Viacom-owned MTV has recently rolled out "Think MTV," a new community interaction site oriented toward student activism. Imagine "Facebook" with a social-activist theme. Exploring the site quickly reveals that MTV's notion of social activism has a decided liberal tint.
The home page lists a dozen major areas for potential activism. Click on "Politics" and -- what do you know! -- the first photo that pops up is one of John Edwards looking pensively toward the future. Three videos on political themes are displayed. The only one from a named author is by . . . Kanye West [the rapper who during the 2004 election famously claimed that "Bush doesn't care about black people."] Other celebrities involved with Think MTV: Bono, Jay-Z, Brad Pitt, Leonardo DiCaprio, Chris Rock. Do you detect a trend?
Back to the issues menu. The subheadline on "Environment" reads: "Don’t be remembered as the generation that knew about the environmental crisis and did nothing to stop it." At MTV, there's obviously no debating that we are in a crisis.
Go to the "Education" issues page, and for some reason the photo [seen here] of Bill Clinton appears. Note to MTV: shouldn't Bill be over on your "Relationships and Sex" page? Well, go there, and find a video described as "a short PSA about it being just A-okay to be gay! No need to have fear about who you are and just live to be the person you want to be! Enjoy!"
The symbol for the "War and Peace" issue is a dove So where's the hawk? Click through, and in the section on Iraq you'll find links to six anti-war organizations to join, but just one organization in support of our troops and policies.
I invite readers to go to the Think MTV home page and poke around. You're sure to be able to supplement my list with other examples of the site's leftist tilt.
Bottom line: in MTV's mind, there really is only one kind of social activism -- the left-wing kind. And remember, this is a site explictly for young people. Unless you're a student or a recent grad, you need an invitation to join. So think of this not simply as Facebook with an activist edge, but as a not-so-subtle form of indoctrination for kids who wander in. Think MTV = think like a liberal.
—Mark Finkelstein is a NewsBusters contributing editor and host of Right Angle. Contact him at mark@gunhill.net.
Editor at Large
Comments Policy
VH-1
September 25, 2007 - 17:08 ET by third eyeI never thought growing up VH-1 would become cooler than MTV. But it did.
MTV has been trying for
September 25, 2007 - 17:09 ET by Darth DutchMTV has been trying for years to get the youth of the nation to get out and vote and be politically active and they always fail. First it was Rock the Vote campaign in the 80's and 90's and then the stupid "Vote or Die" promos that went on more recently. The truth of the matter is that the youth by and large do not vote, or when they do, they do not do it in large numbers.
It's really no surprise though that MTV would be on the Left. It's also no surprise that the very network that promotes the anti-establishment lifestyle wouldn't have an effect on the people it's trying to persuade to participate in "the establishment". You can't say authority is stupid on one hand and then that we all have an obligation to participate in another. Rebellion and Participation just don't mix very well.
Dutch
MTV
September 25, 2007 - 17:31 ET by mattmMTV is just another branch of the MSM.
These Are The Same People
September 25, 2007 - 17:37 ET by Del DolemonteWho edited out the crowd booing Hillary at the 9/11 benefit show. Goebbels would be proud of them.
MTV keeps trying to make a
September 25, 2007 - 17:44 ET by bigtimerMTV keeps trying to make a huge difference in the elections...
So far so good as far as I am concerned.
Btw...glad our kids are grown....of course there are the grandkids now...lol.
2005?
September 25, 2007 - 20:29 ET by sithkhanI believe that Kayne said that during the Katrina Relief Show in 2005.
/nitpick
Against my better
September 25, 2007 - 21:26 ET by Trix RabbitAgainst my better judgement, I looked at the link to "Think MTV".
Now that the wave of nausea has passed, I can write something. Among the great pickings of socialist drivel is an announcement for job opportunities as a reporter for MTV, specifically for the 2008 elections.
The sentence begins with "Citizen Journalists". The requirements are: "you
must be at least 18 years old by December, 2007.
· You must reside in the state you are covering from January to
November, 2008.
· You must have the time and ability to travel within your state
and file at least one video, written or photographic story per week."
Nothing, niente, nada, about writing or editing abilities. Needless to say, we can expect mindless socialist propaganda written, for, by, and about the idiot masses.
Liberal: a power worshipper without power. George Orwell
MTV
September 26, 2007 - 00:06 ET by Dr_LibertyI bet the feminist left loves the progressive treatment of women that is routinely trotted out in various videos featured on the channel.
<insert witty signature here>