Celebs

[Derek McMillan]

It is a pity it took Jamie Oliver to highlight the state of school dinners.

It took Geldof to highlight poverty.

It took Galloway to draw attention to the war.

It is tempting to conclude that the TV just likes celebrities and cannot deal with issues in a grown-up way.

They use the word "celebrity" to sell exploitation shows of the kind British audiences (or at least Chris Tarrant) ridiculed when they were shown on Japanese TV.

For all their talk about poverty and making poverty history, they have ignored the mass movement in Bolivia, poor people who are trying to make poverty history by reclaiming the natural resources of the country are not as interesting as Geldof.

Although the BBC website has covered the story, the TV news has generally steered clear of it.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

Perhaps we could sell the media on the idea of a Bolivian makeover, title "Their worth it" Each week the most obnoxious right wing, American backed General could be, "Ejected from the house"(Country.) And it could be hosted by Castro, and Rosa Luxemburg, now you know I'm joking.

[Derek McMillan]

I think the trivialisation of the media makes it more important that there is a growth of indepedent media via the internet. The best example I know of this is Democracy Now! www.democracynow.org which has been treating the Bolivia story seriously whilst the corporate media has not been treating it at all.

In any other country a pro-democracy mass movement with colourful banners which topples a president can be guaranteed air time. Because privatisation is under attack there seems to be less enthusiasm from the corporations that profit from privatisation to make this public. I cannot imagine a reason why that would be.

I noticed a safe send-up of trivialised TV, the replacement of news with more and more egregious game shows, on Doctor Who last night. They even had an android Anne Robinson who actually killed the weakest link in each round.

[Guest Stephen Turner]

As you say, Bolivia comes under the "Non-news"its a story of ordinary people, making a diference to their own lives. Its not just that it does'nt get reported because of a lack of celeb's,Events like this scare the daylights out of the political elite,and their corporate masters,these are people making their own history,without asking permission from the Bush's and Blairs of this world,and of course this sort of stuff can be catching." The revolution will not go better with coke" (Gill Scott Heron)