I had to do nearly three hours of “it’s an energy crisis!” radio Thursday in Richmond–utterly untouched by the blackout. It was one of those strange media moments where clearly the national story was the surge on the Northeastern energy grid, and yet it had absolutely no impact on any of my listeners. Our microwaves and TV sets were working just fine, thank you.
It was a reminder to us Red Staters of just how much our media diet is controlled by the people who live in NYC and LA. For example, look at the volume of coverage for the CA recall. Yes, the recall issue has some reach, but for the vast majority of Americans, this is a story about California that literally has no connection to their lives.
But Hollywood is in California and CNN has a bureau there and so I, Joe Shmoe American, am forced to listen to the political theorizing of Gallagher and Gary Coleman.
What a great reminder the northeastern grid story is of the difference between reality and what appears on my cable news channel.