Democracy Now!

[CaughtintheMiddle1990]

Ever watched this channel? You want to talk about Communist news, this is it. I was first exposed to it back during 2003; 2004, when my family members watched it. It is the most tacky, cultural leftist stuff you can find on TV. I mean, these channel conducted a very friendly interview with Bill Ayers and his wife Bernadine after the election, with 60s music playing. I'll never understand the older generation that has that cringeworthy 60s attitude and wants to still act as it's 1967. This channel was one of the biggest critics of the Iraq War when the war first started, and they were pushing it like it was Vietnam all over again.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17X80OB616E
I apologize for drifting off point about this Channel, but a part of me thinks some of these far left types WANT another Vietnam. They need another Vietnam. Let's be honest--Vietnam helped them and their ilk in a lot of ways. They and their views became mainstream. They pushed politics--first foreign policy, then domestic policy--their way. A lot of various groups--the extreme environmentalists, fellow travelers and communists in the media (music, literature, television), far left social liberals, hardcore radical feminists, violent black liberation groups like the Panthers, gay liberation people--all came together through Vietnam and used that cause to get many lesser informed on their side, and thus forced in many ways their version of America through.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Democracy Now is indeed a more left wing news program but they are not a "communist" network (although they aren't afraid to have communists on the air, not at all).

There's an obvious left-wing slant, that mostly comes through in the selection of stories (there are many stories emphasizing consequences of war, and abuses of the government).

Frankly, I think conservatives should like part of this message, Democracy Now! is big on calling out the US government for overreaching, but I can see how conservatives might not jive with the anti-war message.

If you actually watch democracy now's reporting, you will see they are very even-handed inj how they report stories, they avoid loaded language and scare tactics, and there is a total lack of on-air shouting matches or stupid conspiracy theories.

There's a left-wing bias (which is also noticable because they allow REAL leftists on the air, not democratic party spokesmen) but they do a great job at giving you the news straight.

There is no such thing as an unbiased network, that's why it's important to get a variety of perspectives, and to keep in mind what sort of biases are present when you watch them.

When I want a bigger picture of a story, I check Fox News, Al Jazeera English, and Democracy Now!

Obviously regional networks are better at covering stories in depth (like Al Jazeera has by far the best and most in depth coverage of stories in the middle east, but again their bias should be kept in mind when viewing it).

[Calypso Jones]

they're freaking disgraceful.

[Wei Wu Wei]

We may disagree on many points about the wars in the middle east. But one thing I think we can all agree on is that Western media outlets were all trumpeting the same pro-war tune back in 2001-2003.

None of the American networks were allowing anyone one to speak out against the war.

You may not agree with the anti-War crowd entirely, but you have to admit that if we listened to the anti-war criticisms, instead of ONLY hearing one side, the American people might have been able to be better informed, and make more sensible decisions.

Even if you are not a "leftists", like CITM here who says he is a liberal, you should hope that the leftists are talking and arguing as much as the rightists. You may find yourself more comfortably in the middle, but if one side is given no voice, then the "middle" ends up shifting to the right.


Also, CITM, what you are referring to about leftists wanting more chaos is known as "accelerationism". The idea is that the more fucked up the system gets, the sooner people will wake up and revolt against it, demanding change. Generally though, left-wing accelerationists support Republican candidates because they believe the republicans will more quickly destroy the empire.

That's not my position, and I don't believe that's the position of the people at Democracy Now!, but yes I am familiar with the sentiment.

[Wei Wu Wei]

Also Democracy Now! always conducts friendly interviews, unlike that garbage on American cable news, interviews are supposed to let the person give their point of view, it's not just a chance to scream them down on air like on Fox.


edit: Here is an example of what I mean

http://www.democracynow.org/2010/12/...ma_is_a_poster

There you have a left-wing guy criticizing Obama's failures and arguing that the democratic party and today's "liberal class" has died entirely, losing their emphasis on economic and social justice and instead focusing on petty identity politics.

The left wing needs to criticize Obama, and democracy now is one place where you will find that criticism.


edit#2: thinking about it now, I know several leftists who regularly enjoy listening to Right-wing networks. I'm one of them. I listen to Fox News, I listen to mainstream democrats too, I even listen to right-wing pundits on the radio. All because it's important to understand the other sides point of view.

I know some conservatives who know about Democracy Now!, some who have even seen one or two shows, but I don't know any who watch it regularly the way myself and others like me watch Fox News.

I don't have stats to back this up, but in my experience, it seems left-wing people are far more willing and able to regularly watch right wing news while right wing people are far less able or likely to watch leftwing news.