I had the opportunity recently to participate in a Q & A session at Pima College with Dylan Smith, editor and publisher of the Tucson Sentinel. Although I applaud the Sentinel's decision to refrain from endorsing candidates for public office, I was disappointed to hear him spouting the conventional wisdom about third-party candidates, i. e., "they're not likely to win, so why should we cover them?." From my point of view, the media in this country is in collusion with the over-represented parties (sometimes called the Repugnicrats) to enforce an information blockade between the other major political parties (the Greens and Libertarians) and the public at large. (Full disclosure: I currently sit on the Steering Committee of the Green Party of Pima County.)
An example of the Sentinel's unconscionable bias towards the two-party duopoly can be found in Mr. Smith's coverage of the recent primary election. An eighteen-minute video features long speeches by Republican mayoral nominee Rick Grinnell and Democratic nominee Jonathan Rothschild; there is no video coverage of either of the Green Party candidates, and scant mention of them in the text.
Green Party candidates have won hundreds of elections across the country, from Mayoral and City Council races to State Assembly seats. The Green Party of the U.S. is our third largest political party; in many places around the world, the national Green Party is the second largest. In Colombia, a Green Party candidate came in second in the 2010 Presidential race; Die Grünen, the German Greens, hold the state legislature in Baden-Württemberg, and have been part of the governing coalition of Germany on and off for years. The Greens also hold the balance of power in the Australian Senate.
In past City Council and Mayoral races in Tucson, Green candidates have won the votes of between one quarter and one third of the electorate. As citizens, we should demand full and equal coverage of all serious candidates for office.
An example of the Sentinel's unconscionable bias towards the two-party duopoly can be found in Mr. Smith's coverage of the recent primary election. An eighteen-minute video features long speeches by Republican mayoral nominee Rick Grinnell and Democratic nominee Jonathan Rothschild; there is no video coverage of either of the Green Party candidates, and scant mention of them in the text.
Green Party candidates have won hundreds of elections across the country, from Mayoral and City Council races to State Assembly seats. The Green Party of the U.S. is our third largest political party; in many places around the world, the national Green Party is the second largest. In Colombia, a Green Party candidate came in second in the 2010 Presidential race; Die Grünen, the German Greens, hold the state legislature in Baden-Württemberg, and have been part of the governing coalition of Germany on and off for years. The Greens also hold the balance of power in the Australian Senate.
In past City Council and Mayoral races in Tucson, Green candidates have won the votes of between one quarter and one third of the electorate. As citizens, we should demand full and equal coverage of all serious candidates for office.
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