On Thursday, a group of activists here in my city met with a reporter from our local newspaper. He told us he is 63 years old and has been a journalist for over 30 years. His current beat is our suburban area and the state capitol.
We met with him following an article he did about a banner drop at a local political event.
http://www.kansascity.com/news/local/story/232184.htmlThe reporter wanted to know why one of us was willing to risk losing his job to do this banner drop. He also asked us lots of questions about the local anti-war movement and how it has changed since the Vietnam War.
So we did a lot of complaining to him about the media and their refusal to tell the truth about the war. I said I think that is a MAJOR difference. In 1972, we had Woodward and Bernstein, who weren't afraid to report that our president was corrupt.
I told the reporter I had been to a conference recently where a CNN reporter said the media had dropped the ball on 3 major stories:
1. the 2000 election
2. the lead up to the war
3. the Downing Street Minutes
The reporter looked at me and said "The Downing what?"
I repeated "The Downing Street Minutes"
One of my friends said "They are also referred to as the Downing Street Memo"
The reporter said
"What's that?"
Like I said, this was on Thursday night and I am still just dropping my jaw. A fucking journalist who has been in the business longer than many of our soldiers in Iraq have been alive has no idea there is a smoking gun that PROVES bush and cheney lied to go to war.
We are in trouble, folks. If you want the war to end, if you want the president impeached, if you want anything to change in this country, we can't depend on our media. Like most of you didn't already know that.
Time to take to the streets if you aren't already there. The media ain't going to do it for us.
Here's a refresher course on The DSM. If you know any reporters, send them this link:
http://www.downingstreetmemo.com/See you on the streets!