Getting Those Activist Juices Flowing Again

Ever since the Oklahoma City bombing, there’s been an awful lot of publicity and finger pointing regarding Web sites that promote extreme conservatism and membership in right-wing militia and hate groups.

And as the Web gained in popularity, commentators noted how adept radio host Rush Limbaugh and the Christian right had become at using the Internet as well as television, phone banks and other media to present the case for conservatism.

In fact, a visit to the Rush Limbaugh page (https://www.rushonline.com) shows off a well-done, fun destination whether you like or detest Limbaugh, and there are plenty of connections to other conservative sites, including the Conservative Link (https://www.powerpark.com/bmdesign/TCL/). It’s easy to find conservative sites.

But what about the left? If the Net truly is a citizens’ chorus of discordant voices, why don’t we easily find substantial digital representation from the left?

So I went on an Internet safari. Indeed, there are sites aplenty for those who would be drafted into campaigns for environmental causes, for feminist rights, for international human rights drives.

But generally, to find them, you do have to search, because these are not sites that carry a lot of advertising or referrals.

There is a page of activist referrals by Fen Labalme in the “Think List” archives in https://www.CoMedia.com that can take visitors to the Bay Area Progressive Calendar (https://www.emf.net/-cheetham/cal.html), the Human Rights Web page (https://shell3.ba.best.com/~hrweb/) or the Men’s Issues page (https://www.vix.com/pub/men).

Michael Barndt, who spent his sabbatical from the University of Wisconsin studying progressive causes, links visitors to many sites he researched. A more complete list of links is displayed in the Clearinghouse of Social Sciences and Social Issues at https://www.clearinghouse.com

In all honesty, these are sites whose ability to generate excitement is one step above that of the phone book. They basically consist of lists or text. And they are extremely serious in tone.

Then I hit the Interactivism site at https://www.interactivism.com

Now, this is a site to get the activist juices flowing--or, if you can’t stand liberal causes, to inspire you to want to work hard against those supporting the “L” word.

The site sparkles with inviting graphics (even though legibility is sometimes a problem), a sense of timeliness and a potpourri of alerts that at once call the faithful to the front lines and mock the seriousness of so much in public life.

Click on one button and the site sends a free fax to the ad agency promoting the use of Joe Camel in tobacco ads. Call up the pulsing icon and a message goes to Kodak and Bethlehem Steel about what the site’s authors see as the poisoning of waterways from the disposal of industrial wastes. Press again to tell the National Security Council that U.S. officials should be working harder to arrest alleged war criminals in Bosnia. The forms leave room for personalization.

There are letters about the site displayed as well, and they indicate that viewership is not limited to dedicated leftists. For example: “Thank you for being online. I am so pleased that the Net is a liberal arts medium,” says one letter. “Talk is cheap, and so is phony empathy! It is my money that the liberal establishment wants to waste,” says another.

David Fenton of Washington, a co-founder of Interactivism and a publicist for progressive causes, explained in a phone interview: “We believe traditional political involvement has crumbled, but not the human desire to speak out. It is easy to speak out on the Net.”

He added, “We believe in the dialogue.”

Another more recognizable site is the Mother Jones site, a reflection of the magazine of the same name, at https://www.motherjones.com. It includes articles, graphics and referrals and invites issues and actions. It is a little more staid and in line with what one expects from an established brand-name publisher.

On reflection, I think Interactivism is a site that reminds us that social participation is a cause for debate and a prompt to act. It is an intellectual destination that reminds us of what the high ideals are for the Internet.

“The Net offers us a chance to aggregate voices,” says Fenton, the Interactivism co-founder. “It is my hope that we can offer some help to that, to keep disparate voices of progressive thinking from being weakened because there is no single place to gather.”

Terry Schwadron is deputy managing editor of The Times and oversees latimes.com, its Web site. He can be reached via e-mail at terry.schwadron@latimes.com