In the not too distant past, the public had to solely rely upon the media for information about politicians.
For this reason, laws were enacted to restrict the number of newspapers, radio stations, and television channels a single corporation could own within each city. I believe the idea behind that law was to prevent the media from becoming too “one-sided” and/or having the power to influence elections.
Commondreams.org published an article with this statement that I think sums up the dangers of a cozy relationship between the media and political establishments:
The playbook in Washington often goes like this: When a measure that threatens the establishment builds enough momentum that it must be dealt with, it is labeled as “unserious.” The Washington Post editorial board, true to the script, called Paul’s measure “an unserious answer to a serious question.”
Fast forward to now, where individuals can access the internet to read up on their favorite or least-favorite politicians.
I did this today, not seeking information about specific politicians, but about which politicians are opposing a bill that I support: House Resolution 1207.
I wasn’t able to find a pre-compiled list of politicians who are for and against the bill, but I did find some interesting websites that make digging through political records a little bit easier. Here are the ones I found useful:
There are certainly some legitimate complaints that I’m sure some politicians have with how they are portrayed on the internet. For example, I looked up Bob Corker on Google and was presented with results which included the following:
I doubt he’s pleased with that!
While doing my research, I happened upon this very interesting article written by Josh Gerstein:
I’m not sure what to make of it due to my lack of legal knowledge, but I can’t help but raise an eyebrow, and feel its necessary to spread the word.
UPDATE: Shortly after I posted this entry, I read about a public apology Google made because their image search for Michele Obama produced some potentially offensive pictures. Very interesting.