Webster’s defines “mainstream” as the principal or dominant course, tendency, or trend. Every time I hear someone refer to CNN, MSNBC, Newsweek, the New York Times and the other big Corporate Media outlets as “Mainstream Media” or “MSM”, I can’t help but think that it’s just not true.
There was a time when the people got all their news from these big corporate sources, but it looks like their days of influence are diminishing as citizen news sources become more sophisticated and prominent. When I was a kid, I remember watching “60 Minutes” with my parents and seeing investigative reporters at work. Now the investigative reporters are guys like James O’Keefe who took it upon himself to expose ACORN without the benefit of so called Mainstream Media resources to help him.
Increasingly, what we hear referred to as Mainstream Media is nothing more than a repeater for big business, government and political parties. If you want to really find out what’s going on, you can’t get the story on your evening news any more. The national news broadcasts are less about providing facts and more about selling a politically correct opinion. When they don’t toe the line, they come under attack.
The point I’m trying to make here is that Corporate Media (and let’s face it folks, that’s all it really is any more) is no longer mainstream. The mainstream news is now an aggregate of all the thousands of citizen journalists who are out there digging up the stories and reporting them. The mainstream media is now Michelle Malkin, Andrew Brietbart, James O’Keefe, Gateway Pundit, Matt Drudge, La Shawn Barber, Pamela Geller, Elizabeth Crum, John Hawkins, Glenn Reynolds and the thousands of people like you and me I who keep our eyes open for news and then publish it for the world to see.
I’ll be using the more accurate term “Corporate Media” to describe the outdated outlets from now on.
What’s your take on this?
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