What a Difference 40 Years Makes

Malkin reminds us of the Talk Radio/Blogger impact, highlighting a piece by Selwyn Duke.

Last year’s scamnesty bill had widespread support among the powers-that-be, with the president, the Democrat majority and mainstream media all singing its praises. Yet it went down to defeat, slain by a new-media coalition of talk radio and blogosphere warriors. Working tirelessly to expose the truth and rally the grassroots, they became a David who slew a Goliath.


Forty-three years ago it was a different world. Ted Kennedy had co-authored the “Immigration Reform Act of 1965,” which created a situation wherein 85 percent of our immigrants hail from the Third World and Asia. He took to the Senate floor, claimed his brainchild wouldn’t change the demographic composition of the nation and passed the culture-rending bill under the cover of darkness.

This darkness was not absence of light but that of truth; it was a media blackout. With no Internet and little talk radio, mainstream journalists had a monopoly over the hearts and minds of America. And they knew best. The little people didn’t have to worry their pretty little heads about actions that would forever alter the face of the nation.

This is why the old media fears the new one. The latter watches the watchers, polices the police. It has cut into the Rathersphere’s market, causing a diminution of circulation, viewership and - this is what really gets their collars up — power. They can no longer propagandize with Tass-like impunity, for the e-hills have eyes.

Yet this is no time for a victory dance. The new media is under attack, as the left aims to silence dissent before it grows strong enough to block the thought police’s coup de grace. This is the race for the American mind.

While the New Media is not solely responsible for the difference (I'd nominate a more cynical public, e.g., as a big part of the phenomenon), there's no question that the talkers, Free Republic, and the blogs have taken a large chunk of audience from the MSM.

Of course, if the MSM would delve a little deeper into events, they could recover.