What’s up with media reform? Free Press is active on many fronts. Click on this video to hear Josh Silver’s two-minute message regarding many of the most pressing issues.
I’ve found Free Press to be a terrific organization providing numerous ways for thousands of journalists, citizens and citizen-journalists to exchange ideas for improvement of our news-gathering and publishing. I’ve attended the past three Free Press national conferences, each of which drew several thousand people. I highly recommend that you visit the Free Press website and get involved.
This was the third year I attended the National Conference for Media Reform sponsored by Free Press. This year’s conference was held in Minneapolis. As in previous media reform conferences, I was reminded about many of the hurdles faced by those American citizens who are attempting to get serious and coherent coverage of the news. By “news,” I mean the type of information that is critically important in order to prepare us to make good decisions as citizens (i.e., voting). One of the most distressing things one learns from attending the conference is that very little news is available to those watch local TV “news” and read their local “news”papers.
One of the fundamental principles of Free Press is that there cannot be a healthy democracy without a vigorous news media. The problem is that our news media is sickly, poisoned by rampant commercialism. The modern corporate media is over-consolidated to such an extent that it reflexively kowtows to political power and repeatedly refuses to challenge abuses of that power.
McChesney/Nichols - Part I
Topics covered in Part I:
Is the media reform movement paying too much attention to Bill O’Reilly and FOX?
The basic aims of the media reform movement.
More on Free Press and the reason for the media reform movement.
The problem with over-consolidation of the media.
Free Press stands for the proposition that there is no stark divide between journalists and citizens.
In 1964, Rudolph Dreikurs wrote a child psychology book that is still considered a classic by child psychologist: Children: the Challenge. Dreikurs argued that using punishments to change behavior is inefficient.
No amount of punishment will bring about lasting submission. Confused and bewildered parents mistakenly hope that punishment will eventually bring results, without realizing [...]
Salon’s Michael Grieve reports on Michael Copp’s address to the YearlyKos Convention. Copps, an FCC commissioner, addressed the YearlyKos Convention in Chicago:
a three-day gathering of about 1,500 bloggers and liberal activists. But his address was less a lecture than a call to action. “The country needs you, it needs a free press, it needs the [...]
I was recently provided with a copy of Tragedy and Farce: How the American Media Sells Wars, Spend Election’s, and Destroy Democracy, by John Nichols and Robert W. McChesney. Written in 2005, this book is a great way to get an historical perspective on the state of journalism in America. “How bad have things gotten?” [...]
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Email from my nephew: The FIRST Robotics Competition, while incredibly fun, involves quite a lot of work. In the six weeks from the announcement of the game to the day we shipped the robot, my team had to learn about and create the frame and the drive, electronics, and pneumatics systems suitable to playing the game well. The members of my team wh... »
Niklaus: I am also highly suspicious about cap and trade. It's an attempt to avoid making difficult decisions-to allow the "market" make the decisions. However, that "market" relies upon a highly inefficient and corruptible corp of investigators and regulators. When their is big money available, only a saint or a fanatic can keep the focus. ... »
Dan, There is a core group that are position to make billiions from the trade part of cap and trade. That profit would certainly come from the industries that be buying the credits, who would have to pass the added cost on to someone else, eventually trickling down to the consumer as price increases. The added expense would also reduce funding for ... »
"Thousands of protesters – many directing their anger squarely at President Barack Obama – marched through the nation's capital Saturday to urge immediate withdrawal of troops from Iraq and Afghanistan.""'Arrest that war criminal!' [Cindy] Sheehan shouted outside the White House before her arrest, referring to Obama."http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2... »
A lesbian high school student embroiled in a legal flap over her school's prom policy has received a $30,000 scholarship on "The Ellen DeGeneres Show." http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/03/19/ellen-gives-30000-to-cons_n_506465.html »
So those who are publicizing the knowledge of global warming are those few with enough money to do so; those who are already in a position to make back their expenses and then some. This is supposed to be a surprise?Cap and trade may do little in the short term. But the precedent of monetizing waste products will force people to consider the long t... »
Some suggestions for the Race-Other box: Indy 500 Tour de France Ironman Triathalon Rat Daytona 500 (or any other NASCAR event) Arms Three-legged Baja 1000 »
Dan, It would seem that way in a superficial sense, but the major proponents of anthropogenic CO2 as the major cause of global warming are those in a position to profit greatly from trading carbon credits as a commodity. The groundwork has already been laid for the open trading of carbon credits in commodity brokerages. The result of cap and trad... »
Aren't you making my argument? Shall we trust the results presented by the multi-trillion dollar fossil fuel industry, or those of the the struggling, liberal, independent "green" studies?Again, who has the money and profit motive to spin climate results? »
Naomi Klein discusses proposal of a highly influential Israeli think tank:"[T]he Reut Institute, arguably Israel's most influential think tank, published a very controversial report about "hubs of delegitimization." It attempted to equate tactics of non-violent resistance—like the growing movement to use Boycotts, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) to ... »
Double display product:"So, here's the worst idea I've heard all week: Lip gloss that lets everyone around you know you're horny. 'The saucy slap changes from clear to deep crimson as the wearer feels frisky,' reports The Sun. 'It works by reacting with a girl's body chemistry. And each £12 tube comes with a colour chart so men can work out how ran... »
From the Independent:"Five years of occupation have destroyed Iraq as a country. Baghdad is today a collection of hostile Sunni and Shia ghettoes divided by high concrete walls. Different districts even have different national flags. Sunni areas use the old Iraqi flag with the three stars of the Baath party, and the Shia wave a newer version, adopt... »
From the Daily Dish:"It's not exactly startling to see that Karl Rove has denied he was aware his own father was gay, even as he guided the GOP into anti-gay wedge politics in the last decade (the Christianists, he coolly calculated, had potentially way more votes for the GOP than gays and their families). But it is important to note that it is unt... »
"'Much to my surprise, the Islamic scriptures in the Quran were actually far less bloody and less violent than those in the Bible,' Jenkins says. Jenkins is a professor at Penn State University and author of two books dealing with the issue."http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=124494788 »
"To the list of the enemies threatening the security of the United States, the Pentagon has added WikiLeaks.org, a tiny online source of information and documents that governments and corporations around the world would prefer to keep secret."http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/18/us/18wiki.html »
Tim: My census arrived today (as you can see from my photos above). I did laugh at the note that accompanied the census:"Your answers will only be used for statistical purposes, and no other purpose."Understood, I think. But then tell me, U.S. government. How will those STATISTICS be used? As if a statistic is an end in itself . . . They trul... »
My parakeet was apparently trying to tell me that much of the census form was for the birds.I think my parakeet was most distressed by the "race" question. Me too. If the government can present even one thoughtful scientist who can explain that "race" is a meaning concept, I would be willing to enter some information. Until then, the "race" que... »
