by William Falcone

Created on: September 19, 2009   Last Updated: September 21, 2009

Poverty is not, in its essence, sexy enough to be newsworthy. It is a topic that is extremely depressing and involves..well, poor people. As the most overlooked group in the Unites States, the poor have the weakest voice politically. If they get a voice through a community action agency such as ACORN, there are forces in this country (typically corporate financed news media) that will attempt to demolish them as a legitimate group. This is being shown in current new accounts about the ACORN group. News accounts about internal corruption and illegal doings of a relative few.

This is a community group who, in reality, have done tremendous good for the poverty stricken of this country. Like any large organization, however (over 700 employees), they have a few bad apples, who likely do not take their work particularly serious. The number of these individuals may likely be 1% of their total work force.

An argument can be made that 1% of any corporation or government agency work force is also below standard and open to possible corruption. But because ACORN actually advocates for human rights, including voter registration and fair housing for poor people, they are demonized.

So with this scenario as a backdrop, what does make poverty an important new story? Pure, unadulterated human suffering, up close and personal, is the only manner in which poverty would be deemed newsworthy. It has happened in the past with major news networks broadcasting in African nations during droughts and periods of war.

It also has occurred in the U.S. during LBJ's "Great Society", a period of the expansion of the social safety net. A period of time when these programs were actually popular with the majority of Americans. Focus was given to poverty in Appalachia. Notice that the Appalachian mountain people were white. In general, poor white people sold better in LBJ's and today's America.

Unfortunately most poor whites in today's America are so blinded by politics of hate, that they fail to see their own predicaments. They are the "tea baggers" who advocate against their own best interests, such as a national health care insurance. So if poor whites have been hijacked by the corporate interests of the right wing, a true portrayal of their actual problems (such as poverty and lack of adequate health care) will not be displayed.

A few years back Katrina struck the Gulf coast with a vengeance flooding New Orleans. The scenes of Black people floating dead in the streets and waiting to be rescued on roof tops, for a moment, struck this country as an abomination. How could such neglect occur in this great nation? The wealthiest country in the world. It happened and for an instant, the effects of poverty were broadcast to the world.

So here lies the answer to the question at hand. A sensational story like the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina is what brings poverty to the forefront of news. The day to day stories of poor people does not sell in the cable dominated news networks of 2009. Sensationalism sells. Basic, common human suffering, in its bare essence, just is not sensational enough. And, finally, if a large portion of poor people (rural and southern whites) fail to advocate on their own behalf, the story of poverty will remain hidden, stolen by corporate and political interests.

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