(ThyBlackMan.com) When the demonstrators were in Tahrir Square in Egypt, what did we get? Non-stop coverage on the evening news, the morning news, and on cable news we heard about it 24-7. They have been marching on Wall Street for a month, and all across the country people are now following suit. But from the media, about these developments, we have heard hardly a peep.
What exactly is the media? And what precisely is its role and function in
society?
Media is a Latin word, plural for medium. “The media” is shorthand for “the mass media of communication.” The communication media (television, radio, newspapers) enables the sending of information in a mass society. In a small society communication is two way, face-to-face, up close and personal. In a mass society communications are one way, sent from those on high to the faceless, anonymous masses.
The Wall Street protest and its progeny target those in power busily grasping as much wealth as they can, as fast as they can. They own the media, and so it ignores these vigorous challenges to the status quo. Gil Scot Heron said it, or rather sang it, 40 years ago. “The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.”
The mass media instead cover irrelevant news stories while pumping out endless, mesmerizing programs like American Idol and Dancing With the Stars and a massive array of “reality” shows, while in reality the nation is being slowly but surely, and very systematically, impoverished.
However, what was initially dubbed by the media as the Arab Spring eventually blossomed into a European, especially a British, Summer of Discontent and now we witness an America Falling into Despair. And so where do we go from here?
Expect the president to try and get out ahead of things and offer himself, and his party, as the agents of change, which they long ago promised, but have yet to deliver. Meanwhile across the aisle, Ron Paul, with his throngs of exuberant, youthful followers seems positioned to implicitly assume that title.
Nonetheless, expect the protests to continue and grow in strength and flare into a dramatic crescendo, the outlines of which are as yet unclear. But as the winter sets in, things will quiet down only to spring forth, full blown and with a vengeance, as the weather warms. 2012 is the year of decision for the nation and it has long been prophesized as a turning point for the planet.
And there have been omens. The weather has been strange. The ground itself has shaken where it very rarely shook before. The Washington Monument, the gigantic white phallic symbol that is the national icon, has cracked. What does the future hold?
Will the old order die as the people begin to see the world, and all that it contains, in a brand new light? Will we realize we are but the stewards, not the owners, of this green Earth hazed in blue and white? And accept that we’re not just spectators to the suffering of others, but truly the keepers and protectors of all our sisters and our brothers, and their children, as well as ours? It is not too late. We still have time. But the hour is near. . .
Staff Writer; Arthur Lewin
This talented writer has also self published a book which is entitled; Read Like Your Life Depends On It.