One of Lee Camp’s Best: 15 things you don’t hear on the corporate media
Here's one of Lee Camp's Best: 15 things you don't hear on the corporate media
Obama Administration officially criminalizes investigative journalism
Stunning new development regarding the Obama administration's war on journalism, and this is not hyperbole. What follows is an excerpt from Glenn Greenwald's analysis:
Under US law, it is not illegal to publish classified information. That fact, along with the First Amendment's guarantee of press freedoms, is what has prevented the US government from ever prosecuting journalists for reporting on what the US government does in secret. This newfound theory of the Obama DOJ - that a journalist can be guilty of crimes for "soliciting" the disclosure of classified information - is a means for circumventing those safeguards and criminalizing the act of investigative journalism itself. These latest revelations show that this is not just a theory but one put into practice, as the Obama DOJ submitted court documents accusing a journalist of committing crimes by doing this.
That same "solicitation" theory, as the New York Times reported back in 2011, is the one the Obama DOJ has been using to justify its ongoing criminal investigation of WikiLeaks and Julian Assange: that because Assange solicited or encouraged Manning to leak classified information, the US government can "charge [Assange] as a conspirator in the leak, not just as a passive recipient of the documents who then published them."
[T]he point of the unprecedented Obama war on whistleblowers and press freedoms: to ensure that the only information the public can get is information that the Obama administration wants it to have. That's why Obama's one-side games with secrecy - we'll prolifically leak when it glorifies the president and severely punish all other kinds - is designed to construct the classic propaganda model. And it's good to see journalists finally speaking out in genuine outrage and concern about all of this.
Amber Lyons reveals how CNN “news” coverage is bought
Amber Lyons recently lost her job as a reporter for CNN. The problem is that she is a reporter who simply reports what she sees, and lets the chips fall where they may. This is much too inconvenient for CNN, which allows subjects of news reports buy favorable coverage. Let that sink in. Here is an eleven minute video where Lyons reveals the extent of the problem, referring to the censorship of her reports regarding the regime in U.S.-ally Bahrain. Her message is even much broader, however, and applies to the willingness of the lapdog media to encourage needless war against Iran. This is really eye-opening information. This story also points to the incredible importance of preserving net neutrality, because you won't hear about this mainstream media corruption on the mainstream media.
Unjustified take-downs in the news
Good article by Public Citizen's "Consumer Law & Policy Blog" regarding recent unjustified take-downs. This is going to be a more and more prominent issue. It is one reason I have my own blog, because I don't trust private for-profit companies like Facebook to give me (or anyone) free rein to express critically important political ideas.
Congress votes to keep you in the dark regarding the funding behind political ads
Dear Erich, With their bottomless reserve of lobbyists and money, broadcasters are betting they can muscle their way into Congress and reverse a victory that tens of thousands of us fought hard to win. And their bet has just paid off. A House Appropriations Subcommittee slipped a provision into the draft budget that strips the FCC of the ability to disclose political ad spending on TV stations. Moments ago that subcommittee voted to pass it! We need your help right now to stop Congress from selling out our democracy: Demand Your Right to Know. Don't Let Congress Kill Transparency. In April, the FCC adopted new rules that require broadcasters to make their political advertising files available online. The decision was an enormous victory for anyone hoping to shed light on the shadowy groups and Super PACs that are inundating local airwaves with misleading political ads.1 Yet as with any hard-won reform in the age of big-money politics, this change is being attacked by unscrupulous members of Congress who answer to fat-cat media lobbyists. The National Association of Broadcasters paid lobbyists nearly $14 million in 2011. And it's spending millions more this year on campaign contributions to Congress. But that's a drop in the bucket compared to over $3 billion in political ad revenues that television stations stand to rake in this election cycle. It's clear that the broadcast industry is pulling out all the stops to bury information about political ad spending on the public airwaves. What's more appalling is that some elected officials are willing to help them do it. Please sign this letter to your members of Congress to demand that they serve the public and not media lobbyists. In the post-Citizens United era, we can't let broadcasters hide their political profits. With the help of you and your friends we can kill this before it reaches the Senate. Thanks for taking action, Tim, Candace and the rest of the Free Press Action Fund team P.S. Last month's victory against commercial broadcasters was a milestone in the fight for accountable media. We defied every ounce of conventional wisdom in Washington by proving that activists, bloggers, consumer advocates and everyday people can join forces with Free Press to defeat a corporate agenda. Help us protect that victory. Contribute to the Free Press Action Fund now. Thank you! 1. Timothy Karr, "Reform in the Age of Corporate Lawyers," Huffington Post, June 6, 2012.