WE are the MEDIA now

I have recently received quite a few emails with notes of alarm that the media is, once again, biased. The media has always been biased. Oddly, most media companies are owned by very rich and powerful people who have very little in common with the people they are trying to influence. Maybe it will work this time, and maybe it won't. BUT, it is also very clear that they no longer can manipulate us. Because in the past 10 years, WE have become our own media. With email and blogs and websites, WE have become the sharers of the truth. WE have become the people who influence one another. WE are the source and the investigators. Of course, we come with our own bias-but at least we make no secret of it. We don't pretend to be covering everything as objective journalists (an oxymoron). And we trust one another. I know if I get email from some people, it will be with a big Obama bias. Others, totally McCain. Some, on the fence wondering what is true. But the wonder of wonders is that it is the power of individual investigation and search that produces what becomes opinion. And WE do it. We don't really need a biased media when we can watch the ENTIRE, in context, version on YouTube, or when we can read the entire transcript in the online government sites. We can judge for ourselves. When the newspapers are all gone, I will personally be grateful for the lack of newspaper ink residue on my furniture and countertops. I will be grateful for the LOSS of the biased and manipulative editorials that blindly endorse candidates because they fear the other party in its entirety. After this election, I hope voters become more involved in how their congress people treat them and their hard earned money. When we can stay informed- especially using our own smarts and our own laptops-then we can continue to hold our OWN power.