As a contributor to DU, do you consider yourself part of the media?

Do you see yourself as an additional source of info to the mainstream media or totally separate from the other mediums of news? Do you see yourself as a reporter, an editorialist, or a social commentator, or something else? Do you think your words and ideas make any difference? Is it possible your impact may be greater than you can imagine? Or do you feel DU is just an outlet to release your frustrations and to meet similar-thinking people? Do you have a role in the grand scheme of news?

BPilgrim's video was at the top of Google for No Bravery.

http://nobravery.cf.huffingtonpost.com/

he was with DU a long time.

but he has a tombstone.

and has fallen asleep. We are the only ones who can keep us on the road until they wake up.

an outlet to release my frustrations and to meet similar-thinking people. You can't imagine the relief to find a group with the same feelings and beliefs at a time when I thought I must be losing my mind and becoming cynical, because I couldn't believe an administration would or could be pulling the tricks I was seeing.

It is also the first place I come to get the late-breaking news, as there are so many members who are constantly watching/gathering information with links for our perusal. I am forever amazed at the speed with which this group captures breaking news and how quickly they can find information that either supports or refutes that information.

I still think the blogs will bring this administration to its knees...perhaps not through action of their own, but by keeping up the pressure on the powers that be to do their jobs.

I felt like I was losing my mind, too. Nothing really seemed to make sense to me and when I read Al Franken's book, looked on the internet and found DU.

Finally, I found out I was in fact sane and not crazy. As time went on, I realized with the help of DU, I could make at least one small difference. Usually it's one LTTE at a time, one phone call or one email, but I think my small voice along with the many who love this country as much as I do has made a difference and will continue to do so.

I like to have a place to discuss issues with like-minded intelligent people. :thumbsup:

an educator. And as a student. I don't tend to write long screes on the ruling crime family's character defects here as much as try to focus on how the grassroots can turn net communication into local feet on the ground political action.

I save my longer anti - bush crime family rants for other forums where there are more independents and there are proportionally lots more perfectly good Repos to annoy.

Most of us want to do something meaningful and unified to create a change.
And we want to know what's happening.

That's what brings me here.

It's a lot more akin to participating in a college class discussion or bullshiting at lunch than being a part of the media, IMHO.

Yet often, things discussed by people in groups become a part of the media. And the mediacts amonst us make use, undoubtably, of the forum for expression and the ideas it generates that are worth stealing :):-)

...but you couldn't guess where.:P

Newsweek used a screen grab I made and posted here at the DU!

Here's my original screen shot I saved at my website (file83.com):
http://tinyurl.com/oedz7 (big picture, so I tiny url'd it)

Here it is in PDF form at Newsweek (notice the same Google task bar 'pop-up blocker' count of 114?):
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/12068773/site/newsweek

Here is when I first posted it here at the DU (probably how Newsweek got a hold of it!):
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=364&topic_id=776401&mesg_id=780301
(this was before I thought of giving it a 'tiny url'. It was a big photo so I didn't want to link the image directly into DU 'cuz it would screw up the formatting for everyone.)

Newsweek could have also gotten it from the Wikipedia article someone made (wasn't me!), using my screen grab :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Howard_Kaloogian

So, yes, I do consider what we do here at the DU as part of the media, even if it's just a tiny drop in a big ocean.

that my little thoughts have some sort of influence. I truly feel like we all have a role in the grand scheme of things, however small.

...energy. And energy creates thoughts...and thoughts create actions.

There a lot of energy here at DU...much more than you will find at large newspapers and magazines, even though they may have some brilliant writers. I do believe we are fighting a long-time inertia of thoughts and conventional wisdom and it will take time to overcome that. In a way. I believe everyone here is a pioneer in their own right, even though none of us can define exactly what it is. We are in a deep struggle of truth vs deception. Lies and deceptions are filtered out and, at the end of the day, we are closer to the truth than we were yesterday. I do confess it takes a great deal of idealism.

:beer: