The Future of News: Birthday Letter Part 3

Dear Friend and Reader:

         In my previous letter, I mentioned that I had some thoughts about the future of news reporting. I can start with a bit of personal history.

         My first encounter with Amy Goodman was in the Manhattan studio of WBAI-FM, where she was the longtime news director. I was representing a nonprofit organization focused on judicial corruption, and got us onto her program to talk about what we were doing (working on exciting issues like judicial cross-endorsement, a problem where judges are “elected” in phony elections). This was on Amy's show just before Democracy Now!

Amy’s view toward the teleprompter, camera and her personal monitor, shortly after a program in October 2017. During this stage of the broadcast, she was recording radio promos for local Pacifica stations, so it did not matter if I was in the shot.

         It was early morning in midtown Manhattan. The broadcast would go out from the top of the Empire State Building (the studio was not far away). From the moment I walked in, I felt a kind of power filling the space and emanating from her that is usually reserved for descriptions of supernatural events.

         It was like visiting Athena's temple and finding the goddess at home (and on the air). I've never experienced anything like it before or since.

         The second time I met Amy was about five years ago at an annual July 4 softball game and barbecue, held each summer by Karen, a Pacifica board member, for about 25 years. It was a more human encounter. I pulled into the driveway and parked, and I saw her nonchalantly standing off to the side of things. She was wearing dark sunglasses and a baseball cap, like a proper celebrity.

         I walked up to her, to the edge of her personal space, looked at her quizzically, paused for a moment, and said, "Haven't I seen you on TV?"

         She responded with a sly little smile, and said, NOPE!

The best news hour on television, however...

         Today, Amy's program is the most intelligent and most dependable news hour for a look at the nitty-gritty politics of things, and the underside of world events. Broadcast weekdays at 8 am Eastern, it's a commercial-free program, sponsored only by donations and grants. If you've seen it, you know it's intense, often surveying all of the worst dark spots in the world any given day. She takes no prisoners. She's not afraid to get tackled and arrested for the story.

Amy Goodman with Eric Francis on the set of Democracy Now!

         If your orientation is toward the left and you're used to Rachel Maddow, you're going to have this sense of seeing what you've been missing. You get the idea that the political spectrum is a lot wider than you would know from watching MSNBC. I would rate it as the very best news hour on television.

         And if you watch, you may be overwhelmed, especially if you tune in day after day. There just seems to be no end to the struggle, the pain, the corruption. There is rarely ever any sense of resolution or a point of release.

         I'm a reporter -- I can take a lot, for a long time -- and often, I've seen the worst things develop at the scene of the incident, or from studying the original documents. And sometimes I am bowled over by Democracy Now! The overwhelming thing is partly the amount of information coming through, partly the intensity of the presentation, and partly the psychic orientation of the program (that's the part I'm interested in).

         Amy is conscious of time, and in an effort to compress the content, seems to read from the teleprompter faster than I can read from a book. That, combined with television imagery, can overload not just the senses but one's ability to manage them.

         But that's still not the thing I notice the most. It's where the presentation leaves no space for anyone to respond. The material is presented with an urgency that implicitly demands response, as if you must act now. Yet there is usually nothing that can be done; there is nothing in it that could, on most days, possibly pertain to you directly.

         Your awareness is summoned; you're engaged emotionally and intellectually; and yet what can you do, except to care more, which you already do, because you're paying attention? But caring has to be matched by something other than making a donation. The question I have about all presentations of the news -- including the best of them -- is, where is there room for you?

         You're responsible, but how can you respond? What do I do with all this urgent information? For deeply sensitive types who want to stay informed, this is a question that deserves a discussion.

From the news to astrology

         When I followed my calling to be an astrologer, I was a reporter grappling with the same questions I've asked above, only from the standpoint of my own work. I was noticing something: the more accurate, compelling and documented my articles became, the less people seemed able to respond; by which I mean, the less they actually did. Sometimes it seemed the better the article, the more people resisted what it was saying.

         It occurred to me that there must be something happening on the spiritual level that was causing people to block or freeze up. So at that point, I decided to take my writing in a new direction, which was astrology. This was not a business decision; it was about preserving my sanity, doing something interesting and creative, and at the same time being of service.

         I did not plan to write news astrology. I had no idea that was even a thing. But I considered the horoscope column to be journalism, as it appeared in newspapers, and in my case, a journalist would be writing it.

         My concept was to take what I was learning in therapy and from my astrology studies and to turn it into a horoscope column. The positive response from the community surprised me. I was not accustomed to having anything vaguely like that -- you know, friendly vibes. Previously, I wrote about successful conspiracies to poison people.

         Now, I was relating everything I knew about healing, and learning how to take better care of myself. And though I didn't plan it this way, I was making enough money to shop at the local food co-op and eat anything I wanted.

From astrology, back to the news

         Then one day I cast the chart for a news event, and was amazed. I kept casting charts for different developments, and after a year or two, I figured out what to say, starting with a basic description of the event from a news standpoint, then evolving a new kind of commentary.

         It took a few years, but I developed an astrological approach to the news. Really, it's more than that. This actually meant bringing in the human dimension, starting with being introspective when I work. I am tracking events, and my responses to events. I am personally seeking a broader understanding of myself and the world, and that's what I offer to you.

         You might call this a spiritual viewpoint, but I call it personal. That might mean seeking a deeper truth; usually it's about context. Where does this event fit some larger pattern that's influencing our lives?

         I also present facts and opinions in such a way as to leave you some room to think and make up your own mind.

         I approach world events from the viewpoint of someone well-informed but also sensitive, and who cares, and I'm addressing readers who care.

         References from astrology are available, which helps get behind the outer layer of events. There are timing factors revealed, and the ability to access many dimensions behind the scenes, which I combine with really excellent internet research, working my contact network, and old-school gumshoe reporting.

The need for context

         I know what we need most of all is context, which is one of the miracles of astrology. When there is a global event, how do we approach it so we can respond locally, or at all? What is the evolutionary piece? Where does human growth show potential to help this situation? What does this say about us?

         As I was writing this, my cell phone went off, displaying a number not in my database. It was Laurie Burnett, the first person to teach me astrology -- the one who turned me on to Chiron, Alice Bailey and progressed charts. All three of those themes came from Laurie, around 1994-95. I was fortunate to have this influence from the very beginning of my foray into astrology.

         Something she read recently -- Monday's edition -- got her to pick up the phone. It had been a few years.

         She said, "I just have to say this to you -- you're writing about things that are very difficult to talk about, but you also have a grasp on an emotional, psychic kind of level. Every time I read a new post of yours, it's like you're able to communicate something about your impression; and even if you're not, you're still able to communicate it." [I think what she’s saying here is that something comes across beyond the words.]

         The future of the news is not just more accurate reporting. It's more human reporting. It's ideas that help you find out who you are, whether I'm talking about a news event, a personal issue or astrology. This thing we call “news” is supposed to be about conveying vital information that presumably humanity needs for survival, or to learn something.

          We take this a step further, offering what The Starseed Transmissions called “the living information.”

Please help us do this

         I mentioned in my last letter that competition from thousands of other websites is eroding our subscription revenue. I’m asking you to please help us reverse that trend. The thing that makes Planet Waves what it is are the people who create it. That's what your subscription revenue supports.

         If you're a past subscriber, please come back. If you're a current subscriber, you may extend your subscription, upgrade and extend, or give someone a gift. Your membership matters. Those small monthly charges smooth over the ups and downs of our seasonal year, and keep the excellent work flowing from us to you.

         Thank you for your participation and trust.

With love,

PS -- if you would prefer to speak with us by phone, please leave a message at (845) 481-5616 and we will get back to you shortly. If you want to email us a question about your options, you may do so here.

“I look out across the slumbering sea of humanity and I whisper these words in the night. And I know that I address a great being sleeping still in ignorance of itself. I know that if the wild winter winds of your communication systems send tatters or fragments of this message echoing in the darkness, it will still be to the unconscious that I speak. For the conscious have seen the sky start to brighten in the east and have felt the warming spring of eternal life begin to thaw the hardness of their preconceptions.”

— from The Starseed Transmissions