Photo Credits: (c) 2016
Harold Michael Harvey
There was a virtual media blackout at the Green Party Convention last week in Houston, Texas.
Like any national political convention, the Green Party’s time on the stage did not go as smoothly as convention planners had hoped. It had a hiccup or two before delegates selected Dr. Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka as the party’s standard- bearers in November’s General Election. But unlike the recently held Republican and Democratic conventions, the Green Party convention was held before a virtual media blackout.
Green Party America met a week after progressives were beaten down at the Democratic National Convention in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania by Clinton loyalists. The Party held its nominating convention at the University of Houston and offered up its progressive platform to the American public.
None of the major news networks sent representatives to cover the three-day convention. Media blackout participants included ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, MSNBC, Fox News, the New York Times and Washington Post.
The major media blackout would have been complete but for the appearance of The Young Turks, who lived streamed an interview with Stein on the first day of the convention. Also, Stein’s acceptance speech was broadcast via a satellite fed by C-SPAN and the Huffington Post had a reporter present for the roll call vote and the first post nomination interview by Stein and Baraka.
While these three news sources are reputable in their own right, they do not have the mass appeal or attention of a vast cross-section of the American population like the the “Big Eight” news sources. The Young Turks have a primarily young progressive audience. C-SPAN appeals to a small segment of the public that wants to know more than the snippets the “Big Eight” daily hurl at the public in search of ratings. The HuffPost has a young slightly progressive audience. It would have been just as well for the Green Party if the HuffPost had not sent Mr. Nelson to cover this event as he wrote that”The Green Party takes itself seriously, but no one else should.”
Although CNN participated in the media blackout of the convention, they have extended Stein an opportunity to conduct a town hall in their Atlanta studios on August 17. Previously, CNN has hosted two town hall gatherings for Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson and his running mate Bill Weld.
The fact that Stein is polling in single digits may explain the media blackout. Her poll numbers also explain why she needs the media blackout lifted. If Stein’s poll numbers reach 15 percent by mid-September, according to debate rules, she will be invited to participate in the first Presidential Debate.
Stein’s message appeals to people who have been hit the hardest by the economic collapse of 2007, to students with student loan debt, to Black Lives Matter proponents, immigrates and just about anyone who is trying to navigate their way through the quagmire that healthcare has become.
A microphone on the debate stage will give Stein the national audience she needs to hear her message of hope for the greater good by placing peace, people and planet before profit. Her presence on the debate stage is the perfect antidote for the ongoing media blackout.
Harold Michael Harvey is an American novelist and essayist, the author of Paper puzzle and Justice in the Round. He can be contacted at haroldmichaelharvey.com.