Republicans attack Obama over him and, frankly, as the big business media corporations themselves would rather see a McCain presidency than an Obama presidency.
NOTE: The picture in this post was NOT taken by me.
Somehow, some way, the media inexplicably was completely ignoring the most influential man in US politics and the dominating personality in the Democratic primary race...a man the media has spent weeks and weeks focusing on, talking about, soliciting opinions about, conducing polls about, criticizing, reviewing, showing, interviewing, etc., etc., etc.
Indeed, where was Reverend Jeremiah Wright?
Based on the incessant media coverage I thought for sure that it was Rev. Wright who was running for president.
Instead, the talking heads last night were consistently talking about a fellow named Barack Obama. Now, I certainly had heard that this Mr. Obama may have had something to do with Rev. Wright...hell, you couldn't avoid it as part of the wall-to-wall Wright-o-thon the media has been running over the past few weeks.
And then it dawned on me...oh, I get it...this Barack Obama guy must be the one running for office since on election night it was his name and face the media showed and talked about. Boy did I feel duped. With all the attention on Rev. Wright, I thought for sure he was actually running.
OK, so I'm not as dumb as all that, but I think you get my point. The media really, really stink and they're doing everything they can to keep this primary going for their own ratings.
I think this has two big impacts. First, the average American voter may not be too much savvier than the sarcastic personality I indulged in above. Based on media coverage, people actually think that Obama in some way is 100% the same as this Reverend and won't vote for him. Second, I think the corporate media (ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, Fox) that are owned by some of the biggest companies in the world (Disney, GE, Time/Warner, News Corp) will all continue to focus on the Reverend as Republicans attack Obama over him and, frankly, as the big business media corporations themselves would rather see a McCain presidency than an Obama presidency.
NOTE: The picture in this post was NOT taken by me.
Picture of the week - May 5
This week I'm featuring a shot of where it all began for rock and roll...Sun Studio in Memphis, TN.
This is the little recording studio run by Sam Phillips where legends such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, B.B. King and others recorded the songs that ignited what became the rock and roll craze in the mid 1950s.
I took this picture, actually, from a moving car. In hindsight, I should have just got out of the car and shot the picture from across the street. But, we'd just spent more than an hour in there and were getting hungry...so off we went.
What's lesser known is that the studio also was the place where other influential pre-Elvis records were cut such as the song "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' featuring song composer Ike Turner on keyboards.
Anyway, Diane and I visited Memphis a few years ago and loved it. A great three day weekend with spectacular food (check out the dry-rub ribs at Rendezvous), music and clubs on Beale Street, historic locations such as Sun Studios, Graceland and the site of where the Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated - now an important civil rights museum.
This is the little recording studio run by Sam Phillips where legends such as Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Carl Perkins, Johnny Cash, B.B. King and others recorded the songs that ignited what became the rock and roll craze in the mid 1950s.
I took this picture, actually, from a moving car. In hindsight, I should have just got out of the car and shot the picture from across the street. But, we'd just spent more than an hour in there and were getting hungry...so off we went.
What's lesser known is that the studio also was the place where other influential pre-Elvis records were cut such as the song "Rocket 88" by Jackie Brenston and his Delta Cats' featuring song composer Ike Turner on keyboards.
Anyway, Diane and I visited Memphis a few years ago and loved it. A great three day weekend with spectacular food (check out the dry-rub ribs at Rendezvous), music and clubs on Beale Street, historic locations such as Sun Studios, Graceland and the site of where the Rev. Martin Luther King was assassinated - now an important civil rights museum.
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