Wednesday, April 14, 2004
Veterans and Media Centers
Here's a recent message to the electorate from the Nader campaign:
Today enlistments in the Reserves and National Guard are declining. The Pentagon is quietly recruiting new members to fill local draft boards, as the machinery for drafting a new generation of young Americans is being quietly put into place.
Young Americans need to know that a train is coming, and it could run over their generation in the same way that the Vietnam War devastated the lives of those who came of age in the sixties.
Man, don't you hate it when you lose your tin-foil hat?
Seriously, though--I'm not convinced a draft would be an altogether bad thing. Most soldiers I talk to--of all ages--pretty much feel the same way. Hell, if it forces our urban media centers--particularly in the northeast-- to pony up their fair share of recruits, it might pay some big dividends in reducing the yawning cultural gap between the red and blue counties.
As it stands, though, 2.3% of the male youth population in Hillsborough county, Florida enlists in the service each year. Contrast this with New York, New York, which has male enlistment rate 0.5%--less than a quarter of that number. Seven of the lowest 10 counties were found within commuting distance of the editorial homes of NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, and The New Yorker.
Think veterans are going to be proportionately represented in their editorial offices? Do you suppose this might affect the way the military is covered in the national press?
Splash, out
Jason
Today enlistments in the Reserves and National Guard are declining. The Pentagon is quietly recruiting new members to fill local draft boards, as the machinery for drafting a new generation of young Americans is being quietly put into place.
Young Americans need to know that a train is coming, and it could run over their generation in the same way that the Vietnam War devastated the lives of those who came of age in the sixties.
Man, don't you hate it when you lose your tin-foil hat?
Seriously, though--I'm not convinced a draft would be an altogether bad thing. Most soldiers I talk to--of all ages--pretty much feel the same way. Hell, if it forces our urban media centers--particularly in the northeast-- to pony up their fair share of recruits, it might pay some big dividends in reducing the yawning cultural gap between the red and blue counties.
As it stands, though, 2.3% of the male youth population in Hillsborough county, Florida enlists in the service each year. Contrast this with New York, New York, which has male enlistment rate 0.5%--less than a quarter of that number. Seven of the lowest 10 counties were found within commuting distance of the editorial homes of NBC, ABC, CBS, Fox News, CNN, Time, Newsweek, the New York Times, and The New Yorker.
Think veterans are going to be proportionately represented in their editorial offices? Do you suppose this might affect the way the military is covered in the national press?
Splash, out
Jason
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