Folks, I have an idea.
As most of us know, the internet offers the Democratic party its only lifeline. Conservatives control most other media resources –- radio, books, cable news, Fox news, and tax-exempt religious shows which tell the flock how to vote. Network news outlets have been cowed into submission by the accusations of “liberal bias” they receive every time they stray from the RNC line of the day.
Alas, the conserves also control much of the internet. They got their foot in the door early, courtesy of Matt Drudge, whose site still receives a mind-boggling amount of traffic. His is the one conservative site that many Democrats visit, just to see what the other side is up to. Drudge thus provides an effective "injection point" for whatever toxic serum the RNC wants to send into our national bloodstream.
Yet millions of people who visit Drudge each day do not consider it a political site at all.
I'm not kidding: This is the feedback I've heard from folks who are not political animals. They don't go to Drudge because he offers the Bushite line of the day. They go to his site because he offers news.
Not just political news: If wildfires consume much of Arizona or a tsunami attacks much of Asia, Drudge will often get the facts, or something resembling the facts, online before anyone else. Filching his data from mainstream news sources, he beats the mainstreamers at their own game, translating breaking events into HTML minutes before CBS or MSNBC can do so.
You know how Drudge got his start? By offering gossip and piffle about the entertainment industry. He still offers such wares.
His non-political offerings -- celebrity fluff, disaster coverage, human interest stories, tabloid shockers, bogus Biblical artifacts, etc. -- give Drudge all the cover he needs to function as an agent of political subversion.
People visit his site to read the latest about Brad and Jennifer, or about the meteor that wiped out Grants, New Mexico, or about the ancient toothpick used by Jesus himself, or whatever. And on the same page, they receive whatever bit-o-brainwashing Karl Rove wants them to receive that day. At times, the process happens almost subliminally.
And that's what gave me an idea.
We need a site like the Drudge Report.
Many of you must be shrieking: "But we already have one! What about Buzzflash?" Buzzflash is a godsend, and everyone connected with that enterprise deserves political sainthood. Buzzflash has been very good to this humble blog, and to a good many other leftish voices that deserve a wider hearing.
Here's the trouble: No-one who stumbles across Buzzflash would consider that place non-political. Its partisanship is open and honest. It does not offer non-political news. It does not operate subversively. It's not sneaky.
Thus, it does not attract anyone who does not already think as we do.
Again: Drudge got his start by offering gossip and piffle about the entertainment industry. Scarcely seems fair, right? After all, many within that industry favor our side of the political equation. Seems to me that someone on our team should be able to cover that beat more effectively than Drudge ever could.
I propose a new "home page," akin to the Drudge Report. Not necessarily a pretty page. It'll load up super-fast, even for folks using dial-up. You'll see the usual convenient links -- not just to lefty web pages, but to pages people consider fun.
The site would not inundate readers with dozens of new stories each day. Keep it clean, spare, simple.
The stories which do appear would not be political, and least not all of them. This page should be the first place many people go to learn about the meteor that hit Grants, the chicken head that got mixed in with the McNuggets, the boy trapped in a fridge who ate his own foot, and similar daily shocks.
Most of all -- the site could push the envelope when it comes to entertainment industry piffle. The average reader in Idaho does not want to hear a celebrity endorse a political position. (Some believe that a celebrity endorsement can actually hurt a liberal cause.) But Mr. and Ms. Average Reader are often secretly desperate to hear celebrities talk about their sex lives and their cat fights and their noble battles against horrible diseases.
If Hollywood's famous want to help the Democratic cause, they should offer exclusive interviews to this proposed web site. And the stars should not talk about politics. Anything but politics.
Picture it. You go to this page and see a huge headline which reads:
"EXCLUSIVE: JENNIFER REVEALS BRAD HAS THREE TESTICLES!"
Word of mouth will insure millions of hits before noon. The readers will be of all political persuasions. And quite a few of those readers, after receiving their fill of Brad and co., will proceed to click on the headline just below:
"HIDDEN COSTS OF THE NEW SOCIAL SECURITY PLAN -- YOU MAY HAVE TO SUPPORT YOUR PARENTS."
And that, my friends, is how to reach a new audience.
Any ideas as to how we can get such a site up and running? It'll take money, though not so very much.
9 comments:
No money, no whizbang ideas, except this: why don't you do it? It's a terrific notion, you're as good a writer as any - so why not?
Yo, Joe!
Salon.com is doing just that. They may not use whizbang gonzo journalism re celebs, movie persons, etc., but they do report on them.
I've been subscribing to Salon for only six months or so, but I believe their columns on the arts, entertainment, etc. is new.
(http://ratfuckdiary.blogspot.com)
Your idea is absolutely brilliant. I work with a Bush supporter who religiously accesses Sludge every day, but I believe what you said she considers it "the" source of her news. If it's not on Drudge, it didn't happen. And I agree with Kumbaya - you are brilliant and I think you should start it. I have an idea for a humorous feature I've been kicking around for years and I would be willing to help, if you want.
The main problem I see with this plan is that no really competent liberal could pull this off credibly, because he or she could not bear to take advantage of people's ignorance. Jesus's toothpick? Maybe it's just I who couldn't bear such fraudulence.
YOU YOU YOU
Theoretically, I agree with the idea. However, we must remember that sites like Drudge or Freep are also preaching to their converted. I say let Mr. & Mrs. Average in Idaho go - There are always going to be lemmings in the world, and it's a waste of time to chase them. It's better to spend the precious resources of time, energy and money on the swing voters. You know, like Mr. & Mrs. Average who are already starting to wonder why they voted for this moron. Again, I think you're right. Perhaps to gain a wider readership, you need to be a bit more diverse in your content. It's just that the quality of your writing far exceeds anything I've read on any other blogs, even those I really like, and hope that would remain central to any new site.
Kim in PA
I think you might really have something here. I read "Buzzflash" all the time, but my mother was just totaly turned off by it. I think that we might really have a need for those in between. This could be a really great way to reach a larger audience.
How about Raw Story (RawStory.com)? Do they not all ready fit the bill you're asking about?
http://www.theinfozone.net
Many sites give you links to whatever news breaks. The 'Zone' strives to give you links to the stories that really matter; the big ones people everywhere are discussing. We may not give you everything, but you'll never feel you're missing anything!
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