Media Bogarts Rainville Kool-Aid: Part II
The Rainville piece below has already generated a small geyser of email. Friend of VDB (FOVDB) Neil asks the deeper questions, closer to the bone:
“So Rainville’s being coy and the press is letting her be coy. But, what to do?
“Just like on the national level, it seems that the Democrats in Vermont refuse to face the deep problems they have in getting their message out through the usual media filters. Instead of directly confronting the issue, they seem to believe (at least publicly anyway) that the perpetuation of media stereotypes just happens in a vacuum.
“Instead of recognizing their own ability to control public discourse, they tend to complain about the tactics (effective, if dishonest) of Barnett and co.
“But, can Peter Welch go out and say publicly that the Free Press or WCAX, is treating her too easily without being branded as one of those “whiny” democrats? That’s highly doubtful, but is there an alternative?
“I guess the real underlying question is how does public opinion get shaped in Vermont? Major dailies? WCAX and WPTZ? Word-of-mouth? Charlie and Ernie? VPR? A hard to determine combination of all?”
Excellent questions. Anyone got answers? VDB prizes email above all other forms of communication, and we haunt the monitor 24/7/52, eyes red with disillusionment and fatigue.
It’s . Give VDB a try. As Bill Murray put it in Ghostbusters, we’re ready to believe you.