http://www.huffingtonpost.com/sheldon-drobny/ego-power-money-and-pro_b_10816.html
I can personally attest from my work that if we took one tenth of the money that is wasted on pursuing stupid outmoded strategies funded by those mired inthe 1970s and devoted it to a decent media policy and substantively different organizing techniques that are working, it would be a very, very different world. But even people who are are of media imbalance don't dig. They think we need to mirror the conservatives. This is like every software company that tries to beat Microsoft by imitating Microsoft's succesful business tactics. Just as no software company is ever going to be as good at being MS as MS, no Dem/Liberal/Progressive whatever is going to be as good at being a conservative as Rupert Murdoch. (Not to mention the utter failure of most folks doing media analysis to even attempt to understand the economic or legal environment that creates the media environment.)
What is needed is an alternate strategy and an alternate model. Progressives need to work on an "open source" equivalent rather then simply seeking to replicate the conservatives.
Finally, I can't help but point out that my opposite numbers, such as CATO and Progress and Freedom Foundation, get ons of money from conservative foundations. And this is general support money. et despite the fact that our three person law firm won a landmark victory in media ownership -- I've more than once heard it called 'the Brown v. Bd of Education' of media policy -- we can't even keep the funders we have. They're off dumping yet more money into NPR and PBS, funding documentaries that no one will ever see because no one has any outlets, and trembling in fear over funding anything that relates to policy.
feh.
I suppose I'd be less bitter about it if we hadn't just done the budget.