Apparently the Fog City Journal is the only news source in San Francisco that reports the news. Cindy Sheehan, the mom anti-war activist and opponent of Nancy Pelosi in the 2008 Congressional election, has opened a campaign headquarters in San Francisco and nobody mentioned the news but FCJ.
Yes, it’s true FCJ reprinted with permission an article written by Robert B. Livingston for the Independent Media Service, amply illustrated with an array of excellent photos by Cindy Marcopulos.
But at least FCJ had someone on duty with enough moxie to runthe story and pictures. A search of the sites of two of SF’s major establishment media outlets, the SF Examiner and SFGate returned nothing remotely connected to Cindy.
Google News returned an equal number of hits—zilch from the media institutionalists. A couple of bloggers mentioned the event, but that was the extent of it when I checked.
It’s probably true that Cindy doesn’t stand a chance of unseating Nancy, just as none of the candidates for mayor had a chance against Newsom. But all candidates for any public office deserve more than the ultimate media-inflicted indignities—ridicule or consignment to the “Who?” bin when the name pops up. Every candidate on a ballot has something valuable to contribute to a political debate, even if the powerful may disagree with their points of view.
Somehow, over time, the so-called mainstream media, now often referred to as the institutional media, have become increasingly irrelevant, as ad revenues and circulation shrink followed by the inevitable loss of good journalists. The increasing popularity of more-detailed and timelier reports from FCJ and countless others like them is the wave of the media future.
The Sheehan coverage is but one example of the slow death of an ancient form of news collection and delivery. This isn’t 1776 when pamphlets were cranked out and assembled by hand. A more recent but equally passé means of news delivery, The March of Time, has also bitten the dust, replaced by instant technology in the form of the internet and portable devices for receiving news reports between sips of today’s Starbucks special.
Media Institutionalists, this is the 21st Century.
I thank you for understanding the seriousness of a media that fails to inform the people and for noticing that the Fog City Journal was alone in understanding the importance of the story.
When it rains every day for months it is reasonable to predict that tomorrow will be a rainy day. Likewise when we keep getting politicians who do not truly represent us, year in and year out, it is reasonable to predict the same.
Well I believe the sun will always come out again, and I believe Cindy can win. Nature is stronger than artifice, and people cannot abide obstructions.
San Franciscans are very sophisticated about how the world really works– but require a viable leader on whom they can all agree.
The opposition in this year’s mayoral election was unfocused. There has yet not been a good analysis of why this was so: many blame the circus aspect created by eccentric candidates whose interest in representing others took a backseat to promoting themselves (which the institutional media gladly exaggerated).
More likely, voters were torn because they lacked a single leader who would be strong enough to symbolize their deepest beliefs and shared convictions.
Cindy’s campaign promises San Francisco a good chance for a “perfect storm”– not unlike the one that almost made Matt Gonzalez mayor several years ago. An independent who speaks to the heart of “San Francisco Values” (the real values of honesty and tolerance and not the caricatured values that are so dear to Rush Limbaugh or Bill O’Reilly), Cindy will charm a broad swathe of voters who will decide that integrity matters more than party labels and loyalties.
I believe San Franciscans will relish the opportunity to show the rest of the country that voting one’s conscience is more meaningful and patriotic than simply voting for self-interests or party lines.
And unlike the perfect storm that almost made Matt Gonzalez mayor, this time they will be savvy about what to expect from the protectors of the status quo.
Thanks for your comment. You’d think that at least one major media outlet would have covered the story. I wonder how they’ll handle things when the 2008 election season rolls into high gear. r.s.