HR Translation Service

HR-speak can be difficult to understand. Take the following quote, lifted directly from a job listing for a media position in New York:

"We are only interested if you are ready for the challenge, yet have butterflies in your stomach thinking about the opportunity."

Translation:
"We want someone with the skills and experience to earn five times more than we're willing to pay."

Good luck!

Most Pretentious Ad of the Year

What Stephen really needs is a nose if he wants to properly enjoy that cognac. This thing is blanketing NYC airwaves and reminding me of the fight about allowing taxpayer subsidies to support the private development of luxury condos in the first place. No discreet ad campaign for these guys, though, no sir.

Most New Yorkers are far too practical to waste money on cookie-cutter prestige built with Kleenex and spit. This is appealing to transplants with Wall St. salaries, fragile egos and an obsession with appearances. BTW, Stephen knows his wife is already sleeping with the doorman but he's cool with it because it gives him cover to go to the spa in Chelsea.

If You Call Someone an “EmoProg,” You’re an Asshole

 

We’re all supposed to be in this together - liberals, progressives, old socialists and reformed communists, all of the same basic leftist stripe. Some know better than others that politics is a contact sport, and that compromise is the name of the game. Some know better than others that constant pressure must be kept on elected officials to get even a small portion of our agenda enacted into law. And some are simply too young or inexperienced to have a full grasp of the process.

This is where social media was supposed to be our edge. Lefties trend younger, more tech savvy and more open to legitimate debate. If you want to be a dittohead, Rush Limbaugh is always looking for more recruits. But here on the left, we understand the power of even the smallest idea from the least likely of sources. We were supposed to be the champions of crowdsourcing and on-line organizing. Instead, we’ve splintered into cliques that are increasingly more interested in personality cults than policy.

And one of the most pervasive and stupid of the cliques is the anti-“emoprog” crowd. Let’s see if we can follow the logic: criticizing President Obama is tantamount to treason, apparently, so his policies should be supported no matter what. OK, so far, given that the alternative is reactionary and less desirable in most cases. And to enforce this “my President right or wrong” approach, they have decided that there should be no dissention in the ranks. OK, I’m fading but still following. Now we enforce that mindset by creating dissention in the ranks. And I’m lost.

How does shouting epithets at fellow progressives solve anything? How does labeling a disappointed true believer an “emoprog” help? Do you think your insult is so pithy that your target can’t help but be swayed by it? Do you imagine that the subject of your invective is so easily cowed into conformity? And if so, what makes you think they’ll follow your brand of propaganda when the right wing has many more resources devoted to the same methodology?  If it’s a propaganda war you want to fight, you’ll lose. Period. You don’t have the money, the resources, the network or the reach of the corporate PR machine and never will.

What you have is truth! What you lack is patience. The same patience you demand of the “emoprogs” you love to bash in your frustration is strikingly absent in your conversations with those very people. Do you think that’s lost on them? Do you think it simply doesn’t matter because you’re right and they’re wrong? Doesn’t that sound a tad… I dunno… Republican? Are those really the tactics you want to use?

While it’s true that the easily disillusioned have some political growing up to do, it’s also true that YOU’RE NOT HELPING! The “emoprogs” may need to develop more savvy and experience but YOU need to grow the fuck up. It’s the adults in the room who have the special responsibility of maintaining maturity in the face of emotion. On that score you have failed… miserably.

I don’t have to like you to agree with your politics. I have met many Democrats, in office and out, who I wouldn’t trust with my navel lint, but their hearts are in the right place. I’m not so sure about this crowd anymore, though. I see a lot of self-aggrandizement and not much by way understanding. I see more “look at me being mean in front of the popular crowd” and not much by way of “hey, I feel the same way, too, but there’s a better way.” And sure, some of those people have monetized blogs and are legitimately trying to earn a living while advancing progressive ideas, but the whole point of a progressive tide is to lift all boats, not just drive more traffic to your blog.* And if you’ve fallen into the media trap of driving traffic for the sake of traffic using whatever hyped up message works, then you're sacrificing unity for selfish reasons and that makes your “emoprog” bullshit ring even more hollow.

I find it the height of hypocrisy to cry “unity” and “emoprog” in the same sentiment. (The same goes for "Obamabot.") To claim “emoprogs” are the cause of disunity on the left while using terminology that is guaranteed to insult and make those very people feel disengaged is naive and only feeds the right wing. And when unity on the left results in legislation that could’ve been written by the Cato Institute, what’s the fucking point, anyway? If anyone has created weakness on the left in recent years, it’s YOU! You, who support everything the President does no matter what. You, who refuse to acknowledge that President Obama is more conservative than Candidate Obama. “My guy, right or wrong,” is the surest way to allow “your guy” to choose "wrong."

Kip Hampton pointed out what is obvious to any political veteran -- this mid-term was only slightly worse than most. But it’s always someone else’s fault, right? Never you. Never your methodology. Always someone else – those damn Republicans or those awful “emoprogs.” Just who the fuck do you people think you are? And I especially have no patience for flamers and hacks who hurl their vitriol from smug anonymity. I’ve had enough of your bullshit and I’m tired of trying to sort out which is the real character and which is a paid plant from the Heritage Foundation. As I said, I don’t have to like you to agree with your politics and nobody needs your permission to feel the way they do and express what they want to express. So congratulations on coining an oh-so-pithy phrase and totally missing the point AND the opportunity in the process.

Now go fuck yourselves.**


* - Yes, there are a few ads on this blog. No, I don’t spend all day trying to drive traffic to it. I post about as often as the Harvest Moon, so I’m clearly not trying to get rich here. I have better ways to earn a living.

** - I don’t expect my antagonistic tone to sway you. I expect it to offend you. Now that you’re offended, how much do you want to agree with me? See how well your strategy works? Cut out the “emoprog” crap and get back to being smart, because you ARE smart when you’re not an erupting volcano of invective. We need all hands on deck, including the "emoprogs" you disdain. The GOP has it easy -- they just follow marching orders from the CoC. Our side has it tougher because we're not a monolithic organism. So get over yourselves and get with the fucking program.

The Uninvited

Jackie Robinson and Barrack Obama were not invited to their positions of public prominence. But Barack Obama is no Jackie Robinson. That much should be clear by now. The one thing they share is simply to be "first" at something. But where President Obama has seemed content with merely achieving the post, Jackie Robinson knew he had to do more.



If Jackie Robinson had been called up to the Dodgers as an act of charity, he would not have won the first ever Rookie of the Year award handed out by Major League Baseball. If his role was to simply integrate the sport and stay calm, he would not have attempted to steal home on Whitey Ford (and Yogi Berra can say whatever he likes -- Jackie was safe). He would not have stolen 29 bases in his first season or helped lead the Dodgers to the 1955 World Series victory. If Jackie Robinson had been a charity case, he would have rode the bench in stoic silence and been content to pave the way for the likes of Hank Aaron.

But Jackie Robinson was no charity case. Jackie was one of the best baseball players in the world and he showed it every time he took the field. He wasn't the fastest runner but he stole nearly every base he attempted. He wasn't a slugger but he hit game-winning home runs. He wasn't a brawler but he jawed at the umps like any other high-strung athlete on the wrong end of a close call.

The only thing Jackie did differently than any other ballplayer in his time was ignore the taunts and insults hurled at him for no other reason than the color of his skin. But in every other aspect of his athletic career, Jackie was a baseball player first and foremost. And he never apologized for being there or being better than other players. He never backed down from a challenge on the field, never allowed another man to usurp his integrity as an athlete or as a man. Jackie didn't play mean, but he knew when to slide into base spikes up to send a message.

Jackie was a professional playing on a field of professionals and while the world may not have been ready to treat him as an equal, he never acted as though he were any lesser than any of his teammates or opponents on the field. He didn't help lesser (white) ballplayers save face by stealing fewer bases or hitting fewer home runs, didn't pretend to "know his place" and act a part that was beneath him. He was hired to win ball games and he went out every day to do just that. Once the uniform was on, he was a ballplayer with a mission, like any other.

Sadly, the same cannot be said for President Obama. He has treated his presidency like a charity case. He acts as though he were allowed the presidency, rather than winning it fair and square. His policies are compromises with himself, starting from a position of weakness before the real negotiations have even begun. The right wing's obsession with his "apology tour" is more a product of his reaction to the criticism than the action itself. The conservative bullies smell his weakness and pounce on it every chance they get.



President Obama's idea of a transformational presidency is one of compromise with the uncompromising. But the leaders he has chosen to spotlight as transformational -- like Lincoln, FDR and Reagan -- were not men given to compromise. If Lincoln had been willing to compromise, it would have taken another generation or three to abolish slavery. If Roosevelt had compromised, the US would have stayed out of WWII and who knows what that outcome would have been. If Reagan had compromised, we wouldn't have 55 mile per hour speed limits all over the country and our mental hospitals would still be in service.

There have been a small handful of limited successes -- Lilly Ledbetter, DADT repeal (after an unnecessary delay), a few nice provisions in health care reform, and the consumer protection bureau, which is unlikely to get funded, or staffed, as long as the GOP has anything to say about it. But weighing down those successes is a long string of failures, as well. The constant capitulation to the minority party when he had the opportunity to save the economy has led to a lackluster recovery that will fall squarely on the President's shoulders in 2012. The GOP garroted itself on two Medicare votes and President Obama gave that political chit away by putting Medicare on the block in the debt ceiling negotiations. The debt ceiling should never have been open to debate in the first place, but Mr. Compromise keeps trying to win friends and sing around the campfire with people who quite literally want him to disappear permanently.

Not once has he or anyone working for him called out the obvious racism and unthinking bigotry. Because he doesn't get it. No matter what he does or says, the right wing will paint him in the worst possible light. And he has devoted all his energy to trying to convince those people that he really isn't all that threatening -- a mindset that is the exclusive domain of the charity case. Because he knows that progressives have nowhere else to turn but the Democratic party (don't be so sure, kids), he can "punch the hippie" to make himself look like he's part of the management class -- a mindset that is exclusive to the charity case. And all he ever manages to do is instill frustration in his natural allies while egging on the schoolyard bullies -- conservatives -- in their zeal to destroy him utterly.

No matter how many degrees and accolades he gets, there is still a virulent racism in this country that will never respect anything but strength. They won't go quietly, but they will go, eventually, IF they perceive strength in their opposition. Right now they perceive weakness -- an all-encompassing, paralyzing weakness that has served only to bring America to the brink of default for the first time in history.

Let there be no mistake: if the USA defaults, the blame will lie squarely on the shoulders of the Tea Party coalition in the GOP-led House... in reality. In politics, however, the deck is now firmly stacked against President Obama, and his chances of re-election hinge on the one thing he has carefully avoided for three years -- showing strength. President Obama needs to slide into second base spikes up and take someone out. He needs to throw a purpose pitch, brush some guys back and plant some asses in the dirt. But he isn't willing to be that guy at all, for whatever reason.

Thus, rather than the transformational presidency Barack Obama desired, his will simply be a placeholder presidency, awaiting the next Republican to drive the nation deeper into economic despair. He could have discredited 40 years of supply side economics, exposed the conservative activism on the courts and the stacking of the federal circuits and manipulation of the tax code to suit the corporate agenda, could have abolished DADT with the swipe of a pen, could have passed a two trillion dollar stimulus with not a single spending cut, and much, much more, IF he had been willing to be a ball-buster. Imagine the signal it would send if his administration chose to enforce anti-trust regulations against Walmart, for instance, or launched a justice department investigation into the cozy world of banking, hedge funds and the ratings agencies that cover up their corruption.

The howls from the right would be identical to the howls we hear now.  Had the Obama administration acted like they earned their positions and deserved to enact the policies they preferred, the punditocracy would still be giving President Obama grief. But the howls would ring hollow in the face of a strong presidency actually getting things accomplished and making a positive impact on the things ordinary American care about, like jobs and the economy... stupid. But because President Obama is so fixated on his definition of transformational -- a definition that flies in the face of all American history -- he chose the camp fire route instead, and his presidency was over before it began.

Washington has been in thrall to conservative (read corporate) ideology for more than four decades now. And nothing about President Obama or his administration is going to change that. In fact, all they've done is succeed in making matters worse for progressive policy. This is GOP territory now and probably forever (thanks to the corrupt justices of the Supreme Court and their judicial activism in the form of CU vs. FEC). I've been used to it for a while. But the first-time voters that turned out for President Obama are now too disillusioned to care. The progressive wave is already over (except in Wisconsin... maybe). The Tea Party may be down to a handful of angry white people collecting social security, but the Tea Party coalition in Congress is here to stay. They have a taste of power now and nothing will stop them from doing everything they can to attain more. This will end badly for all of us. The only question is how soon?

Donald Westlake: New York City Personified

Most of Donald Westlake's books were set in and around, or in some way involved, New York City. In this excerpt from a Donald Westlake interview given to La Huit (France), he describes the character New York City would be if it was personified in a detective story. I added the rest.



You can see the original unadulterated excerpt here.

The Norwegians

"You have to be one unpopular world leader to have the Norwegians attacking you." ~ Richard Engel, NBC News

Raindancer

Texas Governor Rick Perry has called upon the Christian faithful of his state to pray for rain. Texas has been experiencing a significant drought since October of last year. And Governor Perry's efforts could be seen as a sincere, if somewhat superstitious, approach to solving the problem. On the other hand, it could be seen as a cynical ploy to score God-points with his base while shifting the narrative away from his failed fiscal policies. I mean, if I was going to ask people to pray for rain, I'd certainly check the weather forecast first... since it's there!

So here's the five-day forecast for Dallas-Texas:

Well, looks like the Gov is in luck. Modern science, that he chooses to ignore in public, has provided him with a cheap bit of kabuki theater. This feels like a setup from Herge's classic Tintin book, "Prisoners of the Sun." Sentenced to death by living Incas, Tintin used his knowledge of a coming solar eclipse to spook the natives and save his and his companions' skin:

Or perhaps a less sophisticated version of this - post hoc, ergo propter hoc:

I tend to think that the Republican rank-and-file is actually somewhat more sophisticated than sun-worshipping Incas but obviously Rick Perry doesn't agree. And the sad truth is, he's probably right.

Luke 17:5-10

Photo: Jeffrey Friedl

(5) And the apostles said to the Lord, "Increase our faith." (6) So the Lord said, "If you have faith as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, "Be pulled up by the roots and be planted in the sea," and it would obey you. (7) And which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, "Come at once and sit down to eat"? (8) But will he not rather say to him, "Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink"? (9) Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not. (10) So likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do."" 

Clearly, the Lord was looking for a higher class of convert than a lowly servant. Ten percent of nothing is still nothing. The difference between Jesus and the people that wrote about Jesus is that Jesus wasn't trying to earn cash. I've never seen faith move a Mulberry tree. But I have seen a tractor do it.

The "Best and Brightest"

[Update: Read Off With Their Heads at the new blog "Life After Newspapers" for reinforcement on this point.]

Keli Goff posted a good article on TheLoop21.com today and followed up with a good rant on Dylan Ratigan’s show. But there was one point that didn’t sit right with me…

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The notion that most companies retain the “best and brightest” of their workforce even during the worst of times is a myth. Multinational corporations don’t even seek the best and brightest, let alone retain them, even during the best of times. The “best and brightest” are experienced and generally older and therefore expensive and disruptive to established norms. Nearly every large corporation in America has made a common practice of replacing older, more expensive workers with younger, less experienced, more easily exploited entry-level hires. Nearly every large corporation in America has made a common practice of phasing out full time positions and replacing those functions with part time and freelance workers. Nearly every large corporation in America has a part time workforce that dwarfs the size of its full time staff. I'm sure nearly every person reading this with experience at a large corporation has seen this at work.

Now we see that many corporations are refusing to even interview unemployed people for mid-level positions that require some experience. And for some, the analysis is simple: the “best and brightest” are still working so they’re the best people to hire. That is false on both fronts. First, the best and brightest are the first to get laid off in a recession because they’re the most expensive employees. So the workforce that remains is actually less bright and less motivated by anything but cold hard cash. This is true in nearly every big company in America right now. Second, hiring an employee away from a competitor raises costs to the competitor, while acquiring a newbie or unprofessional slob leftover from the layoffs is a way to acquire insider knowledge about the competitor’s inner workings – a true professional wouldn’t kiss and tell but a newbie doesn’t know any better, often despite contractual restriction. It’s mercenary, plain and simple.

There are no studies on this phenomenon, mainly because “studies” are expensive, often require corporate funding, and no University is going to risk future endowments by funding a study that could end up confirming the worst suspicions about corporate America. The unpatriotic corporate elite have placed such a thorough stranglehold on the American economy that nobody dare criticize the structure for fear of being rendered permanently unemployed and having all earning power stripped away. This is what tyranny looks like. It may not be as obvious as Gaddafi and his thugs, but it’s a form of tyranny nonetheless. And if you think that’s hyperbole, explain why the revolutionaries in Tahrir Square in Cairo sent dozens of pizzas to the union supporters protesting in Madison, Wisconsin just a few weeks ago. The Egyptians have a much more intimate understanding of the concept of “safety in numbers” at the moment. That gesture is lost on many but huge to those of us who get it.

Glenn Beck is right to be in a panic, for once – all of these issues are connected and propagandists like him can’t afford a democratic awakening for many reasons. Since there are no studies on this subject, and there won’t be any studies on this subject, it’s up to labor to fight a public relations battle on this. As Keli pointed out, Rep. Henry Johnson (D-GA) has introduced a bill to end the practice of unemployment discrimination in the hiring process, but it’s sure to be considered dead on arrival in this dangerously waning age of the neo-con. This issue is barely scratching the surface of corporate malfeasance but it could be an Achilles Heel in the neo-con obsession with eradicating every vestige of the New Deal. Wisconsin is a leading indicator of the mood of labor across the country. The unpatriotic corporate elite will be satisfied with nothing less than permanent indentured servitude for the rest of us – if you think that’s hyperbole, do a search on “indentured servitude” or just read this.

Multinational corporations don’t like or value their employees in the slightest -- Jack Welch proved that with his factory-on-a-barge model as the utopian business model. Need more proof? Here’s an excerpt from a typical human resources website:

You’ll notice these behaviors match the “fight or flight” response you learned in school. If you recall, when an animal gets into trouble, there are just two reactions, fight or flight. As we’ve seen, your employee will react the same way when his job is threatened.

They actually believe that human employees are best understood when described as “animals.” That’s who these people are and who they’ve always been. The system didn’t make them that way. It simply gave them an avenue for their most natural psychological condition – the superiority complex.

Busting the unions is just the beginning. Eventually you will hear of companies that prohibit their employees from having any accounts on any social media sites like Twitter and Facebook at all. They will employ entire legal departments devoted to surfing the net for staffers, investigating alternate handles, sending threatening letters to networks and ISPs, luring the unsuspecting into fake organizations and then initiating mass firings. They will call it an issue of productivity but the cost of enforcement will make it clear that it’s motivated exclusively by fear of labor organizing online. These things are as predictable as they are obvious. Just follow the money and fear and watch the rest come into focus. The best and brightest are sitting at home right now, not at a desk in corporate America. And as long as we continue to allow the least among us to have the most power, that will remain the case.

The Squeeze

The Squeeze pervades nearly every aspect of our lives, from the cost of grocery shopping and medical care, to the disappearance of jobs that pay a living wage, even as prices relentlessly push ever-upward (never mind deeply conflicted inflation statistics). Reactionary economists tout GDP as though the number alone has a meaningful bearing on working people’s lives. Reactionary politicos advocate shrinking government until it’s small enough to drown in a bathtub, the same ideology that presided over the fastest, most expensive, and widest-reaching expansion of the US Federal government since World War II. And when we turn to American journalism to edify us, we discover a landscape drowning in Fox News and conservative talk radio hysteria, driven by monopolistic industries using blunt instruments to cling to a bygone economy in which they could never really compete without taxpayer subsidies. The electric bill goes up. The gas bill goes up. In California, the power company just tried to codify a permanent monopoly and lost. They jack your rates anyway. The phone bill goes up. Now you have to have a cell phone to get work because you lost your full time job. Now you have to drive more to find work. In New York City, the subway system forced you to use a MetroCard instead of tokens, and now they’re angry about you using all those MetroCards so they’re going to charge you for every new one you get. Still better than Colorado Springs where they can’t afford to pick up the trash. It’s the same in cities all over America - fewer services, more delays, higher costs and an ever-more aggressive police state that sees the average American commuter or worker or student as nothing more than a common criminal, hardly deserving of basic dignity let alone respect. For far too many of these petty authoritarians, humiliation of the general public is their greatest thrill. These aren’t isolated anecdotal failures of bureaucracy or personal character flaws run amok, they are symptoms of a mostly unwritten but nevertheless omnipresent ideology that loudly and aggressively debases all things not in overt and immediate support of institutionalized power.

Income is down. Expenses are up. Nerves are frazzled. Nobody gives a crap. The banks don’t care. They want the mortgage payment, car payment, credit card-student loan-business loan payment today, now, to the penny, or you can feel free to pay 27% interest instead, if you’re lucky. The bureaucracy doesn’t care. Congress critters are way too busy covering asses closer to home to give a rat’s-behind about our sorry little world. Now, sure, a few of them seem like good eggs and maybe they are. But don’t kid yourself. It’s not their world. They have reputations to build, images to uphold, jobs to hand out to family and friends, and, most importantly, a lot of money to be made. Have you seen government pensions? Even though they’re more than most of us will ever get in retirement, they’re a mere pittance compared to the riches of shilling for corporations, writing reactionary fables, and cashing-in on the lecture circuit after leaving elected office. And our little problems are not about to spoil what is shaping up as an excellent resume for big business. It’s a selfish breed, a lying gaggle of crybabies and we all know it. They really don’t like the Obama routine. They’d like to return to simpler times – wait around for the automatic pay raise and appropriate more money for obsolete weapons systems when they get worried that people are noticing. Corporations have a stranglehold, Congress is a joke, President Obama may be trying but he isn’t looking like the Jedi Master so many of his supporters believed him to be. And too much has been placed on his shoulders anyway, given the intractability of a Congress mostly comprised of self-centered individuals. An impressive string of legislation marred by political sabotage has resulted in very little being done to rein in the big banks, the Fed, big oil, big coal, big pharma, etc.

I know my writing sounds angry and apocalyptic but if I dismissed hope, I wouldn’t be writing at all. I don’t discount the accomplishments Karoli detailed on her excellent blog, Odd Time Signatures, but an honest assessment of American society necessarily accounts for the ills we encounter with disturbing and increasing frequency in our daily lives. It’s not enough to simply complain about suffering, nor is it enough to merely advocate for better. The Declaration of Independence, our reason for being, is written with both grievances and remedies embodied in the text, which isn’t to say I fancy my writing compares, but what could be more American than following its example? If we can no longer be stirred to action by hope, then anger will suffice. I don’t want to see this world brutally raped - the environment, the people, the long-standing cultures and time-tested institutions of civilization relentlessly pounded by the sexless member of corporate greed. I don’t want to raise a family in a world where men like Rupert Murdoch, Dick Cheney and Tony Hayward can be considered titans while they trample the working class under their jack boots, where otherwise decent people can be morphed into bigoted faux-patriots with a clever punch line and a snappy brochure, and where the dominant media outlets are controlled by the very ideologies journalists should be investigating. How will Americans ever find common ground on distinguishing those policies that truly are squeezing the American Dream out of existence from undemocratic rhetoric in the guise of populism if journalism can’t be trusted?

Establishing the quagmire we currently occupy – the culmination of a long process that began generations ago – is not a repudiation of President Obama’s policies. On the contrary, I believe he hasn’t received the full support he needs for the agenda he was elected to deliver, in part, due to the lack of truth emanating from mainstream media. With every passing day, it becomes more obvious that American journalism is dying. You can say what you like about the excellent work done by a small handful of TV, radio, print, and internet journalists, and there are some, but how much impact do they make? Gen. McChrystal was fired. That’s the biggest impact we can find? Gen. McChrystal would never have been under the false impression that anything he ever said in front of a reporter was off-the-record if American journalism wasn’t dying. Network TV correspondents would not have berated Michael Hastings for daring to commit an act of journalism with his article in Rolling Stone if American journalism wasn’t dying. Glenn Beck would not be allowed to have a program on a network with “news” in the name if American journalism wasn’t dying. BP wouldn’t be getting away with half of the bullying and denials if American journalism wasn’t dying. And nobody, certainly not Ben Bernanke, would be talking about deficit reduction in the middle of a recession if American journalism wasn’t dying. It really is that simple. History and truth are the same thing only for one instant, at the time of their occurring, and never again. The truth outs eventually but when we have to wait 50 or 100 years, it ceases to be truth and becomes history. And without journalism, we can’t even agree on the lessons of history.
So what are we going to do about it?

Lots of new journalism business models have arisen in recent years in efforts to both take advantage of emerging technologies and simply stave off irrelevancy: hyper-local, crowd-funded, viewer-contributed, and more. But the problem these endeavors almost invariably face is the lack of powerful financial and legal backing that supports the kind of hard-hitting investigative reporting that really pisses off the powers-that-be. And, with rare exception, pissing off the rich kids is exactly what’s missing from American journalism today. But it is possible to build a subscriber model on cable/satellite TV that can combine the principals of economies of scale and local sourcing, to bypass the commercial, government, and donor financing models and create an outlet that is beholden only to its viewers. Journalism freed from the shackles of government censorship and commercial interference would be a fearsome cop on the beat. Bias cannot be eliminated but it can be transformed into a quest for truth. Objectivity is a myth, but transparency, coupled with checks and balances in the editorial process, and inviolable firewalls between ownership, finance, and editorial, would mimic the democratic ideal and engender trust in the viewership. It’s not just possible, if democracy is going to survive this new gilded age, it may be our only hope.

If you can contribute two minutes to the market research on this concept, please take this Subscription TV News Survey (link also at the top of the right column on this page). Thank you.