Bill Moyers is a well known journalist of strong repute. He has long been known as such, and is a serious man with serious stories and opinions.
I have appreciated him as such for a long time, perhaps stretching back to the days of the "Power of Myth" series that he did with Joseph Campbell.
When you read something by him, you know it is a serious work that will delve quite deeply into an issue, and try to reveal something about it that you very well might not have thought of before. In general, I think it is fair to assume that in the process, he reveals something about our society at large, overall.
Moyers is serious, indeed. Always has been, and always will be. In this day and age, when the media chooses to focus on Miley Cyrus or the Royal Family, instead of on the real news that affects the lives of the people watching, they are doing their own viewership a disservice, and contributing to the dumbing down of America.
But then again, we have access to more information today than ever before. We can read stories from newspapers and blogs from around the world. We can easily, quickly, and conveniently research things that would have taken considerably more effort not very long ago. There is the internet, and with cable, many of us have access to more stations from around the world than ever before. There is radio, as well. we can choose what we pay attention to.
Personally, I try to listen to National public Radio (NPR), and the BBC. Sometimes, I like to listen to the Canadian Broadcast Station (CBC), as well as the French news (I am French, and have access to a French station providing news from various French-speaking nations). I can tell you straight off, that the news from other countries (and the NPR as well) tends to be unflinching, and to address actual, real news stories of the day, and not on fluff. They do not focus on the personalities providing the news stories, but rather on the content of the stories themselves. Substance over style, the exact opposite of what we see in the mainstream media in the United States.
So it is that I have been quite impressed with the subject matter of his articles lately, and I know that I have been sharing them with some degree of frequency on this blog site. But there is good reason for that. Again, Moyers provides and endorses solid journalism, the way it is meant to be. He challenges, he probes, and he reports. It is not good news, generally speaking. In fact, it should serve as an eye opener for some troubling trends that the United States has been taking for some time now.
He has a job to do, and he does his job well. He reports the news as he sees it, and does not flinch away from controversy, or worry what critics might think, or anything like that. He hires people that feel the same way, and report the news in an equally serious and analytic manner. No fluff here. These articles are unapologetic looks at some perennial issues in this society that deal with fairness, with wealth distribution and attitudes towards poverty presently. They are important articles and, even if you do not agree with them, I think that it is important simply to expose yourself to other points of view, and challenge yourself from time to time. I try to do this myself, although I succeed some times more than others.
I placed this article first, not necessarily because it is the most recent (although it is), but because it features Andrew Bacevich, the author of a phenomenal book that I reviewed on this blog some time ago - I think it was late last year. Bacevich wants Obama to examine the situation and ask some serious and challenging questions before he commits to military intervention in Syria. Bacevich has an incredible (and I personally think, fair) approach towards foreign affairs, and he is a man who should be listened to and taken seriously. This might make you understand some issues, realities and limitations that you might not have thought of before. This is the type of media coverage that we are missing, while the mainstream media instead chooses to focus on Miley Cyrus shaking her ass on stage, because that is such an important event that touches the lives of us both, right? As the horrors of the situation in Syria are growing ever more apparent everyday, we need to start asking ourselves some tough questions, and the media's obsession with whether or not Miley upstaged Lady Gaga is just so clearly a comfortable and convenient distraction, that it almost makes you wonder if they plan this type of stuff themselves. That kind of journalism is a joke. This, by contrast, is serious journalism, and it tackles the tough issue head on. Decide for yourself on the issues, but at least try and read something that takes a serious approach, and does not place frivolous glam stories ahead of a developing tragedy. Here is the article, with the link:
"Questions for President Obama — Before He Pulls the Trigger on Syria" August 26, 2013 by Andrew Bacevich
http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/26/questions-for-president-obama-before-he-pulls-the-trigger-on-syria/
Here is an interesting article about the rather curious, and often self-serving, argument far too often employed, blaming the poor for their own problems, and almost seemingly flirting with the possibility of making it even more difficult on the poor because, as the title of this piece suggests, they have it "too good". Perhaps this could be seen as tough love, if one believes the arguments. Or, if you look at the larger picture and what is actually being advocated, it is an argument for increasing to a more extreme level the policies of trickle down economics that this country has grown ever more attacked to. Here is the link:
"Think Tank Report Says Poor Americans Have It Too Good" August 21, 2013 by Joshua Holland
http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/21/cato-institute-report-says-poor-americans-have-it-too-good/
An examination of the Republicans current Golden Boy, Paul Ryan, and whether or not he will actually advocate for the people that he is supposed to be representing, or will rather help the hands that feed his rising political star by advocating policies that favor the very wealthy and major corporations. Here is the link to the article:
"Paul Ryan’s Choice: Constituents or Koch Brothers?" August 22, 2013 by John Nichols
http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/22/paul-ryans-choice-constituents-or-koch-brothers/
This article deals with a topic that I find particularly worrisome, because it is a growing trend that seems to be all the rage these days: the emphasis on part-time positions. When a company hires part-timers, the commitment in terms of pay and benefits and almost everything else tends to be greatly reduced, as do the worker rights in general. Some companies seem to almost have only part-time positions available. Like the growing "temp" positions trend, where workers are expected to assist companies while receiving less pay and virtually no benefits that they otherwise would be entitled to if they were employees of the company outright, part-time workers also tend to be at the mercy of their employers. this article delves into and explores this issue further, and I think it deserves a look. Here is the link to the article:
"Abracadabra: You’re a Part Timer" August 20, 2013 by Barbara Garson
http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/20/abracadabra-you%E2%80%99re-a-part-timer/
This is a link to an episode that explores the money centered focus on Washington, and it's transformation from a relatively small, and relatively decent, capital city, to a monstrous place of financial wheeling and dealing behind the scenes, with back room deals and high level corruption controlling the empire. Hard to believe that it was ever different, but I think that it must have been on a far smaller scale not all that long ago. But now, reflecting the enormous power of the country in general, the levels of this over the top wealth and power that Washington represents has corrupted the town beyond all previous measure, and makes the "old days' of decades past look downright quaint and idyllic by way of comparison. Here is the link:
"Full Show: America’s Gilded Capital" August 23, 2013
http://billmoyers.com/episode/full-show-mark-leibovich-on-americas-gilded-capital/
Another exploration of America's capital city, from the humble roots, to the monstrosity that it has clearly grown into presently. Here is the link:
"O Little Town of Washington" August 23, 2013 by Michael Winship
http://billmoyers.com/2013/08/23/o-little-town-of-washington/
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