Pariah, Corporatist News, and Literacy, An Interview with Marty Duren

Gary Webb lived like a leper, ostracized by the very community of investigative story seekers of which he was apart now gutted by Corporatist interests. He was The Pariah. That was nineteen years ago. Little did he know his story would pave the way for Julian Assange and Edward Snowden, no less pariahs in  their own right.

The Gut Punch

54cfd2be6d139_-_esq-gary-4k5mn8-webbSometimes an event hits you with such force you feel it all over. Father Richard Rohr describes the Reformer in the Enneagram as taking in an injustice as a full-body blow. You feel it all the way down.

Marty Duren described his reading the story of Gary Webb and the vividness conveyed he had just been sucker punched. The family gathered to watch the Iran-Contra Hearings with a view to their hero, Oliver North. Now all these years later it seems as though such loyalty to the conservative political mythos serves more as warning than viewed forlornly.

The Fourth Estate

Late last Fall, of 2015, several friends encouraged Marty to find his muse. In fits and starts he re-imagined his voice in the reprising blog world. An emerging interest combined with an quest for truth resulted in a re-branded blog tagline, Kingdom in the Midst, and the planning of a new podcast, The Fourth Estate.

Recently Marty struck a balance with posts that sent his traffic soaring requiring a hosting adjustment. One such post ignited the fire that has yet to really let up.

Earlier this year, Marty began podcasting. He chose for his title, The Fourth Estate Podcast. It is his podcast that serves as the impetus for this week’s interview. One key interest for Marty is getting at the news. Much of what passes for news, no matter the source, comes filtered through Corporatists lens. The consequence is more soundbite news stories that play to an agenda laden set of talking points.

We discuss how Marty’s gut punch met his desire to pursue truth in the news.

Literacy Matters

Rather than simply rail about the ways our Facebook feeds us a steady diet based an algorithm based on same-same, Marty suggests reading long form pieces with well-developed arguments that trace to original sources. It takes work, but literacy matters.

Along the way we interject some interesting parallels, angles, for Christians who often get caught up sharing some of the most blatantly misleading and inaccurate stories.

Another Voice and Writer to Add To Your Regular Mix

Marty and I met years ago. Or, maybe it was in another life, not literally but figuratively. It is hard to say. What is clear is we hit it off quite well and certainly share common interests. Rather than suggest this is nothing more than the formation of a mutual admiration society via podcasting and blogging, though it would qualify as such, the aim here is to provide a resource for readers here at The Edge of the Inside to listen in to Marty’s podcast as a voice on the edge.

What edge? The way news-telling gets itself done today transcends ideological boundaries of the right and left. News sources from the Left and Right tell it less than straight and when it is slant it bears no resemblance to what either Emily Dickinson or Eugene Peterson had in mind. Instead it more resembles The Colbert Report‘s truthiness. Heading into the 2016 Election cycle it will be more and more important, should you choose to vote, to take great care to whom you listen.

Marty may provide a regular source to help distinguish fact from fiction.

Go over and subscribe to The Fourth Estate Podcast on iTunes or on Stitcher.

Image Credit: The Pariah

 

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About the Author
Husband to Patty. Daddy to Kimberly and Tommie. Grandpa Doc to Cohen, Max, Fox, and Marlee. Pastor to Snow Hill Baptist Church. Graduate of Oklahoma Baptist University and Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary. Reading. Photography. Golf. Colorado. Jeeping. Friend. The views and opinions expressed here are my own and should not be construed as representing the corporate views of the church I pastor.

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