American Idol is one of those television series that is fast becoming such an integral part of American culture, to the point that basic knowledge of it is practically an assumption. Now in its sixth season, it has defied the common trend of diminishing audiences and has in fact continued to grow in popularity. People enjoy being able to sit on their couch and judge the contestants, sending in a text message here and there to make their opinions known. It's fast, easy and you don't have to actually talk to anyone.
It's so successful that it makes me curious why politicians and news organizations haven't taken advantage of it. Imagine watching CNN and hearing about a new bill that you either strongly support or angrily oppose, and then seeing the telephone number of the legislator in question scroll across the screen. ""Text ‘YES' or ‘NO' to this Senator now, and let them know what you think!"" the scrollbar cries. You whip out your cell phone, spend 30 seconds typing in the number and the message and then settle back into your comfy chair feeling at last like a concerned, responsible citizen.
It would be wonderful if the average person was willing to expend the time and energy to write letters or call and talk to their representatives about the issues, but the simple fact is that most people are just plain unwilling to do so. Maybe they don't want to spend money on stamps, maybe they don't have the time to sit down and compose a letter (and find the appropriate address to send it to) or maybe they are intimidated by the idea of having to talk to a stranger about an important issue.
Whatever the reason, most people do not make a point of contacting their legislators to make their voices heard and instead leave their actions at the polls to essentially speak for themselves.
Some groups, like MoveOn.org, have attempted to tap into the relatively untouched resource that is the ordinary armchair citizen by giving people a way to share their views with their representatives with a few clicks of a button.
In some of their more successful campaigns, hundreds of thousands of emails were sent to various legislators, forcing government officials to take a closer look at what regular citizens were saying. MoveOn members recently proved to be a key asset in causing massive cuts to health and nutrition programs to be removed from the 2007 federal budget. It was a clear case of ordinary citizens spending a few extra seconds to contact their representatives and having a remarkable effect on federal policy.
Sure, it's not the way things were done in the old days, but times change and so do the ways to get involved in the government. Ours is supposed to be a government ‘by the People, for the People,' isn't it? No one said anything about ""except for those using cell phones, email, and text messaging.""
So why don't CNN, MSNBC and Fox News take advantage of that fact? Just like people enjoy American Idol because they can feel involved in the process, it stands to reason that they would get more out of a news program that gave them an easy way to respond and participate in the governance process as well.
Some might say that in a country where just a few immensely bloated corporations own almost all of the media, they may not be so keen on the idea of everyday citizens getting involved in what their government is doing, but a more optimistic view is that perhaps they just haven't thought of it yet.
If only we could text message them.
