This is going to be a great winter break. For some reason we appear to have four weeks off, as far as I can tell from the 17 times I checked. Political news, my bread and butter, usually tends to die down as Congress spends six weeks in recess during the time between Thanksgiving and mid-January. You can always count on our men and women of Congress to set the highest standard for time off.
Consumer driven infotainment will no doubt take over the media. It has already started, with massive attention paid to Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
Wow. A bunch of people started shopping for the holidays on the culturally determined “first days.” I fail to see how that is news, seeing as it happens every year. People only feel the need to shop on those days because the media told them to in the first place. Then the media in turn reports on the fact that everyone listened to them.
Meanwhile, real things are happening every day, but the politicians who put the news into partisan sound bytes suitable to the 24 hour holy cow nature of cable news are taking a break, and the system suffers.
Luckily, we live in the wonderful age of new media. Besides catching up on all the books you neglected during school and renting whole seasons of premium cable shows on DVD, it is also a wonderful time to catch up on the Internet. Oh yes, the great time-waster can actually be quite informative. So over the break, when you just can’t listen to Rita
Cosby rasp one more pointless tabloid story, when you know the top 10 most-wanted-toys-list by heart, or just need a break from shopping online, take a look at these sites, and start a new trend: Informed for the holidays.
Wonkette: By far the best and most irreverent political blog out there. The site is very D.C., a town that functions as its own universe, so a few things might fly over your head. (Butterstick is not the actual name of the baby panda at the National Zoo). But for straight politics, gossip and analysis, it can’t be beat. Wonkette, edited by journalist Ana Marie Cox, will make you laugh as you learn just how sleazy our nation’s capitol, and our leaders, can be. www.wonkette.com
The Raw Story: Somewhere between a blog and an online newspaper, The Raw Story has helped lead the media back to watchdog status. The site is regularly quoted by traditional media, and the reporting is really good. They also accept submissions, so if you are a budding journalist, it might be a good way to get started. www.rawstory.com
Media Matters for America: President and CEO, David Brock, is a fascinating character. He used to be a part of what he calls “the Republican noise machine,” when he wrote for the ultra-conservative Washington Times. He is now an award-winning author with a mission. He wrote “Blinded by the Right: The Conscious of an Ex-Conservative” and has now devoted his career to pointing out bias in the media. If you still think we live in a land with a “liberal media,” you have to check this site out. It is also a great source for audio and video clips. www.mediamatters.org
BBC: For those with a worldly taste for news, this is your outlet. Just imagine if the media was loyal to you, the taxpayer, rather than the shareholders of their multinational corporate overlords. It’s also great to just get an outsider’s view America, kind of like overhearing a conversation about yourself. www.bbc.co.uk
Center for Media and Democracy: If you ever feel like the public relations filter is an omnipresent part of your life, or contrarily, you have never even thought about it, PR Watch and the Spin of the Day will have you gaping at your computer screen. About 50 percent of news is generated by PR. It is important to know what kind of filters the facts go through before they are disseminated to the masses. www.prwatch.org
Huffington Post: Author, columnist, and politico Arianna Huffington’s online empire is a force to be reckoned with. Huffington is responsible for leading the successful campaign to keep the ethically challenged Judith Miller from becoming a well-respected martyr. Her blog has a terrific regular staff, as well as amazing contributors like John Cusack and Bill Moyers. HuffPo has all kinds of fun pulling biased, spoiled journalists off their newsprint pedestal. www.huffingtonpost.com
Wayne Madsen: If you want the story behind the story behind the story, you must go here. You will find the day’s news and the kind of insider background on the key characters and plot developments that bring everything into colorful and crooked context. I wouldn’t exactly call this site news, but Madsen doesn’t really either: “This online publication tackles the ‘politically incorrect’ and ‘politically embarrassing’ stories and holds government officials accountable for their actions. This Web site extends a warm open invitation to whistleblowers and leakers.” www.waynemadsenreport.com
Happy Holidays news hounds.

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