[Photo by the author of a man waiting near a cafe in San Jose, California, circa 1970]
By Jesus Manuel Mena Garza
Babies get their food strained through a filter. That is also how we get most of our news. Like meat transformed into broth, our news is made easy to digest. Our news is filtered into neat 8-second sound bites or a paragraph on page 3.
Today, much of my news comes from Washington D.C., then it makes a stop in New York before getting filtered by a Los Angeles affiliate. It eventually finds its way to my home in Redlands. Yes, news zigs then zags across the country before we consume it.
During the 50s like today, news and information traveled from the East Coast and Los Angeles before making a critical stop in San Francisco. Only then would this valuable commodity be piped to San Jose. At an early age, I would watch San Francisco news broadcasts and wonder if San Jose actually existed. I came to the realization that the de facto power in Northern California was San Francisco even though San Jose would become larger and wealthier.
The city by the bay is a national power because it is the electronic media superstar of Northern California. The major national affiliates CBS, NBC, ABC, UPN, WB and PBS are located in San Francisco. San Jose has to settle for national and local news filtered though San Francisco. This inordinate concentration of radio and television stations in the hands of San Francisco translates into incredible clout.
The Bay Area is the fifth largest media market in the nation. San Francisco's clout is evident when you turn on the radio or television. You get the distinct impression San Francisco is the only city in the Bay Area. The opinions, desires and dreams of San Franciscans are manifest daily. Local anchors nary utter a word about San Jose. Lazy San Francisco reporters are notorious for sticking to their comfortable haunts and not packaging many stories about Silicon Valley.
The San Francisco sycophants rather publicize the antics of then Mayor Willie Brown and now Mayor Gavin Newsom. The clown prince of politics Willie Brown blossomed into a national figure with the help of local media. Another result of San Francisco biased media is that the two U.S. Senators for California are closely associated with San Francisco. Diane Feinstein and Barbara Boxer both have strong ties too and offices in San Francisco.
San Francisco based media offers a powerful springboard for the aspirations of Fog City politicos. From this electronic spigot political power flows. When the FCC issued licenses for electronic media over a half a century ago, San Francisco was the only major market city in the Bay Area. But with the advent of the computer chip and the growth of Silicon Valley, San Jose has blossomed. But this newfound wealth has fallen on deaf ears. San Jose politicians don't have this great electric soapbox at their disposal. On the other hand, Gavin Newsom is a regular on the boob tube. He invariably will run for Governor or Senator on the basis of his name recognition alone.
It takes 40 minutes to drive from San Jose to San Francisco. The South Bay's large Chicano population is in the wrong place to get their growing voices heard. Even though Chicanos in San Jose have gained a strong foothold in city government, including the Mayorship, they are limited by the myopic vision of San Francisco Media. They are relegated to the role of being country bumpkins from the southland. The San Jose Chicano political and cultural scene is ignored by the media in favor of the more flamboyant tourist oriented Latino events of San Francisco.
Annually a half million people converge on downtown San Jose to celebrate Cinco de Mayo. Here city leaders can see vividly their constituents. They have become aware that Chicanos are a potent force to contend with in Silicon Valley. The sons and daughters of farm workers, cannery workers and laborers are now leaders in the South Bay.
More than a decade ago, County Supervisor and Congressional candidate Zoe Lofgren was named Grand Marshall for the annual Chicano Festival and Parade. It was tantamount to an endorsement by the Chicano event organizer, the G. I. Forum. Lofgren sat in the VIP section in the bleachers and was given a crucial venue to speak from. In the crowd was former mayor Tom McEnery. He was limited to a brief mention and responded with a pathetic wave. Even though McEnery was an important political leader and the front-runner, Chicanos turned the tide for Lofgren.
San Francisco based media ignores these San Jose stories. Apparently only San Francisco based politicians and their cronies merit any form of media attention. How can a candidate from San Jose compete with their San Francisco contemporaries for state wide or regional office when it comes to name recognition?
KRON, KPIX, KGO and KQED eagerly cover every squabble or innuendo at San Francisco City Hall. San Jose might as well be a thousand miles away in the eyes of San Francisco media. Chicanos are again disappointed when they are left out of camera range. The role of shunned outsider is too familiar to Raza. Chicanos are out of the political loop in favor of smaller San Francisco groups.
San Jose suffers in comparison to the city by the bay when it comes to tourism. San Jose doesn't have a Golden Gate Bridge, China Town or an Alcatraz. When the Goodyear Blimp flies over a 49er or Giant game, the city gains prestige. With every tourist grabbing image San Francisco gets free publicity.
Those shots are impossible in a less touristy San Jose. The Sharks hockey games aren't great fodder for aerials even with their new modern indoor stadium. When you think of San Francisco you think of shopping, museums and restaurants. San Jose has to find solace in being warmer, cleaner and having better parking.
Being so close to a tourist Mecca leaves precious little airtime for San Jose. San Francisco media does not cover even the largest San Jose events. Every summer San Jose attracts over a million revelers to free concerts and festivals in downtown. But invariably these events get minimal exposure by San Francisco media. Again, smaller events in San Francisco get the lion's share of attention.
San Francisco in September is magnificent. The views from atop Coit Tower are spectacular. But this tranquility is rudely interrupted by hundreds of homeless people accosting you in downtown. Near Union Square there are dozens of panhandlers per block.
Although not perfect, San Jose has far less people living on the streets. The problem of open drug use, prostitution and street violence is rampant in San Francisco. Every year hundreds of people die in the streets and alleys of San Francisco according to the latest statistics of social services. Men, women and children die from overdoses, some by exposure; others are shot by out of control youths. San Francisco is famous for its drug culture. On any given day in the Haight-Ashbury District you can find youths openly panhandling for money to buy heroin. They later shoot up and sleep in Golden Gate Park.
The murder rate was nearly three times higher in San Francisco compared to San Jose in 2005*. This is due in large part to the liberal but not progressive policies of city hall. San Francisco has a population under 750,000 while San Jose has nearly a million inhabitants. The painful statistics scream for change, but is anybody listening.
San Francisco Media has become numb to this pathetic onslaught. The image of the homeless person with pneumonia isn't broadcast before the 49er games. Rather images of a fog-shrouded Golden Gate Bridge are beamed to millions of households across the country. The heroin addict in the Tenderloin or the Haight is ignored in favor of a beautiful tight shot of San Francisco's ubiquitous Cable Cars. Invariably the vague liberal policies of city hall ring hollow to the poor and abandoned. San Francisco is a beautiful city, but San Jose in my opinion is a much saner place to live. Let San Francisco corporate media filter that fact. They have plenty of experience.
*Link to SF 2005 Murder Rate: http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_364151544.html
*Link to SJ 2005 Murder Rate: http://cbs5.com/local/local_story_364151943.html
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