Surprise! New MTV Social-Activism Site Leans Left

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.