One of the more popular “culture pieces” in the mainstream media these days has to do with the increasingly conservative tilt on college campuses. Recently, for example, the L.A. Times ran a cover photo of a “conservative student march” at Berkeley, of all places! Also, numerous pieces have appeared discussing how conservative students are taking on the “liberal sacred cows” on campus, ranging from the questioning of personnel and editorial policies of student publications, to the challenging of liberal professors. In looking a little more closely at these stories, BAGnews is not sure there are actually any more conservatives on campus than there ever have been. What does appear to be happening, however, is an increase in campus-based harassment tactics and media exploitation by “radical conservatives” (no longer an oxymoron) to highlight supposed “liberal domination,” and to document a supposed “rising conservative tide.” Clearly, the mainstream media has proven itself more than susceptible. (In the case of the “Berkeley march,” for example, despite the prominent media attention, the truth is that only a couple of students were even involved (http://www.sonic.net/dks/PhotoGallery/BerkeleyRally/). Another particularly disturbing aspect in all this is the apparent influence of (unexamined) outside groups that are providing training and funding for these aggressive tactics (http://www.sunspot.net/features/bal-conservatives0507,0,2584719.story?coll=bal-features-headlines).
On campus (as in the general society and mainstream media), the radical right, once again, appears to be controlling the message.
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