Why can't we have a PRO AND DAMN PROUD OF IT DEMOCRATIC NETWORK???

[a kennedy]

Seriously, why can’t we??? I’m really sick of all the supposedly middle of the road channels. DAMN IT, I WANT A PRO DEMOCRATIC CHANNEL or a few of them.

[BlueKota]

1. I agree. It is needed.

[Tree Lady]

2. Because it takes billions of dollars to own

a news network and we don't have many billionaires in our corner.

I remember when we had air america on the radio and Gore tried to do a news channel but they both struggled financially and went out of business.

I think most of us just want what we had as kids when the news was held by fair standards and the government forced the major networks to do it if it lost them money.

[a kennedy]

4. Damn, Air America......loved that channel....Rachel Maddow, and Al Franken both

is where I first heard of either of them..... loved them both.

[edisdead]

12. And Steph and Ed and Thom and....

[birdographer]

3. I would so watch that. n/t

[a kennedy]

5. If it costs so much.....WHY CAN'T our billionaires set one up???

Seriously, why can’t at least ONE LIBERAL BILLIONAIRE SET UP A CHANNEL exclusively for the LEFT WING??? I can’t believe on my, cable, I know old school, why can’t I have at least one channel exclusively for LEFT, MORE LEFT, OR EXTREMELY LEFT VIEWS???

[DJ Synikus Makisimus]

6. Laissez-faire.

On the surface it would seem that the decision-making players in the executive of the Party trusts in the capitalist system to deliver, though it should be obvious by now that that's not the case. The mechanics of why Party officials failed to persuade their donors to fund such a vehicle years ago is anyone's guess (unless/until the documents leak), but they didn't. Perhaps they simply didn't think it would work. Air America, if you recall, was an under-financed and poorly-promoted flop despite having been rather good quality radio. But then it seemed like they also worked harder to get listeners to pay for it instead of trying to attract sponsors. Whatever, it is no more.

The question in my mind is: given the way media is evolving, could any pro-Democratic Party media generate enough SPECTACLE to attract eyeballs? The fascist media thrives mostly on the combined spectacles of hate, fear and pseudo-toughness/masculinity. Social media sites tend to attract eyeballs the same way (although cute animals and people being weird or pretty do also seem to), and they've created algorithms to enhance the effect for purposes of attracting more eyeballs through "suggestions" and thus increasing profit. Bottom line is that fascist media generates tons of profit for a few oligarchs, unless you really screw up like Elon Musk did. Could a pro-Blue media even begin to attract eyeballs with something the same or different? Doubtful. Are folks in U.S. media creative enough to come up with an eye-catching alternative. Also doubtful. Remember, we're still "going high" when they "go low," for the most part. They're still "our friends across the aisle," not the "evil racist, misogynist, homophobic, transphobic, all-power-to-the-oligarchs fascist enemy." At least publicly. Pretty young men and women in thongs holding cute animals and dancing weirdly or suggestively while relaying the events of the day would probably be too much (especially over time), though it could depend on the targeted demographic. Bottom line is that MSNBC is probably as close as you're going to get (i.e., not all that close depending on the hour/host) given the state of the media universe and U.S. capitalism at present.

[electric_blue68]

7. Oh, I Loved Air America! Yeah, that's where I first heard Rachel Maddow...

They had many good people!
I remember Al Fraken's mini-plays he put on. 😀
I was at on of the Choice Marches in DC, and telling people about this great radio station.

I don't know why Ed Shultz turned back into a Republcan, after becoming a Democrat, and a Trump supporter post Air America.
I think he had a construction company, and spoke about how policies affected his company. He spoke about other issues, too. He spoke to Midwestern type people. He'd get calls from Republicans saying they'd listened, and he changed their minds.

I think Tim Walz can bring some of that aspect to this race.

Yeah, really, a couple of Liberal Leaning Billionaires could pool their resources, hire some really smart people, and put together a radio station, if not a TV station!
Not easy... but DOABLE!!! C'mon!

[a kennedy]

9. Damn, I forgot about Ed Schulz.....

I loved Air America on the radio…..

[hunter]

8. Television is a poor medium for news and opinion. It's best suited to fiction. Mostly it's bullshit

This has always been true. Television has always been an excellent tool for propaganda. I quit watching television news and opinion in the post 9-11 run-up to the war in Iraq.

My wife has never watched television news and opinion. We read our news.

By its very nature television bypasses critical thinking skills and appeals directly to more primitive parts of the human mind.

I'd like to watch the Olympics here in the U.S.A. but I'm not willing to wade through all the bullshit.

We don't have cable or satellite television in our home. We don't have an antenna. Our television has no "channels." We watch DVDs and subscribe to two or three no-advertising streaming services at any given time. Currently we subscribe to Netflix and YouTube Premium. If we want to watch some random romantic comedy we watch Netflix. If we want to know how to replace the thermostat in our car we watch YouTube. If we want to watch a great movie we saw years ago in a movie theater, we watch a DVD.

[Zoomie1986]

10. Your key to watching the Olympics outside the US

Is a VPN. I've watched coverage from Canada, the UK, France and even Jamaica by switching my IP country and looking for videos that come from CBC, BBC and etc.

Their coverage makes NBC look like the slime that they are. I mean, night and day difference. Most of the foreign commentary is calm and bare bones in providing the basic information, and not much more. There might be some 'and now runner X is pushing for the finish line' at the end, but it's nowhere near as loud and obnoxious as the worthless US media trash.

And no stupid cutaways during events to people in the stands or some weird splash screen of the US athlete. I want to see the event, not that stupid sideshow garbage.

[mysteryowl]

11. Make a business plan and get some investors

tag you are it.

[mopinko]

13. a radio network wd b better. cheaper, more penetration.

air america was sabotaged by investors who bought in for that purpose.