write these words as the United States is poised to send an invasionrnforce of Marines into Haiti, and I think of all the otherrnmilitary interventions of recent years that could have beenrnavoided—or at least better understood by Americans—if thernmedia had not been so eager to parrot the official line: Grenadarnand Panama, Iraq and Somalia. All turned out to be fiascoesrnin one way or another, but all were enthusiasticallv backed bvrnthe media, which sec it as their role to play stirring martial musicrnwhen Johnny goes marching off to war.rnThe mass media’s inherent conservatism on domestic issuesrnis, of course, of a piece with their rigidly right-wing approach tornforeign affairs, and it has the same roots in the beginnings ofrnthe Cold War era. Just as it became mandatory, in the latern1940’s and early 1950’s, to impose unanimity on discussions ofrnAmerica’s role abroad, so it became necessary to ward off “subversives”rnat home who would promote such “socialist” goals asrnrespect for the Bill of Rights, trade unionism, minority rights,rnand protection of the natural environment. In each of thesernareas, the “liberal” media have, at best, paid lip service tornliberal goals while striving, by the nature of their coverage,rnto throttle them.rnConsider, for example, the almost total blackout on Canada’srn”single-payer” health care system in the otherwise extensiverncoverage of health care in the New York Times. Considerrnthe blatantly racist coverage in all mass media that has persuadedrnmost Americans that, one, we have a crisis of violentrncrime in this country and, two, it consists almost cxclusivelv ofrnviolence perpetrated by blacks against whites. Consider therndecidedly one-sided coverage that helped railroad the NorthrnAmerican Free Trade Agreement to passage. Consider, most ofrnall, the ubiquitous assumption that “the market” can solve allrnproblems and cure all ills.rnThat such biases pervade the mass media should not surprisernus, since they are themselves huge corporate entities thatrnfigure prominently on the Fortune 500 list. There is nothing remarkablernabout the fact that big business behaves like bigrnbusiness and, when it can get away with it, shapes the news tornserve big-business interests. General Electric, the nation’srnnumber-one military contractor, owns NBC, and NBC coversrnmilitary news the way a contractor would prefer. Why shouldrnanyone wonder at that? What does surprise is the willingnessrnof conservatives to suspend disbelief when it comes to assessingrnrealistically the motives of the media corporations.rnI am by no means confident that the kind of open forumrnthat would result from genuinely diverse media would basicallyrnalter the direction of American politics. To be sure, I find thernleft’s arguments more persuasive than the right’s, and I wouldrnwelcome broader public awareness of left-wing alternatives.rnBut I realize that ours is, in many respects, a profoundly conservativernculture and polity and that it is likely to remain thatrnway for a long time. Isn’t that all the more reason why conser-rnatives—those, at least, who profess to have faith in the democraticrnprocess—would want to see the give-and-take of publicrndiscussion and debate on the great issues of our time: a civicrndiscourse nourished by media that provide many kinds of factsrnand many kinds of analvsis of those facts? crnSHOULD CONSERVATIVES LEAVE THE REPUBLICAN PARTY?rnThis provocative topic was debatedrnby political strategists HowardrnPhillips and David Keene and is nowrnavailable both on video and audiorntapes. The June 3rd issue of//wmanrnInvents carried lengthy excerptsrnof this charged event. But here’srnan opportunity to receive a morerncomplete rendering of the argumentsrnalong with the introduction brnMichael Warder of The RockimilrnInstitute, host of the event. The insirnfor the video, including posiauernand handling, is $24.95, while ihcrnaudio is $9.95. You may order hrncallingrn1-800-383-0681rnand using your Master or Visa card. You may also send your payment or credit card information with the order form belo\rn>)••rn>v.rnH Payment enclosed.rnCard numberrnn Video ($24.95) Shiping & handling included.rnn Audio ($9.95) Shiping & handling included.rnPlease charge my: D Visa D MastercardrnExp. / /rn^amernddrcssrnThe Ri’L-kiord ln«-iiiut».” • W4 Norlh Main Street • Rockford • IllinoiN Ml’)3-7Uftlrn22/CHRONICLESrnrnrn