democracy now

i don't watch much tv
abc and sbs rule the waves
7:30 report and lateline i catch as much as possible
but even tonight that hotel in the french capitol got a mention
on abc 7pm news
it seems that is newsworthy
as though there's nothing more important to report
but there is
and there's a tv station willing to report it
democracy now
is beamed throughout the u s of a
and on the internet at http://www.democracynow.org/
amy goodman leads the show
she is a modern day joan of arc
she strikes out with no fear
her life seems to be dedicated to exposing the truth
she writes books and gives talks
and has experienced first-hand
the brutality of a military regime
all her guests treat her with outright respect
as she intelligently and articulately interviews them
and shows no bias
she credits her audience with the intelligence
to come up with their own conclusions
i'm addicted to the show
i can connect whenever i like
and stream the daily one hour broadcast
the only thing conventional about the format
is that the headlines come first
and then the in-depth stuff
but there are no...
...sports results
...finance/business reports
...infotainment
...fashion updates
...gadget/gizmo must have reports
...accident reports
...reports of random acts of violence
...freaky events captured on film
...ad nauseum repeats of same
...ad nauseam repeats of anything
...nationalistic stories
...political sound bites
...advertisements
...sponsorships
...cross promotions
...other promotions
...periods of meaningless banter/fill
...setups that grossly exploit the plight of others
...cute animal stories
...cute kid stories
...feel good stories
seems to me there's no shortage of newsworthy events in the world
that can and should be reported
but only if the ratings are not at risk
and the audience won't be alienated
and the sponsors aren't offended
and the baron approves
but if none of that is relevant
then something like democracy now can thrive
and be appreciated by millions
the world over
who want to learn more about the truth behind
...military invasions
...climate change
...corrupt governments
...socially aware governments
...globalisation
...privatisation
...cronyism
...impeachments
...new imperalism
...extraordinary rendition
...legitimisation of torture
...imprisonment without trial
...wrongful imprisonment
but there's a light side to the show
it's not all doom and gloom
there's laughter
and interesting music
and often good news stories
typically about people
who have taken up a cause
and have had a breakthrough
this makes amy smile
she often asks is there reason to be optimistic
and there always is
...this is the best news