>Actually Congressional staffers read their home town newspapers most closely,
>which is one of the problems with the whole obsession with DC pundits.
>People in DC and NYC think the world revolves around their media, but home
>town papers and television stations matter far more. I believe studies
>consistently show that average folks watch their local news channels far more
>consistently than the national news.
You're right about this - I've made that point to Jim Naureckas, editor of Extra!, but to no effect, since FAIR still focuses on the big media. Since most small town papers suck outrageously - for all the problems of the NYT, you can learn a lot by reading it, which isn't true of the Lockjaw Gazette - and local news sucks even more outrageously, most people are getting a fairly toxic informational diet.
But, as they say in the nonprofit world, what's the takeaway from this Nathan? That we should expose ourselves to local media more? That we should write for it, or lobby producers? That we should force Eric Alterman to read the Lockjaw Gazette? What?
Doug