Foser's Quartet

Media Matters's Jamison Foser has completed the final installment in his four-part series on the media problem. These are must-reads for anyone who cares about the progressive agenda:

"Three weeks ago, we began what has now turned into a four-part series:

The defining issue of our time is not the Iraq war. It is not the "global war on terror." It is not our inability (or unwillingness) to ensure that all Americans have access to affordable health care. Nor is it immigration, outsourcing, or growing income inequity. It is not education, it is not global warming, and it is not Social Security.

The defining issue of our time is the media.

The dominant political force of our time is not Karl Rove or the Christian Right or Bill Clinton. It is not the ruthlessness or the tactical and strategic superiority of the Republicans, and it is not your favorite theory about what is wrong with the Democrats.

The dominant political force of our time is the media.

A week later, we elaborated on the notion that the "dominant political force of our time is the media," with a look back at more than a decade of media treatment of progressive leaders including Bill and Hillary Clinton, Al Gore, Howard Dean, John Kerry, Jack Murtha, and Harry Reid.

Last week, we elaborated on the contention that the defining issue of our time is the media, by illustrating that whatever issue you care most about, the media are likely skewing the public debate on that issue.

Those three pieces have been warmly embraced by readers, particularly among the progressive blogosphere, a response for which we are grateful. They have also prompted a great deal of feedback, most commonly the question: What do we do about it?

We don't have an easy answer to that question; nor do we believe that an easy answer exists. But we do have several suggestions, some of them inspired by responses we've received to the first three parts of this series."