This is actually a response to ben2's blog and comments conversation.. but i couldn't post it as feedback because there's a 400 character limit, and then it was being a bitch and wouldn't let me post anything at all..
and, due to it's political nature, i suppose it's also a post for Chris. :)

anyway,

News and New Media

While ceasing to watch news at all can work just as well, i find it much more satisfying to support independent media rather than mass-media. they don't necessarily, or at least automatically, support the status quo. many news items which are covered in independent news are ignored completely by CNN and it's counterparts because the large corporations and governments do not have a vested interest in promoting a particular issue.

In 1995 an intense government sponsored and promoted civil war between the Hutu and Tutsi Aboriginal populations of Rwanda prompted the slaughter of a huge percent of the country. Rwanda's only resource is their people. there are no oil fields, no nuclear weapons. nothing worth fighting for, according to the United States, who vetoed United Nations action in Rwanda.

Case in point: while all this was going on, the biggest news item on Canadian and American news was the Tonya Harding incident.