Are We Totally Blowing Our New Media Freedom? My 10 Health Care Reform Videos

As inspiring as it was to watch Iranian citizens risk their lives and use new media like Twitter and YouTube to fight for better lives for themselves, it was also impossible not to have a sense that of self-consciousness about how lax and lazy we are in America about our own lives and political system. We're not afraid of getting shot for expressing our opinions -- we just have other stuff to do.

That's exactly how the corporate owned media and lobbyist funded politicians want it, of course. They don't actually want us too involved in the political system on issues. If we all have a general sense of helplessness and cynicism, we won't bother to make phone calls to politicians...even on an issue as vital as health care.

Until recently, that helplessness was actually somewhat justified. Yes, we had free speech but it didn't do us much good when the media gatekeepers controlled newspapers, radio and TV stations. Every now and again, we would get noticed with a big march on Washington or something but by and large, any single person's voice had no way to be amplified.

Now, technology has changed the equation completely but like a newly freed slave, just losing the shackles doesn't mean we've thrown off years of the mental oppression of having no forum to speak our minds. We can be publishers, broadcasters and opinion makers. We just have other stuff to do.

All of this hit me last week and I decided to do something about it. In the course of about seven days, I made 10 short videos about health care reform. I wasn't hired to do it, I wasn't asked to do it. I just did it because the issue is important to me personally, to my family and to my country. And I did it because I could.

The ideas I focused on and the approaches I used are strictly my responsibility. I stand on the shoulders of people like Larry Lessig, James Ridgeway and fellow Huffington Post blogger  and friend Bob Cesca but one reason I was able to crank out the work quickly is that I didn't have any committee to answer to. It probably makes the videos weaker in some ways; with no editor, I mispronounced Senator Max Baucus's name, for example.

But this completely personal approach also gave me the freedom to experiment with form and content.  And it's freedom you have as well, if you want to claim it. Use your voice and speak your mind.

If artists, activists or any citizen who can get their hands on a computer keyboard, camcorder or microphone doesn't use our country's freedom of speech and this new technology to speak out on issues like health care reform, we're going to be beaten by the incredibly wealthy forces that want to keep the status quo in place.

In the last week, I also learned to do something that a lot of artists have trouble with but that politicians seem to excel at -- asking for money. Part of being a one person media machine is also being your own fund raiser, so I got comfortable with asking people to help out. I'm so comfortable that if you want to help me get the word out, you can contribute right here via PayPal.

Here are short videos I made. Most are about 30 seconds long.

This next video is a response to the "Bulldozer" ad by Conservatives For Patients Rights" -- doesn't make much sense if you' didn't see the original.

 

 

(Note : I didn't include my Not Safe For Work health care reform video I produced with my wife Lauren because it features frontal nudity and has proven to be controversial. However, journalist Tommy Christopher called it "the most compelling health-care-reform video I have ever seen", so it's here if you want to see it.)

Follow Lee Stranahan on Twitter: www.twitter.com/Stranahan

Comments

[Polly]

I have been sending letters and faxes to all the main Senators I don't really know if this has any effect, but I feel that I am doing something to get the Public Option. I would really like to see Universal Care!!!

Your efforts are so good, Bravo!!!

[Samalabear]

The only problem I have is with the words public option. This is being thrown around, but I believe many people think that by asking for the public option they are asking for single payer -- which is what we need. But if you listen to Obama's idea of public option of his HHS Secretary Sebelius' idea of public option, it's not very good, because it leaves the insurance companies in charge -- that's the problem.

What we need is Single Payer -- Medicare for All -- not a public option with triggers, individual mandates, employer mandates, etc.

Employment status should have nothing to do with health care. Get employers out of the business of providing medical coverage. If they wish to add something optional in the single-payer system they are free to do that. I do not understand why more people do not understand the problem with employer-funded health insurance. It's killing business, it's killing wages and it's killing jobs.

[Primadonna]

Bravo! These need to be viewed by all and then we need to stand with a candidate who will push for cradle to grave healthcare for all ... Gavin Newsom in California for governor. 70% of his residents in San Francisco have healthcare ... he's making it happen ... unlike the rhetoric of others because words alone do not save a life. He's proving it can be done.

Single-payer healthcare ... comprehensive cradle to grave healthcare for all. House bill HR 676 - ask your elected officials to get behind Rep. Conyers and this bill. Don't allow the fear mongering of the Big Pharma, insurance companies, etc., and our elected officials who have pockets filled with their lobbying money, scare you from learning about and making an informed decision about the well-being of our nation.

[BluePrideStephen]

These are SUPERB! May I inspire a couple others...

Please add a focus on two egregious situations:
1. Why does your EMPLOYER decide your healthcare ? (all policy & practice decisions)
2. Same INJURY, same PERSON, treated differently depening on whether you are insured or uninsured, workers' comp., liability coverage or not, accident victim, or what type of private pay coverage you have. Care is different, treatment is different and most importantly, often outcomes are different. The poor get sicker while the connected stay connected.

Huge savings are to be realized by simply caring for illness/injury regardless of cause, location, employer, insurance. Doctors, lawyers and pharmacies are acting like robber barrons. Basic healthcare should not be profitable.

Why not give everyone the same options congress has? They like their government program insurance. We will have universal coverage. The cost is only going up in the meantime. So, if we allow a repeat of the Hillary pillary, we'll be at this again until it's solved. Opponents are merely HOGS @ the TROFF.

[kemstone]

Lee, I think it's great what you're doing and I've enjoyed watching your videos on Cesca's blog all week, and I think you did a good job on the issue on your radio show.

It hadn't really occurred to me that the mainstream media wasn't going to treat this issue with the intense and heated focus it deserves, but you're absolutely right that a lot of their revenue comes from Big Health in much the same way as congress--it's corruption that's hiding out in the open.

There's not much I can do from overseas, but I really wish I was seeing people marching around in Washington holding signs saying, "Healthcare reform without a public option is not reform." I want wall-to-wall media coverage of this and a little less Mark Sanford and Michael Jackson. Where is the grassroots pressure? This is a HUGE issue--the future of out society, not to mention the health and even the LIVES of the American people are at stake! If traditional media won't cover it, now is the time to put New Media to the test and see just how effective we can be. Keep on fighting the good fight.

[JuliaRain]

Amazing work Mr. Stranahan! Love the videos and watched your NSFW one. Thank you and thank you to your lovely wife for getting the message out to your fellow citizens. I hope your efforts will have inspired others to fight for what they and their families deserve. Appreciate you mentioning Canada because I too want to scream when lies about our heath care is used to put fear in Americans and demonize us. Excellent work, great videos!

If other industrialized countries can do it, America can too. Best wishes and best of luck to you and your family. Hope your father was able to recover safely and fully!

You're an inspiration and thank you for voicing the needs of your nation.