Media "Gatekeepers" Stifle Democracy

The logos pictured above are of two political parties in the United States. They may not be as big or as famous as the two "major" political parties in this country, but both are on the ballot in enough states to give them a mathematical possibility of winning 270 electoral votes.

But you won't read anything about them in your favorite newspaper or see anything about them on any of the television news programs (whether broadcast or cable). And because they get no media coverage, they are also not included in any political polls and will most certainly be shut out of all of the presidential debates.

Why is this happening? Because the corporate-owned major media outlets have decided that it is their job to decide who should be covered, included in polls, and allowed to debate. They are the self-appointed gatekeepers of the American electoral system -- and they have decided that only Republicans and Democrats should be allowed to have a chance to reach out to the American people to ask for their votes, meaning only Republicans and Democrats should be elected to the presidency (or any other federal office).

It has nothing to do with whether the Green and Libertarian party candidates are qualified or not for office. Both candidates, Dr. Jill Stein for the Greens and former Gov. Gary Johnson for the Libertarians, are just as qualified as any Republican or Democrat running for the presidency -- maybe more so. And it is not because the programs and ideals of the Green and Libertarian parties could never appeal to the American people, because I believe there are many millions of Americans whose views are closer to those of these two parties than they are to either the Republicans or Democrats.

The truth is that the corporate-owned media doesn't want people to vote for (or even know about) the Green Party or the Libertarian Party -- because neither of these parties is corporate-owned and would act more on behalf of the citizens than the corporations. And the corporations don't want that -- because they have spent many billions of dollars to buy influence in the Republican and Democratic parties, and they don't want to lose the power they have bought.

The media needs to go back to reporting on candidates and elections -- not trying to control who can run and get elected. They should cover all candidates who can get on enough state ballots to give them a mathematical possibility of getting a majority of electoral votes (whether the media thinks they will actually get those electoral votes or not). And those candidates should be included in all political polls and debates. Until then, the media is just stifling true democracy in the United States.