Do you think there is any chance that a liberal cable news network will emerge?

[KurtNYC]

The political junkies in my life spend their time watching Morning Joe, and watching TDS and Colbert run clips from Fox.

Liberals watch lots of RW media and discuss it, echo it and spread the memes in the name of condemning it but clearly Fox is the center of the cable news universe -- Stephen Colbert's show is a parody of Fox and he makes great points but only about things that Fox puts center stage. TDS is even further inside the shadow of Fox and adds RW guests for the last 10 minutes of the show.

Now that Dems are clearly in the majority and running away, are we going to continue to watch, listen, echo and whine about RW media or are we going to create our own media?

[brewens]

1. Current is already out there. More of us should watch. Maybe Ed Schultz will end up on

there?

[BumRushDaShow]

2. The problem with Current TV

is that it has a very limited distribution. I know with my high-end cable package, I get it. But my mother's more limited package, Current is not available.

But on literally EVERY level of cable & satellite packages & even in every hotel or restaurant (these generally using satellite services like Dish & DirectTV), Faux Snooze IS there. The so-called "liberal" entertainment moguls need to push to get their brand on EVERY outlet and at every level of package (including limited/basic). Not just on higher-end or more limited distribution agreements.

[Z_I_Peevey]

12. I'm worred for Current's future, but still hopeful

that it can survive its rough patch. I'm a loyal Current watcher.

Maybe Oprah's network, which is also not doing as well as hoped, could merge with Current. Ready-made daytime lineup + ready-made nighttime lineup. Rich liberals, make it so!

[Auntie Bush]

34. I agree... I used to get Current with an expensive package.

I cut it down to the next lower/cheaper package (not the cheapest) and now I can't get Current anymore! You'd think that smaller channels would be on cheaper packages...yet FOX is ALWAYS an option no matter what package you sign up for. Thank God we at least get MSNBC...although it too has limited service. I think the ReThug Media owners/corporations are participating in bias propaganda. We should ALL call our cable channels and complain and demand more MSNBC and Current channels. It's unfair the Rethugs have a channel that reaches all homes and only limited and more expensive channels reach Progressive homes. Taint fair!

[Cleita]

38. Seems maybe it's up to us to demand from our providers that we get Current with

our basic package as long as Fox is on it. That would bring it on board with the ability to air on more public outlets like hotels, restaurants and gyms. I would gladly ask my gym to put one of their TVs on Current or even MSNBC to compete with FNC. I can't now because their package doesn't have either channel included.

[klyon]

49. It is available on line too

http://myrtv.eu/crnt47/

[totodeinhere]

24. Current is up for sale. Lets hope that it finds buyers who are dedicated

to making it a bona fide liberal network. But I don't think there is any guarantee that it will happen. Keep your fingers crossed.

[Cleita]

39. You have a source for that?

I can't believe Al Gore is ready to give up on it.

[Z_I_Peevey]

45. Sadly, yes. Here:

http://current.com/community/93941902_current-tv-considers-putting-itself-up-for-sale.htm

[Cleita]

47. Thank you. This is not good news. n/t

[ProudProgressiveNow]

50. +1 nt

[Squinch]

3. But isn't the echo chamber created by Fox the very thing that turned all Republicans into idiots?

...well. One of the things...

[Cleita]

42. It's how Hitler, Stalin, Mao and other dictators gained power.

They take over as much of the media as they can to push their propaganda and any opposition that survives is marginalized and accused of being put out by crazy people with crazy ideas. Does that sound familiar? Even now the likes of Ann Coulter trashes the "liberal" media every time she gets a microphone on Fox.

[Ruby the Liberal]

4. If we learned anything from 2012,

it was that creating an echo chamber leads to delusional thinking.

In as much as I avoid RW media at all possible (and jump to participate in the Chuck Todd, Andrea Greenspan and Dead Intern Joe bashing), I am glad that MSNBC isn't a LW version of Faux.

Edit - clarity

[Cleita]

43. Facts and journalistic integrity do matter even if they don't make

the left look good at times. However, the Big Lie, just isn't acceptable ever, at any time.

[qanda]

5. Is this something that we even want?

It's not really working out for the Republicans. The right is becoming more and more extreme and they are driving most reasonable people far away from them. Republican politicians cannot say anything even remotely sane without being castigated, scorned and abandoned by their base.

[KurtNYC]

22. RW media might be the ONLY thing working for the Republicans right now.

RW audiences trust the MSM far less than Democrats do -- 26% versus 58%

http://www.gallup.com/poll/157589/distrust-media-hits-new-high.aspx

When I dig through the polls and statistics it looks like RW audience members want to be pandered to and LW audiences will watch anything. So they try and pander to the more demanding side of the equation but even that is not enough since their trust is only 26%. I think segments of the RW are growing increasingly radical as their world falls apart and they are disappointed that the media doesn't just scream the things they want screamed -- eg. "Obama is a Communist!" (study it out), etc.

But to me it seems like the Left just plays defense and, in the absence of a TV network, there is no offense.

[dembotoz]

6. so we have given up on msnbc??

at times i can see why
and if ed goes i can see even more why....

[MineralMan]

7. Personally, I'd be very happy if there were a national news outlet

that only broadcast actual news, without any commentary at all. That's the thing I'd like to see. So far, nothing like that has appeared on a national scale. In most urban areas, though, there is at least one outlet that only covers news of the local area and region. That's why I watch local news. National news I have to filter out for myself from the incessant commentary on it.

[BumRushDaShow]

11. CNN's Headline News used to do this

Just news. Every 30 minutes. And then suddenly, they dropped the format, changed their name to "HLN", and descended into infotainment hell.

[MineralMan]

13. Yup. About the closest you can get is the three major networks'

half hour national news programs. If you apply some filtering, you can suss out what is the news. Some newspapers, too, present the news, as long as you skip over the editorial pages. There is still raw news being reported. That's what I read and listen to. I can make up my own mind about what that news means. I listen to almost no commentary about news. I'm just not interested in what some talking head has to say.

[AlexSatan]

54. Yep

And that's what used to be on in almost all waiting rooms. I wish they hadn't gone away from that. Granted, individuals would typically just watch for 30 min and then turn it off.

[Romulox]

21. There is no such thing as "news, without any commentary at all..." The story selection itself

is commentary.

[MineralMan]

23. Yes, which is why I said you have to apply a filter.

The news is available, if you actually want it. Commentary is never news, though. It is commentary.

[Romulox]

25. The "filter" is applied before the story get to you. You don't see the stories on TV that TV doesn't

show you.

That's why most of us abandoned TV news long ago.

[MineralMan]

26. Do you suppose that is my only news source?

Really? I get some of my news from that source. The rest I get by reading newspapers from around the world. I get plenty of commentary right here on DU.

[Romulox]

28. I'm not questioning your sources. But they don't include "news, without any commentary at all...".

because it's not possible for such a thing to exist.

[BumRushDaShow]

8. Al Franken tried with Air America

and it pretty much collapsed and much of the programming that we hear from those folks are now starting to appear on Current - like Stephanie Miller, Bill Press, & Cenk, all of whom were on Air America (and this includes the early homes of Rachael and Ed and Mike Malloy). SiriusXM has "America Left" that is running the above lineup (with a few substitutions in there).

Other than that, and some of the loose conglomeration of black cable and radio networks, where Cathy Hughes has TV One (with Roland Martin doing a Sunday news talk show), there really isn't any unless someone really isn't any per se and probably won't be.

I think alot of the more intellectual punditry has begun to move from "brick and mortar" television/cable, onto the internet, with a myriad of streaming shows. If anything, "Democracy Now" is a possibility if they choose to expand into full 24/7 programming as its own "traditional" broadcast outlet vs internet (where some of their programming does appear on PBS affiliates).

[Cleita]

46. Air America just couldn't compete with the deep corporate pockets of the Clear Channel

and Premier radio franchise. Even now the lone radio station in my area that used to carry AAR and still does mostly liberal programming is one of the lowest powered station in the county and often hard to hear in various places. It's the first to go down in a storm and the last to be repaired by the corporation that owns it. It's so deliberate in how they are trying to quiet down the liberal programming to be heard by everyone that it's sad. Yet, Rush Limbaugh and Glen Beck get high signal, crisp stations and sometimes are aired on more than one station in the area. It's so obvious in what is going on.

[Chiyo-chichi]

9. I've got to disagree with your characterization of Stewart and Colbert.

Colbert is not limited to subjects that Fox puts center stage. I'm sure I could give you a long list given some time to think about it.

Stewart's guests are sometimes right wingers. And, more often than not, he shreds them.

[KurtNYC]

29. One example: Jon Stewart had McCain on 13 times in 2008.

Other guests: Pervez Musharrah, Lynne Cheney, Ashcroft, Kissinger, Paul O'Neill, Robert Reich, Tom Ridge, Don Rumsfled, Bob Dole, trent Lott, Rand Paul, Santorum, Newt Gingrinch, Tony Snow, Mitch Daniels, Mike Huckabee, Giuliani, Pat Buchanon, Howard Stern, and Bill O'Reilly.

Stewart puts RW ideas and mouth pieces in front of a LW audience. That's fine but I cite this as an example of how dominant and skewed the RW framing of issues is.

I love Colbert but his whole show is obsessed with O'Reilly and Fox. When Colbert had his rally after Glen Beck's, he advanced no political agenda as if the answer to hatred and intolerance is just to laugh it all off.

[Chiyo-chichi]

35. Really?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_The_Daily_Show_guests_%282008%29

According to Wikipedia, John McCain was a guest on The Daily Show one time in 2008. May 7. Barack Obama was on twice and Michelle was on once.

I see your point about right wing framing. But Stewart usually lands a shot or two.

The rally wasn't even funny, unfortunately.

[The Velveteen Ocelot]

10. I do not want a "liberal" cable station. I want a genuinely fair one

that accurately reports actual facts without spin. I want another Walter Cronkite. The conservatives got bitten on the ass in this election because they inhabited a media-created bubble where any facts that didn't fit into their belief system were not allowed to intrude. I don't want liberals to make the same mistake - we don't need an echo chamber like a lefty version of Fox.

[dogknob]

31. I was about to post this, too. Kudos.

How about re-regulating the Media? Unblur the line between news and entertainment. Make them choose and label it accordingly.

[Blue_Tires]

33. For world news, BBC is good

and for those who can access it, CNN International is shockingly good...It's like the CNN of 20 years ago -- Straight hard news and analyses, no spin, no Nancy Grace screechmeisters, no schlocky sensationalism...

I'd said if Americans actually could watch them alongside each other, people of all political stripes would storm CNN headquarters in protest of being spoon-fed such shit

[pnwest]

14. my boyfriend watches Russia Today for some "fair" tv, but i find them

TOO snarky and anti-american...makes me uncomfortable to watch them. I will admit, though, you can get more than one side of a story by adding them to your channel-surfing rotation.

[JohnnyRingo]

15. Biased news is just political porn.

I want informed, not entertained.

Having said that, there should be left, right, and non-partisan shows on any given network for universal appeal during prime time, but I don't want a liberal spin on my hard news.

I have Stephanie Miller on right now but will switch to local news at noon. Evenings are spent switching between Current and MSNBC, so obviously I do enjoy a good share of political porn, but after a while it just makes me feel dirty and guilty.

[MynameisBlarney]

16. Call me crazy...

But I'd rather any and all bias be removed from cable news.
But that is pretty much impossible at this point.
The only thing I can see happening is the return of the Fairness Doctrine and the FCC being, you know...actually in step with modern technology.
Seems the FCC is a bit behind the curve in that regard.

[salvorhardin]

17. I'd rather have Will McAvoy and ACN

Just one show that features actual reporting, cogent analysis, and a host who thinks for himself. That's all.

[Diyames]

18. Keep searching

Corporate "news" media dominates because corporations dominate because money rules. Finding the truth is like searching for your lost wedding ring in a land fill. Be diligent, keep your eyes open and keep searching.

[bigwillq]

19. I hope not.

This is what's wrong with cable news networks. The news isn't supposed to be biased in any way.

[BlueMan Votes]

20. no

[City Lights]

27. I'd prefer one that just reported the news without bias.

IMO, the closest thing we have to that is msnbc (at least some of the time).

[rock]

30. I concur

and was going to post exactly the same post (well, close to it).

[City Lights]

51. GMTA.

[Blue_Tires]

32. Democracy Now has been excellent for a long time now...

[broiles]

36. Yes, Amy's terrific and Link and Free Speech carry

Al Jazeera.

[reformist2]

37. We need a populist network - the people are more interested in that than liberalism, per se.

[RedCloud]

40. Maybe they could call it Free Speech TV?

[totodeinhere]

52. Free Speech TV is good but it has less distribution than even Current has.

And it's not offered in HD.

[librechik]

41. no we need lots of them, like talk radio has conservative stations

we're too diverse to be boiled down to one network anyway. Fox was started self consciously as "GOP TV." Then they decided it wasn't a good idea to advertise that aspect of then new network. But the partisan slant never went away, they wer just secretive about it. Fair and Balanced my ass.

If the Democratic Party wanted to start a partisan network with liberal slanted news, they wouldn't hide their agenda, ideally. And it would be very very very welcome.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

44. Not "fair" but TRUTHFUL

There's false fairness, in which two sides, one sane and the other nutty, are given equal time, but there's also a third and fourth side that nobody mentions.

I want news outlets that find and report that third and fourth side IF AND ONLY IF they're logically and factually defensible, and EVEN IF they go against the conventional first and second side.

[lutefisk]

48. Need to make Stewart and Colbert the "Ted Turners" of our time

Seriously. If they were funded (big time) and given the resources, they could do some good. Fund a full blown big budget cable news network and put them at the top!

Need to disrupt the propaganda machine and get back to the idea of educated, thinking citizens. Need a much more vigorous dialogue than currently exists in the mass media. Need a forum people will be drawn to- Stewart and Colbert can make that happen.

I mean really, it worked in the VP debate when Biden laughed in the face of the Ryan/FOX/Right Wing bullshit, and who is better at that than Stewart and Colbert? Hey, give them a billion dollars in seed money and watch them save our Democracy.

[Taverner]

53. Current.

Is it KPFA liberal? No.