Media, politics and the search for truth

Taking an evening to do some reflecting on the world around me tonight. Seems as though when you work for a non-profit, it's hard to find time to step back and reflect on the world in which you are engaged on a daily basis. There is an emotional trade-off for having a job you feel good about at the end of the day -- you are totally emotionally and mentally drained. So the last thing you have the energy to do is to come home and write about how the world is going wrong.

I miss doing that. Seems as though when you are in high school and college (at least for me) you had hours each day to sit in your room, listen to rebel rock, and talk with friends about how the world would be better if they listened to what you had to say. I don't seem to have that time anymore. When I do squirrel away a few moments to reflect, though, my perspective is pretty harsh.


I have a few sources that I count on to help de-spin the news. It really does take a lot of effort to find REAL news anymore. What I find more interesting is the real news about how fake so much of our news really is. The PR machine and spin factories that create news products for us to consume...it's quite a business. A reliable source I'd recommend to keep you in check is the Center for Media and Democracy, who puts out PR watch and SourceWatch. You've got to respect a source that accepts NO GOVERNMENT or CORPORATE money. How rare is that?!?

Speaking of taking money from the government, this administration has pushed me to my limits. Having worked for a small international non-profit that has historically been 99% funded by the US Department of State, I have had to straddle the divide between what the government has wanted to fund and the real needs of communities where we work. That was my job -- spin the real need so it sounds like the public diplomacy work priorities. In many cases, we've had great partners in overseas embassies who were closer to the source who "got it" and gave us more room than DC would have to innovate and be responsive in our programming. But with this administration, there has been a marked change. Never have I felt the pressure to be the mouthpiece of the administration pushing policy, rather than a representative of the American people doing good and helping others. I didn't get into this field to spew rhetoric and coopt potential enemies. And for that matter, Congress is no better. They just want to know about the numbers -- make it quantitative and look good on paper so they can have something to show.

Somewhere between the Berlin wall coming down and 9/11, US public diplomacy lost its way. I need to get back into the non-government-funded realm of real assistance and real activism. More time doing what I do for Amnesty International and other groups whose moral compass hasn't gone totally askew.