Interlude: Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Murdoch

Perhaps it's because I spent a week at the University of Virginia that I've been thinking about Thomas Jefferson, but the following article about the Fox News empire prompted these meanderings:

In a recent Atlantic Monthly article entitled "Mr. Murdoch Goes to War," Mark Bowden paints a bleak picture of Rupert Murdoch's takeover of the Wall Street Journal and its assimilation into the Fox News empire. When one watches Fox News' rampant disregard for the truth in its quest to score conservative points, it's hard not to think about the yellow journalism of early print tycoons like William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer, when snappy, attention grabbing headlines were far more important than in-depth -- or factual -- reporting. Remember the Maine! Remember WMD!

We had a long discussion last weekend about the current state of journalism, and how outlets like Murdoch's Fox News deliberately mislead the public, reflecting on how it's only going to get messier as the US Presidential election heats up this fall. (To see how Fox News routinely disseminates lies and rumors about Barack Obama, check out "Fox Attacks Obama.") Murdoch asserts that there's a "liberal bias" in the media, thereby justifying his right-wing approach as "fair and balanced."

The truth is that there is no liberal bias, as studies repeatedly show. Just last week George Mason University released a study showing that the mainstream media is tougher on Obama than McCain, hardly a sign of liberal bias. The media watchdog group FAIR has consistently reported on the effects of media ownership by large corporations, resulting in news organizations that are loathe to report negatively on other branches of their corporate entity - more a sign of corporate spin than liberal bias. In such instances, the corprotocracy takes care of itself.

As we all know, the Web is a primary outlet for news (that and Jon Stewart's brilliantly satirical and insightful Daily Show). With the mainstream media losing credibility as valid, unbiased news sources, and with the corresponding demise of print media in general in favor of the Web, it's no surprise that the Web has become the primary information source for many Americans.

But what do you get when you rely on the Web for news? A simple Google search on any controversial topic typically brings up pages of bloggers, each with their own viewpoint. Or pages of supposedly "legitimate" websites offering "facts" about issue A or issue B. We spend a good deal of time as academic librarians attempting to show undergraduates how to evaluate websites for accuracy and authority, but how many Web surfers use these skills? Search, and the answer shows up, providing enlightenment byte by byte.

Given this context, Bowdens' succinct summary of the impact of the Web on serious journalism proves to be quite insightful:

The Web... has yet to develop institutions capable of replacing print newspapers as vehicles for great in-depth journalism, or conscious of themselves as upholding a public trust. Instead, the Web gives voice to opinionated, unedited millions. In the digital world, ignorance and crudity share the platform with rigor and taste; the independent journalist shares the platform with spinmeisters and con artists. Cable television and satellite radio have taken broadcast journalism in the same direction, crowding out the once-dominant networks, which strove for the ideal of objectivity, with new channels that all but advertise their politics. When all news is spun, we live in a world of propaganda.

The worst part of this is, the public doesn't seem to care.

Bowden does point out that good content can be found amidst the din of opinionated blather on the web - excellent journalism can easily be found with a simple Google search, if you're willing to seek. Many respected newspapers have strong Web sites, battered and shrinking as their print divisions might be. Iconic and respected print newspapers such as the Washington Post and The New York Times have done a fine job of crafting a presence on the Web. And other news sources, such as the BBC and NPR, offer Web and traditional TV and radio outlets.

In his Second Inaugural Address, in 1805, centuries before the Web, Thomas Jefferson realized that the risks of an unfettered free press and the potential for falsehood could be tempered by the public's common sense:

Since truth and reason have maintained their ground against false opinions in league with false facts, the press confined to truth needs no other legal restraint. The public judgment will correct false reasonings and opinions on a full hearing of all parties, and no other definite line can be drawn between the inestimable liberty of the press and its demoralizing licentiousness. If there be still improprieties which this rule would not restrain, its supplement must be sought in the censorship of public opinion.

The question, then, is whether an enlightened electorate and the corresponding "censorship of public opinion" have the ability to find the truth? For while ignorance and crudity run rampant on the Web, so does journalistic rigor and taste; good reporting still holds its head high, despite being the same mouse click away as the spinmeisters and con artists. For my money, I hope the electorate adheres to both Mr. Jefferson's vision and to Mr. Townshend's. As in the Who's Pete Townshend, who famously said he "won't get fooled again." Indeed.



Sources: "Mr. Murdoch Goes to War," by Mark Bowden, Atlantic Monthly, July/Aug 2008; Thomas Jefferson on Politics & Religion, University of Virginia

Appleseed Recordings 10th Anniversary Sampler

Sowing the Seeds: The 10th Anniversary

Soon after Appleseed Recordings was founded in 1997, this fine label gained critical acclaim with the release of Where Have All The Flowers Gone: The Songs of Pete Seeger. A folk music festschrift, Where Have All The Flowers Gone featured 37 different versions of songs associated with Seeger, and put Appleseed on the map as a folk label to watch. The album contained all new recordings by luminaries like Bruce Springsteen, Odetta, Billy Bragg, Jackson Brown, Bonnie Raitt, Tom Paxton, Bruce Cockburn, Roger McGuinn, and other well-known folk musicians. Gathering such musical talent together was impressive feat for a small, relatively unknown record label.

Over the last decade a long list of progressive musicians have recorded for Appleseed, attracted by the label’s philosophy succinctly stated in their motto: “music that sows the seeds of social justice and conveys the timeless essence of the folk tradition.” This ideal is embodied by the looming presence of Pete Seeger’s voice and vision, as well as the ethics of label founder Jim Musselman, a former attorney who worked with Ralph Nader in the 1960s. Those familiar with Appleseed were quick to spot the roots of Springsteen’s recent Pete Seeger tribute recordings back to Appleseed’s Where Have All The Flowers Gone.

Appleseed has thrived over the last decade, amassing an impressive catalog of over 80 CDs by a range of respected artists. Sowing the Seeds celebrates the label’s musical legacy, and serves as a great sampler of the label’s talented roster, which includes Pete Seeger, Eric Andersen, Tom Paxton, Ramblin’ Jack Elliott, Peggy Seeger, and other folk icons.

Highlights abound. There’s Joan Baez and Jackson Browne’s duet on “Guantanamera,” as well as Tom Paxton and Anne Hill’s “There Goes the Mountain,” a song that resonates regionally as mountaintop removal ravishes Appalachia. There’s also “If You Miss Me on the Back of the Bus,” by Kim and Reggie Harris, a rousing sing-along that features Peter Yarrow of Peter, Paul, and Mary fame. The label has become home to a number of 60s folk-rock legends, such as Donavan and John Stewart. Stewart, the former Kingston Trio star who penned the Monkees’ “Daydream Believer,” passed away a few months ago. He released a handful of excellent CDs for the label.

There’s a strong anti-war theme on this sampler, and it shows up in a powerful version of “Bring Them Home” featuring Pete Seeger, Steve Earle, Ani DiFranco, Billy Bragg, and Anne Hills trading verses. Canadian folk singer Eric Andersen and Haitian hip-hop star Wyclef Jean join forces on Phil Och’s potent ballad, “White Boots Marching in a Yellow Land,” while another Canadian, Bruce Cockburn, delivers a stylized version of Seeger’s take on the Biblical book Ecclesiastes, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” which was a hit for the Byrds in 1966.

Speaking of the Byrds, the band’s founder Roger McGuinn recorded a CD of folk songs for Appleseed, Treasures from the Folk Den, and his version of the traditional “Dink’s Song” appears in this collection. Also included is a cut from David Bromberg’s great acoustic blues album from last year, Try Me One More Time, the first recording by this master in 17 years. You might remember Bromberg singing tunes from CD during his excellent gig at Floydfest in 2006.

Several new recordings add further luster to this sampler. First and foremost is a duet with Pete Seeger and Bruce Springsteen of “The Ghost of Tom Joad.” In this rendering, Seeger’s spoken dialogue simultaneously evokes 21st century America and the dust-bowl Depression era of John Steinbeck, adding further depth to Springsteen’s already powerful ballad.
Ani DiFranco recorded a new version of “Waist Deep in the Big Muddy” for this CD. In her take, Pete Seeger’s Vietnam-era song sounds like it could have been written about the war in Iraq. Donovan adds a new version of his classic “Universal Soldier,” his 1965 hit that still stands as one of the finest anti-war songs ever written.

Seeger adds a few more new tracks for this sampler, including the darkly humorous “The Ross Perot (George Bush) Guide to Answering Embarrassing Questions,” a song co-written by Seeger and author Calvin Trillin, and sang by Seeger and his grandson, Tao-Rodriquez Seeger (who fronts his own fine band, The Mammals).

For the record: versions of this have been published in other sources by the Bantering Bibliocrat.

David Crosby, and the dream of a better world

Sometime today David Crosby’s “Tamalpais High (At About 3)” came into my mind, and hung around with me for hours. A haunting, wordless track from his wonderfully spacey 1971 album, If I Could Only Remember My Name, the tune gently rolls with multi-tracked vocals by Crosby, along with guitars by Jorma Kaukonen and Jerry Garcia. This LP has been a favorite since the early 70’s, one of those albums I wore the tracks out on, and never replaced on CD until just recently. There's so much to love -- the long, electric saga "Cowboy Movie," the graceful cry for peace "What Are Their Names, " and the breathtakingly beautiful "Traction in the Rain" and "Orleans." The record cover unfolded to reveal a photo album of San Francisco's finest, including members of the Dead, Jefferson Airplane, Santana, and CSNY. The album was reissued last year, and I finally got reacquainted with this old friend after several decades away -- and discovered that I still knew nearly every lyric and melody by heart.

If I Could Only... came at the right time in my musical progression, when I was about 14 or 15, and the album had been out a year or so. Crosby wasn't afraid to shuck any pretense of commercialism, and he recorded a record awash with rich harmonies and all the promises and hopes of a better world. As a young kid listening to every record he could get his hands on, Crosby's message resonated: music is love, a small cabal of men run this country and they don't care about peace, art and politics belong together, and there is beauty amidst the clamor. It was a time when the nightly news was filled with Vietnam, the cities were rumbling, race relations in my home North Carolina were shaky, and I was catching hell because I tried to grow my hair out. This recording embodies the whole hippy dream, of course, and the message was beautiful and the music and singing gently soared above it all. There wasn't a hit on the entire record, and that was just fine. Art transcended money any day, he seemed to be saying, and it's a message that's resonated ever since. So I'm thankful on a day when one of these melodies comes to romp in my conciousness for a while, making me smile and hum to myself as I do my quotidian tasks. Thanks, David. It's still a great record.