What can and must be done about the media

An important post at Ace of Spades deserves our focused attention. Its title -- "We Must Do Something About The Media" -- hints at some trademark snark, but its theme is deadly serious.

I've mentioned this before, but I'm truly alarmed about it: What we are witnessing is the full and seamless fusion of media power with government power.

...The media no longer hides it in their actions. They are fully fused with the Obama Administration and DNC. The only way in which they do hide it is by simply lying when confronted about it: They'll issue a snide denial, then go about doing precisely what it is they were accused of doing.

...it is dangerous and ultimately fatal for democracy for media power to fuse with government power, that the adversarial press is vital.

...The media considers its adversarial function to consist of serving as adversaries to critics of Obama and the Democrats; thus Terry Moran shaming himself by rushing out to ask what right a Senator has to question the Secretary of State on matters of foreign policy.

...This is dark, and dangerous, and will lead to horrors. It always has [led] to horrors before.

...Consider: The government locked up a filmmaker because the filmmaker expressed his free speech rights in a way the president found politically problematic. Not only has the press shown no fears about this, they've actively campaigned for the man's jailing.

That's frightening. Even if you come down on the side that the guy did what he's accused of and all that... to have absolutely no trepidation about the government jailing people primarily for their Speech Crimes? That's something.

...I don't think I'm being alarmist. At every point in history when media power has fused with government power -- whether involuntarily or, for one of the first times in history, now voluntarily -- it has resulted in disaster and misery.

So do we just sit there and take it? I'm no genius, but here are a few ideas for actions that each of us can take:

• If you have a subscription to any newspaper that advances the Statist agenda -- The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Boston Globe foremost among them -- cancel that subscription. Enthusiastically encourage subscribers you know to cancel as well, even if they have no particular ideological bent. Tell them they can save money by reading the news on their iPad.

• For television, ignore all news programs save those on the Fox News Channel. Your cable box is likely sending your viewing information back to corporate headquarters. So don't give any ratings whatsoever to any of the alphabet channels' news program, or their insipid Sunday Talk Shows, or any of their propaganda efforts. Don't watch any of the Statist media's news shows. Ratings matter -- and each one of us can make a difference.

• Subscribe to Investors Business Daily, American Spectator, and other conservative outlets.

• Support new media outlets like PJTV by signing up or offering financial assistance.

• Don't take your favorite blogs and news sites for granted: many sites offer a voluntary "subscription" donation via PayPal. Even very small donations can help (and, no, that's not a personal bleg).

If you agree, tell your family members, friends and like-minded colleagues about the plan. It's time to stick it to the government's media complex. Each of us can make a difference.