Must see TV: Class struggle talk showBy Judith LeBlancThis article was reprinted from the October 10, 1998 issue of the People's Weekly World. For subscription information see below. All rights reserved - may be used with PWW credits. 
When I was growing up, my family always looked forward to the new television season. In the 1960s we'd gather around to see what the three networks had cooked up. And we were usually pretty satisfied to see Wally and the Beav ruffling June and Ward's feathers with some Eddie Haskell-inspired high jinx. My brothers and I, of course, knew that their white-picket-fenced yard was not like ours, nor were our daily problems being discussed at their dinner table - but it was TV. Flopping down in front of the small-screen, black-and-white television was the high point of many evenings. How things have changed in TV land! The variety of channels families have to choose from would have been impossible to imagine back in the 60s. Today, almost 67 percent of homes are wired for cable TV. In New York, there are more than 70 channels to choose from. The Big Three networks - CBS, NBC and ABC - have lost their monopoly. The fastest growing viewership is in the cable market now. The recent Emmy Awards show featured a retrospective of television shows of the past 50 years. It included interviews with regular folks about their memories and opinions of television. People of various races and nationalities spoke of the impact of television on their lives. The message was clear: whenever television programming reflects real life and struggles of working people, the more popular and powerful it is. A Wisconsin fireman summed it up from his recliner at the fire station by saying, "No matter if TV is great or stupid-we still watch." This year's new television season is in full swing. Talk shows remain popular and many new ones are sprouting up. The sadistic Jerry Springer-type shows' main aim is to exploit the personal problems of the victims of a social, political and economic system in crisis. There are few concepts that break new ground. Through the 50-plus years of television one aspect remains. There are very few opportunities to reflect the real life struggles, aspirations, earth-shaking and, yes, revolutionary changes going on in our country and around the world. TV programming has an overwhelmingly pro-corporate bias. Although there isn't an impenetrable firewall of pro-corporate propaganda, it is the mainstay of what is shown. For example, when the GM autoworkers were out on strike, the message of their struggle for a secure life with decent wages could not be covered up. The whole country became aware of GM's monster profits. The unfairness and downright nastiness of the corporate behemoth was obvious. The left in this country cannot afford to surrender the television arena. With cable viewership exploding, opportunities exist to create a whole new avenue for political struggle. Cable has expanded the opportunities for corporate America. But it has also cracked the door open for shows produced right in our own community, through federally-mandated community access programming. Television has played a big role in shaping our lives and attitudes and, even more importantly, our information. Television is a powerful tool. The Communist Party has decided to leap into the fray by establishing a production company to bring to cable access stations nationwide, a show for, by and about the labor and people's movements. It will be a talk show that will feature activists among labor, African Americans, Latinos, American Indians, Asians, women, youth and the Communist and progressive movements. With growing monopolization of the entertainment industry, the CPUSA mass media experience is a textbook for study. In the last few years, thousands call and write the national office after C-SPAN broadcasts CPUSA National Chairman Gus Hall's speech to the Party's annual holiday open house. In this one televised event, the Communist Party speaks to millions. Afterwards, thousands take the time to call, e-mail and write to talk politics - and to join the Communist Party. And it's only the tip of the political iceberg. Millions are hungry for TV that tells the class struggle political truth! Our new cable show will help give a voice to America in transition from a system in crisis to one guided by democracy and, yes, socialism. Just as in the 1960s, families still flop down in front of their TV sets. If we can grab their attention with a show that portrays what they experience in their hometown, on their farm or reservation, it can inspire them to take some steps to change the world. That is the aim of the CPUSA in launching this new venture.
PEOPLE BEFORE PROFITS! |
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