Old Media versus Alt Media
Tonight, both ABC and CBS evening 'news' programs presented a pathetically one-sided 'right to die' spin on the Terri Schiavo case, which would lead viewers to believe that Governor Bush, the Florida Legislature and even Terri's family are the villains. The only 'experts' presented were doctors, lawyers or 'bioethicists' who attempted to denigrate Terri's condition and the efforts of the Governor and legislature to protect her. They never bothered to show the views of these physicians.

The Terri Schiavo story just points up the divergence in how people obtain and use information in our society. The centralized institutions that have disseminated information for years, including most major newspapers and television networks are the 'Old Media'. They tend to present very packaged news items that often reflect a single point of view, not only within the individual news organization, but across the community of the Old Media.

Much is made of the generally 'liberal bias' in the Old Media. While there are arguments over how this bias predominates on foreign policy and economic issues, the Old Media mind-set appears to be in the most lock-step on social/cultural issues such as abortion and other life issues, attitudes on sexuality, etc. Thus the blatant 'right to die' spin in the Terri Schiavo case.

One thing the Old Media will not report on very much is their competition. Various alternative avenues have sprung up over the last couple of decades including talk radio, radio with Christian or other independent points of view, and of course the Internet in its various forms. We'll call these media sources the Alternative Media, or Alt Media for short. The Alt Media has claimed increasing influence in public affairs in recent years.

The Alt Media began to receive a lot of attention after the 1994 elections, when the political establishment and the Old Media were stunned by the Republican takeover of Congress. Since then, campaigns of politicians across the ideological spectrum have exercised an increasing Internet presence in order to communicate their message, recruit volunteers and raise campaign funds.

The Alt Media has also played an increasing role in public issues. The war in Iraq generated heated discussion on talk radio and rallies for and against the war were announced and largely organized on the Internet.

Perhaps more than in any other issue so far, the Alt Media not only covered the Terri Schiavo story, it played a pivotal role in bringing about the actions that have, so far, prevented Terri's death. Months ago, with the help of supporters, Terri's family established a web site, terrisfight.org. This site provides background information on Terri and her situation, affidavits and other documents and letters related to her case, and the compelling videos showing Terri responding to her parents' gestures. This information contradicts the Old Media's scripted view of a 'right to die' case.

As the court process carried on over the past few years , her plight has been covered by public advocacy groups, particularly within the prolife and disability rights movements. As the legal situation became increasingly threatening this year, the Terri Schiavo case picked up more attention on talk radio, e-mail and web sites, including blogs. (The word 'blog' is short for weblog, a web site formatted as a journal so that its author(s) can make frequent posts of opinions and experiences.)

As Terri's court imposed death sentence approached last week, the increasing number of concerned citizens began to turn to Governor Jeb Bush to use his authority to protect Terri's life. By the weekend, the Governor's public e-mail account was swamped with messages. When he chose to seek authority from the legislators, their addresses were quickly disseminated by the various Alt Media and were quickly deluged by the swelling grassroots effort to save Terri. In a rare move, the Florida Senate moved its scheduled Tuesday evening vote ahead to the afternoon. Once Terri's law was passed, Governor Bush quickly signed the bill and ordered Terri's feeding tube reinserted.

So what ABC and CBS tried to describe as arbitrary intrusions by the Florida Legislature and Governor into the judicial process were actually the actions of leaders compelled by the communication of concern by constituents and many concerned people outside the state. This case of so many people networking to save one person's life could be said to be the Alt Media's finest hour. This Alt Media will continue to grow and change. It will have increasing power, for good or evil, to influence the direction of society. But don't hold your breath waiting for Dan Rather to tell you that.