Some of you out there may recall the Sunday alcohol debate in Starkville that began many decades ago and finally resulted in the city's government changing the law to allow businesses to sell it during hours allowed by state law.
The coverage by local media helped create an environment for more people in the area to support ending this dated blue law in a newly progressive Mississippi college town. Until recent years, Starkville's leaders would tar and feather supporters of Sunday alcohol in anti-Christian rhetoric with any mention of a push to change the law. Even during the public hearings shortly before the law changed here, one angry alderman said he would like to pass an ordinance requiring everyone in the city to attend church instead of supporting "this whiskey bill."
This summer I will take one of my remaining three graduate courses before graduating in December with my master's in public policy and administration from Mississippi State University. This summer course, "mass communication and politics," should make for a very interesting discussion on the intermingled connection between politics and media.
As a "recovering" journalist, I always find the interaction between media and politics fascinating. One of my right-wing friends, also a colleague at work and a lawyer, is a trusted devotee to Fox News personalities such as Glenn Beck and Bill O'Reilly. While I appreciate his insistence to stay informed in national events, I always get a kick out of him discussing with me what "your media hides." I readily admit that right-leaning media puts a different focus on news than some of the traditional news organizations. Different perspectives can help provide a more nuanced and broader perspective to our world. While I may have my own perspective on issues, I've always welcomed different viewpoints to help gain insight into what others think.
Locally, left and right politics often blur and media can help shade them often as much as national stories can shape public opinion. Case in point, my right-wing buddy and I joined forces a few years ago to lead the grassroots effort to change Starkville's law related to alcohol. While changing the law was the right thing to do in Starkville, arguably it still may not have passed without favorable news coverage.
This article helped contextualize the Sunday alcohol debate and was picked up by national media, including Forbes.com. It's written from my perspective, a rational-minded fellow who wanted to bring his city out of the Sunday prohibition era.
Here's another piece about Starkville Sunday alcohol that aired on Mississippi public radio.
As informed citizens, it's our job to view everything we see through a critical lens. But in a world of constant tweets and information overload, who has time to actually think?
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