San Diego Media Justice

Josh Fox, producer of Gasland documentary, arrested on Capital Hill

2012-02-02T07:24:00.000-08:00

Republicans afraid of press providing much needed transparency. Watch the documentary: Gasland

Josh Fox, meanwhile, has issued the following statement to the press:

I was arrested today for exercising my First Amendment rights to freedom of the press on Capitol Hill. I was not expecting to be arrested for practicing journalism. Today's hearing in the House Energy and Environment subcommittee was called to examine EPAs findings that hydraulic fracturing fluids had contaminated groundwater in the town of Pavillion, Wyoming. I have a long history with the town of Pavillion and its residents who have maintained since 2008 that fracking has contaminated their water supply. I featured the stories of residents John Fenton, Louis Meeks and Jeff Locker in GASLAND and I have continued to document the catastrophic water contamination in Pavillion for the upcoming sequel GASLAND 2. It would seem that the Republican leadership was using this hearing to attack the three year Region 8 EPA investigation involving hundreds of samples and extensive water testing which ruled that Pavillion's groundwater was a health hazard, contaminated by benzene at 50x the safe level and numerous other contaminants associated with gas drilling. Most importantly, EPA stated in this case that fracking was the likely cause. As a filmmaker and journalist I have covered hundreds of public hearings, including Congressional hearings. It is my understanding that public speech is allowed to be filmed. Congress should be no exception. No one on Capitol Hill should regard themselves exempt from the Constitution. The First Amendment to the Constitution states explicitly "Congress shall make no law...that infringes on the Freedom of the Press". Which means that no subcommittee rule or regulation should prohibit a respectful journalist or citizen from recording a public hearing. This was an act of civil disobedience, yes done in an impromptu fashion, but at the moment when they told me to turn off the cameras, I could not. I know my rights and I felt it was imperative to exercise them. When I was led out of the hearing room in handcuffs, John Boehner's pledge of transparency in congress was taken out with me. The people of Pavillion deserve better. The thousands across the US who have documented cases of water contamination in fracking areas deserve their own hearing on Capitol hill. They deserve the chance to testify in before Congress. The truth that fracking contaminates groundwater is out, and no amount of intimidation tactics --either outright challenges to science or the arrest of journalists --will put the genie back in the bottle. Such a brazen attempt to discredit and silence the EPA, the citizens of Pavillion and documentary filmmaking will ultimately fail and it is an affront to the health and integrity of Americans. Lastly, in defense of my profession, I will state that many many Americans get their news from independent documentaries. The hill should immediately move to make hearings and meetings accessible to independent journalists and not further obstruct the truth from being reported in the vivid and in depth manner that is only achievable through long form documentary filmmaking. I will be thinking on this event further and will post further thoughts and developments. I have been charged with "unlawful entry" and my court date is February 15.
Josh Fox Washington D.C. 2/1/12

Looks like good reporting can make a difference

2012-01-16T01:37:00.000-08:00

Last week This American Life ran a show about Apple's dirty little secret: Slave Labor. This week Apple changed it's tune, but its not enough. More...

There's news from Apple today, relating to some of the issues discussed in our program last week “Mr. Daisey and the Apple Factory.”

For the first time, Apple has released a list of companies that build its products around the world. In another first, the company also announced that it will allow an independent third party to check on working conditions at those factories, and to make its findings public.

We don’t know that our show inspired these moves from Apple, but both of the changes are things that Mike Daisey called for in Act Two of our episode.

Apple announced these changes today when it released its latest Supplier Responsibility Progress Report, which the company has published every year since 2007. In the past, the reports have typically come out in February.

The organization that will oversee independent audits of Apple’s assemblers is a nonprofit called the Fair Labor Association, which already checks on suppliers for other American companies, including Nike, New Balance, and Adidas. Apple is the first technology company to work with the FLA. Apple says it will "open its supply chain" to the FLA, who will do unannounced factory visits. It will do these without coordinating with Apple, and will then post the results on its website.

“It’s a level of transparency and independent oversight that is unmatched in our industry,” Apple wrote in its progress report.

That said, this isn’t actually what Mike was asking for at the end of our show. While Apple is listing the names of its suppliers, it still does not identify which facilities it found to have work standard violations.

It gets even deeper, they workers in China have threatened MASS SUICIDE if working conditions don't change.

Moyers is Back

2012-01-10T14:33:00.000-08:00

Common Dreams reports that Bill Moyers will be back on American Public Television. video platform video management video solutions video player

The Bankers made more in the last three years of the Obama Presidency than they did in all eight years under President G.W. Bush.

Live Streaming Video is the Key to Accountablity

2012-01-05T21:40:00.000-08:00

Live Streaming As Activism

Live streaming, the act of broadcasting a video to the internet in close to real time, is quickly becoming a staple tool of twenty-first century protestors. From Occupy Wall Street to the Egypt election last week to the Russian election this week, activists use cell phones as weapons of transparency: not only documenting but broadcasting events as they happen. Brooke talks to Mans Adler, founder of live streaming platform Bambuser.

from On The Media - Bambuser.com - the Sweeds are so far ahead of Hollywood.

The authorities can't confiscate your phone unless they confiscate everyone's phones, even their own, and that will destroy their own ability to communicate, rendering them useless.

News is 'interpreted' information, this is RAW TRUTH from as many perspectives as possible.

MediaShift: 5Across: Monthly from PBS, MetaMedia

2011-12-27T19:24:00.000-08:00

Watch 5Across: Social Media Marketing on PBS. See more from MediaShift.

http://video.pbs.org/program/mediashift/

Chris Anderson: Independently Organized TED

2011-11-29T02:47:00.001-08:00

Step Up YOUR Game!Crowd = Innovators, Commenters, Trend-Spotters, Skeptics, Mavericks, Cheer-Leaders, Super Spreaders
Light = Show Yourself to the World, Radical Openness, Open Source Everything
Desire = Social Status, Sex, Money, Credit (or something else)

It is a Rue-Goldberg Machine, YOU are the teachers, Inventor, Mentor, Sustainability Champion

Organize your own Independent TED - Many to Many, No CENSORS

Money corrupts, absolute money corrupts absolutely.

2011-11-26T16:33:00.000-08:00

There is a saying in politics and journalism: "If you are pissing everyone off, you must be doing something right." Unfortunately, in both of these occupations, success = popularity. Thus, if you want to make money at either, you must not do anything right.

This is why all politics and journalism should be non-commercial, non-profit ventures. You should not go into public service for the money, and you should not become a truth-teller for profit.

Why the #99% will win — Eric Byler Speech at US Capitol

2011-11-06T09:49:00.000-08:00

We now have the tools to defeat the 1%, we can counter their propaganda, stop them from filtering the our story. These tools were bequeathed to us by our forefathers. - Eric Byler of the Coffee Party

Can the Coffee Party Create Civil Dialog

2011-10-30T10:11:00.000-07:00

I have a question: Is C-SPAN, Cable-Satellite Public Affairs Network, a privately owned for profit corporation, or does it provide us with good independent journalism? "And yet, we gave this guest 43 minutes!" - C-Span Host in response.

We need to confront those in Washington D.C as Americans, not as Left or Right, but as Americans, and ask them why they are so untrustworthy. We have no confidence. We have a TRUST-Deficit. Watch this 43 minute Interview with Anabel Park of the Coffee Party and see what a real patriot looks like.

We must respect the politics of those who disagree with us.

http://www.citizensintervention.com

Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission

Now you can join Occupy San Diego

2011-10-29T09:20:00.001-07:00

MIC CHECK! -- MIC CHECK!

We are setting up a single master announce list for Occupy San Diego. This is the first email from this list.
The intention is to sent out about one email per day to give you the latest news and announcements we know about.
I think you'll agree we need to improve our communication. Your job is to check your email so you are informed.

So far, we have about 800+ subscribers.
To subscribe or unsubscribe go here: http://lists.citizensoversight.org/mailman/listinfo/occupysd
If you are not sure (i.e. if you get from a different list) please resubscribe (it can't hurt!)

If you have:
    > lists of emails that should be subscribed
    > events or notices that should be included
    > needs or wants to request from our supporters
    > specific requests for volunteers
SEND TO: raylutz@citizensoversight.org (Media Committee Member)
   and we'll work to get that information included in this daily update.

DISCLAIMER! Although we will do our best to make sure this list of events is accurate, changes may
occur frequently! Please check your email daily to make sure and also the various web sites.
(Listed at the bottom of this email).

============================================================
NEWS

51 Protesters arrested last night, supplies confiscated.
Police cleared both Civic Center Plaza and Children's Park toting billy clubs and riot gear.
Occupy San Diego is EXTREMELY disappointed at the illegal violation or our first amendment rights!

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h8514Fd21eQ -- POLICE ADVANCE
    http://obrag.org/?p=48043
    http://www.sdcitybeat.com/sandiego/blog-565-51-arrested-at-occupy-san-diego.html
Video of actions by Occupy San Diego this morning:
    http://youtu.be/USoiNA7YpP0

We will be working to get these protesters released and our gear returned.

============================================================
ANNOUNCEMENTS

FRIDAY, 2011-10-28
Meet at 6 p.m. at Children's Park (Harbor Drive between First and Front Streets) and march by 7 p.m. to the Civic Center.
The all night vigil will begin at 8 p.m. See below:

From Jerry N. Tomaszewicz, Jr., Executive Assistant to Secretary-Treasurer & CEO Lorena Gonzalez / Field Organizer
San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council, AFL-CIO

"As you may have heard, San Diego's Police Chief decided to crack down on Occupy San Diego Protesters last night - and raided the Civic Center Plaza. The San Diego and Imperial Counties Labor Council will continue with our plans to bring attention to the economic crisis a majority of Americans are facing, by assembling at the Civic Center tonight!"

ALL NIGHT VIGIL
Occupy San Diego
San Diego Civic Center
1200 B Street (Intersection of 3rd and B Streets)
TONIGHT - BEGINNING AT 8 PM

Stay as long as you can, but please be there at 8 p.m. Bring warm clothes, we will bring pizza and water.

===================================
MONDAY, 2011-10-31
Occupy San Diego Monster March
March from Balboa Park to the Gaslamp to highlight frightening facts about corruption in America’s financial and political systems

Occupy San Diego will lead a Halloween march through downtown San Diego to promote social justice, honesty, and generosity.
With costumes, street theatre, and candy, Occupy San Diego will rally at 5:00pm at the Haunted Trail Entrance in Balboa Park (6th & Juniper, just south of the Laurel Street Bridge).

March starts at 5:30pm from the Haunted Trail Entrance and will walk to the Civic Center, to Children’s Park, the Haunted Hotel, and ending in the Gaslamp Quarter.
===================================
TUESDAY, 2011-11-01
San Diego City Council Meeting
10 AM -- We must continue to demand that the city of San Diego endorse the OCCUPY SAN DIEGO protest the same why the cities of Los Angeles, Orange, San Francisco, and Irvine have done. PLEASE ARRIVE EARLY TO GET A SEAT. We have asked them to place this on the agenda, and they have not.
We were given ONE three minute time period to talk about OCCUPY SD during public comment. In Irvine, they allowed 72 speakers and 5.5 hours to hear the concerns of the pubic, and they finally agreed to formally endorse the protest actions. SAN DIEGO MUST DO THE SAME!
SIGN PETITION TO CITY COUNCIL HERE: http://www.copswiki.org/Common/OccupySanDiego

===================================
LINKS AND REFERENCES
Facebook Community Page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Occupy-San-Diego/198003106936678
Facebook group page: http://www.facebook.com/groups/164668860284106/
http://occupysandiego.org/ -- (OB Rag site.)
http://occupysandiegoca.wordpress.com/ -- News
http://occupysd.weebly.com/ -- Backup website
http://www.facebook.com/groups/occupymiramesa/
SEND THIS LINK AND TELL OTHERS TO SUBSCRIBE: http://lists.citizensoversight.org/mailman/listinfo/occupysd

===================================
THANK YOU FOR BEING INVOLVED.
--Ray Lutz

Occupy San Diego stands up to defend the First Amendment

2011-10-27T23:11:00.000-07:00

We have been occupying the Civic Center for 19 days. Today we attended the San Diego City Council meeting for the second time in two weeks, again asking the City Council to pass a resolution supporting our occupation, as the City of LA did for Occupy Los Angeles. Last week we asked the Council to put Occupy San Diego on the agenda. They did not. So we were again limited to the public discussion portion of the meeting, which only gives 3 minutes to any individual topic. Individuals from our occupation signed up to discuss various topics related to Occupy San Diego, such as the people’s library, sanitation and health, the evolution of Democracy, free speech and the first amendment.One of our occupiers Jersey, got up to speak on the topic of Occupy San Diego in general. She called a mic check and about 50 of us delivered the message through a people’s mic. This is what we said:

I am Michelle Doich, I usually go by 'Jersey'. I am a concerned citizen, a college graduate, a tax-payer, and a full time employee of the City of San Diego, an activist, part of the working-class, part of the 99%, and an Occupier of San Diego.Last week I was maced and brutalized by the San Diego Police Department, at the Civic Center, while peacefully protesting for our right to Free Speech and our right to Assemble, and Petition the Government for Redress of Grievances. Our right to Protest has been destroyed by the City. SDPD have taken our tents, medical equipment, books, food, sanitation resources and property, sleeping bags and physically brutalized and arrested protesters. You have the power to protect community members and our right to protest. Protect us from violence and aggression. (she then turned to the crowd an used the Human Microphone)Mic check. We represent the Occupy San Diego protest. Our protest is protected by our constitutional rights. You took an oath to uphold our constitution. Therefore we request that you respect and uphold our right under the 1st Ammendment of our Constitution. Please endorse our peaceful protest action against undue corporate or monetary influence on our government. The Los Angeles City Council adopted a resolution supporting the Occupy Los Angeles protest. We want the same respect here and from you. Similar to LA our protest will have tents, canopies, power ad portable restrooms. We will continue to have a medical tent, food, educational materials and media support. We will continue to Occupy Civic Center plaza and expansion park areas. We asked you to place this item on the agenda at the last meeting. You did not, so we ask you again. Here is a copy of the proposed resolution. Please call a special meeting to propose this agenda item immediately. Under the Brown Act you can discuss this and place it on the agenda now. If you do not place it on your agenda we will accept this as consent to our protest, and plan for our constitutional rights. Again if you do not place this on the future agenda at this time we will accept your passive consent to reoccupy the Civic Center Plaza and Children’s Park and your action will be evidence of your support of our constitutional rights.

Before she finished her speech she was interrupted by council member Tony Young that her time was up. Jersey finished anyhow. After she was done speaking the crowd started chanting “we are the 99%” and “support us now.” In response the council exited the room and ended the council meeting, even though we had 45 minutes of open public time left. Council member Marti Emerald stayed and seemed to be encouraging her colleagues to stay. We thank her that out.Occupy San Diego will continue attempting to get our proposal on the docket for the City Council meeting.

Video of the people’s mic at the City Council meeting and the council walking out on the people – http://blip.tv/citizensoversight/20111025-occupysd-at-san-diego-city-council-5676399
If you live in San Diego, write your council member and ask them to support the First Amendment for citizens of San Diego, http://www.sandiego.gov/citycouncil/
Let them know that other cities already have passed resolutions to support free speech. http://www.occupy-oc.org/tears-stream-as-city-council-unanimously-agrees-occupy-tents-are-a-form-of-speech/#.TqihL4wMCE-.facebook
See the resolution and sign the Petition at COPS Wiki http://www.CopsWiki.org/Common/OccupySanDiego

The Most Important Free Speech Issue of Our Time

2011-09-28T04:00:00.000-07:00

“There are two forms of the "Future Changing Force" of prediction

. One is the "Self-Fulfilling Prophecy", such as the doomsday religions, and the other is "Crisis Averted Warning" of soothsayer and science-fiction fame.

The "Network Neutrality" debate is made by those who understand the danger of information technology and the power and profits to be made in controlling media. We are not predicting the end of the world, just a lesser world than could be, if corporations are allowed to own the means of communication.

It always strikes me as paradoxically ironic that those 'business people' who want to 'limit government regulation' are perfectly willing to form corporations, which are of course legal fictions created by government regulation to limit their personal responsibility.

If the debate is between corporate ownership of internet communication and government monopoly of internet communications, then we don't win either way. But that is what the corporate owned media is pushing in its propaganda. The real debate is between private or public ownership of the media.

Without equal access to information, without fair public access, we have no democracy.”

- Blogger/Commentator, Michael E. Russell on "The Most Important Free Speech Issue of our Time" in the HuffingtonPost by U.S. Senator - Al Franken, dealing with the Network Neutrality Debate, 2011

This comment got me 25 Fans on HuffingtonPost. When I came across it 10 months later, I thought it was a brilliant quote, but I didn't recognize it as my own writing. It seems too clear and well said to be me, yet HuffingtonPost has no reason to lie. I've never experienced this before. Every other time I've re-read my old writing after enough time to forget, I thought it was shit. I must be getting better.

Politifest 2011 for the rest of us.

2011-09-18T23:45:00.000-07:00

By Scott Lewis

voiceofsandiego.org has inspired people across the country to launch various projects similar to it. The crisis in the news industry brought on by struggling newspapers and a sour economy has made communities everywhere anxious about the future of local news, investigative journalism and civic discourse.

Some of those projects that followed our lead have become so successful that they're now teaching us a thing or two.

One of the things they taught us is that we needed to put together a big event.

Not long ago it occurred to us that San Diego — which is so good at putting on festivals for the arts, food, neighborhoods and culture — needed a festival for public affairs. It needed a field day-type setting where people could gather to talk about the future of the city but in an atmosphere where the kids would have something to do, where beer and good food might be had and where serious topics were treated seriously but where we also might have a laugh.

We all do want to make this place better, no matter how much we disagree sometimes. Why not build an event around that?

The idea for Politifest 2011 became real when a couple of visionary sponsors agreed it was worth a try. I'm writing to ask you to join us Saturday (details below).

More than 80 political groups and nonprofits have confirmed they'll have a booth at Politifest (check out our program guide) — from right wing to left wing to no wing, media, authors, humanitarian groups, candidates and parties, they will represent our diverse civic discussion unlike any event I've been to recently.

The mayoral debate is set. The Idea Tournament — an American Idol-style contest pitting almost 50 contestants and their ideas against each other — has generated so much buzz we moved it to the center stage and even one of the top mayoral candidates called repeatedly asking to get a spot in the tournament in addition to his debate.

We followed through with our promise to make it family friendly. Thanks to the San Diego County Taxpayers Association, we have a bounce house and we'll have kids activities including hippity-hop races and tugs of war (I think we might even have some adults in on one of those). SeaWorld and the Chula Vista Nature Center are bringing some of their furry friends at which the kids can gawk.

And there will be beer: Thanks to Stone Brewing Co., a beer garden and band will be ready. Right nearby, our beloved voiceofsandiego.org members will have lunch courtesy of Donovan's Steak & Chop House. Fine food trucks and other vendors are lined up.

NBC 7 San Diego and its many talented reporters and anchors are helping us run the show. Best of all, for some of you, might be the news that I and some of our most provocative reporters will sit for a turn in the dunk tank. NBC's news director, Greg Dawson has agreed to take a turn as well. If you've been dying to take out some aggression on the news world, you'll have no better chance than Saturday.

I got an angry note from a reader this week who was offended by this "circus." He said that "politics isn't fun! Politics, like being a good mother, is a hard job, requiring discipline, motivation and self-sacrifice, not FUN."

We are in a depression, he said. It's the wrong time for this.

I wrote him back and respectfully disagreed. We're in a deep recession because people aren't confident enough to invest, to take risks, to try out ideas, to share information and to fix problems. We won't solve this by sitting at home and grumbling. We won't get people engaged by holding exclusive, serious debates, reserved for only the select few who can get away on a Thursday evening.

Let's celebrate the spirit of debate and ideas. Whether it's about Balboa Park, or city pensions, or medical marijuana, let's disagree thoughtfully, under the sun, in a beautiful grassy area. Let's set a new San Diego tradition so that, in September 2012, when politics is at its feverish peak, we can get together again in a warm, respectful setting.

Let's have a festival!

Thank you for your support and thank you especially to our sponsors Hughes Marino, SDG&E and Cox Communications. They gave us the opportunity to try out this idea.

Now, come bring us yours.

Politifest 2011

Saturday, September 17

10 a.m. to 2 p.m.

Ingram Plaza at Liberty Station — 2640 Historic Decatur Road, San Diego, CA 92106 (map)

Mayoral debate at 10:30 a.m.

Idea Tournament begins at 12 p.m.

You can contact me directly at scott.lewis@voiceofsandiego.org or 619.325.0527 and follow me on Twitter (it's a blast!):

Project Censored is Back for 2012

2011-09-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

Is the Corporate Media Still Censoring Stories?

Friday 9 September 2011

by: Mark Karlin, Truthout | Interview

Project Censored has an illustrious history of drawing attention to stories that the mainstream press overtly censors or ignores through a corporate media culture that dismisses the existence of topics that threaten the status quo. The organization also promotes media literacy by educating the public about strategies that are used to disseminate misinformation and propaganda.

With the forthcoming publication of the newest edition of Project Censored, Truthout interviewed long-time project Director Peter Phillips and current Director Mickey Huff to gain a sense how this project began, and how it intends to continue making an im
pact in a constantly transforming media landscape.
The Truthout Progressive Pick of the Week, "Project Censored 2012" (Book) is available (advance order) by clicking here.

Mark Karlin: Some progressive critics have asserted that Project Censored is no longer relevant because of the openness of the Internet. How do you respond to that charge?

Peter Phillips: The Internet is huge with a lot of misinformation and managed news. One of the reasons we started both our Validated News site and News We Trust was that one of the major questions asked over the years has been “whom do you trust?”

We have created these online sources and repositories: Validated News & Research, Daily Independent News, and we also have a Spanish site, Daily News in Spanish.

The big problem still is that well over half the world has never made a phone call, let alone seen the Internet.

MK: Although you didn't found Project Censored in 1976, you oversaw it for the longest period of time. What was the “spark” that caused the founding of Project Censored?

PP: Actually, in 1976 Carl Jensen was trying to explain how Richard Nixon got elected in '72 despite Watergate. He went back in the corporate media and found that they had mostly ignored Watergate until after the election, and he began to ask what else are they (the media) skipping or delaying publishing stories about. So he had his students - in the sociology of media at Sonoma State University - research stories from the alternative independent press that were not covered by the mass media. His list was quickly picked up by the independent alternative media and republished worldwide.

MK: Journalistically, when a story is literally censored, is it known as being “spiked” by an editor or publisher. How are subjects censored in the modern-day corporate press due to the current “culture of mass media” as compared to actually being “spiked”?

PP: Stories are still deliberately spiked! We call this managed news. And it is quite widespread. On October 25, 2005 the American Civil Liberties (ACLU) posted to their website forty-four autopsy reports, acquired from American military sources, covering the deaths of civilians who died while in US military prisons in Iraq and Afghanistan in 2002-2004. The autopsy reports provided proof of widespread torture by US forces. Twenty-three of the reports said the cause of death was homicide. The balance of the reports mostly indicated that the cause of death was heart failure. The conditions of the bodies indicated clearly that these people were tortured to death. A press release by the ACLU announcing the deaths was immediately picked up by Associated Press (AP) wire service making the story available to US corporate media nationwide. A thorough check of Nexis-Lexis and Proquest library data bases showed that at least ninety-nine percent of the daily papers in the US did not pick up the story, nor did AP ever conduct follow up coverage on the issue.[1]

In a January 2008 report, the British polling group Opinion Research Business (ORB) reported that, “survey work confirms our earlier estimate that over 1,000,000 Iraqi citizens have died as a result of the conflict which started in 2003. ORB interviewed 2,400 randomly selected families in 15 of 18 provinces in Iraq, asking the question has anyone in your family died from war violence. The data resulted in a report that stated, “We now estimate that the death toll between March 2003 and August 2007 is likely to have been of the order of 1,033,000.”

The ORB report comes on the heels of two earlier studies conducted by Johns Hopkins University published in the Lancet medical journal that confirmed the continuing numbers of mass deaths in Iraq. A study done by Dr. Les Roberts from January 1, 2002 to March 18, 2003 put the civilian deaths at that time at over 100,000. A second study published in the Lancet in October 2006 documented over 650,000 civilian deaths in Iraq since the start of the US invasion. The 2006 study confirms that US aerial bombing in civilian neighborhoods caused over a third of these deaths and that over half the deaths are directly attributable to US forces.

The Associated Press, which reaches over one billion people in the world, released three times in 2009 the story claiming only 87,000 Iraqis had died as a result of US invasion and occupation. The story was originally published April 23, 2009: updated July 25 and October 14.

MK: Have you seen Project Censored having an impact on news coverage over the years?

PP: It is hard to tell but over 1/3 of our stories go on to receive some corporate coverage

MK: Given your long experience with Project Censored, how do you regard the emergence of WikiLeaks?

PP: Outstanding!

MK: Mickey, can you explain briefly how this year's book is structured? It's a lot more than the 25 “censored” stories that are recognized.

Mickey Huff: Each year since 1993, when the first full length Project Censored book was published (prior to that there were smaller publications dating to 1976), we have researched, vetted, and voted on the most important censored (or under reported) stories of the year. Indeed, it is what the Project is known for, the Top 25, or the Top 10 censored stories. This is certainly important, and this year, we have organized our analysis of the top stories in what we call censored news clusters, to highlight the overall architecture of censorship along topical lines in the corporate media.

Year after year, and now more than ever, the book itself contains more sections, chapters, and investigative reports and scholarly studies on not only what is wrong with mass media in the US and the failures of the free press, but on what can be done about it, and what is being done in terms of solutions to achieve the concept in practice of a truly free press - how the founders philosophically intended (think theory, not practice). A journalism that keeps the public informed on crucial matters of the day so that they may participate meaningfully in the maintenance of democracy, in order to attain a state of relevant and representative self-governance.

MK: Project Censored is somewhat unusual in that students at Sonoma State University (California), as Peter mentioned, do much of the work on identifying the top 25 articles. How has this worked out over the years??

MH: In the past few years, Project Censored has grown and now includes student and faculty researchers at over 30 colleges and universities across the US, and we have participants in over half a dozen countries. We are a student centered, media literacy education organization at heart, but there are many more facets to the project as evidenced in our coverage of what we call junk food news and news abuse (looking at the increased tabloidization of news coverage); signs of hope and health (showcasing the many positive community building stories); media democracy in action (highlighting activists for media freedom); the truth emergency section of the book on propaganda studies; and the Project Censored International section that looks at media democracy issues in the US and around the globe. So, we are ever expanding and are seeking participants in educational fields, we are looking to hear from teachers, students, concerned citizens of the world who understand the importance of fighting for the right to be informed about the world in which we live.

MK: On the Project Censored web site, you refer to section two of the book focusing on “the truth emergency.” Can you explain the relationship between a “truth emergency” and propaganda?

MH: This truth emergency we face is a result of the lack of factual reporting by the so-called mainstream media over the past decade. This truth emergency is the result of a lack of source transparency and factual substance in news transmission. Americans are subjected to mass amounts of propaganda, from misinformation to disinformation, on a daily basis, about some of the most significant issues of the day. Whether this involves the post-9/11 wars in the Middle East, the health care reform fiascoes, election fraud, or economic collapse and bailouts, most Americans are unaware of all the facts of how we got where we now are as a society. It is the duty of the constitutionally protected free press to report factually to the public on these matters. However, as shown by Project Censored’s work dating back to 1976, that is not happening.

One way of combating this truth emergency is by understanding the nature of propaganda. This year, our truth emergency section is a primer on propaganda studies, which includes a brief history, theory, application, and case studies all presented to enhance media literacy among the general public.

MK: Getting back to the “truth emergency,” to what extent is US government propaganda about many issues in congruence with corporate media propaganda?

MH: Often times they are one in the same, from the view in government and corporate media on WikiLeaks and transparency to the current NATO actions in Libya, the two have a similar view because there is so much overlap of interest in both involved parties (which in and of themselves have great overlap - from the corporate world to government posts or lobbyists and back again).

Both the US government and the corporate media essentially have a duopoly on manipulating the public mind for political or commercial gain. Leading the public to one view or another is the name of the game, rather than reporting all the facts and letting the chips fall where they may.

This clearly represents a crisis for democracy; the truth of major issues remains illusive to the public. The antidote lies not only in exposing the charlatans of the establishment order as propagandists, but also in providing a broader understanding of how propaganda works, what it looks like and how to detect it, and what the public can do about it. Namely, the solution is to create an independent free press, one not beholden to moneyed interests, but rather one that tells people the truth about all matters, regardless of which powerful parties may be exposed.

MK: If you look at Berlusconi's ownership of media in Italy and Rupert Murdoch's de facto influence on the government in the UK, aren't we facing a worldwide problem of the media representing the ruling elite?

MH: Yes, we are. And that has been a growing trend that seems to be unabated, save for the recent actions in the US to investigate and possibly block the latest AT&T merger. But overall, that is a rare action by the US government. The trend over the later 20th century has been in support of consolidation of ownership and a shutting out of public participation, oversight, and inclusion of views from everyday people. In fact, the FCC just recently drove another nail in the coffin of the Fairness Doctrine, which was mostly dismantled under the Reagan years.

Despite many well-intentioned people in the so-called media reform movement, reform measures via government agencies have rarely worked at the federal level. This is why we must all be the media, we must create and share our own transparently sourced, fact-based news, and we must support independent voices that are doing the same. We cannot depend on those that have created the problems of the news media, contributed to problems of the news media, and benefited from those conditions to take heed and go about fixing said problems in the public interest. That has not, and likely will not happen.

1. For more on the ACLU study “U.S. Operatives Killed Detainees During Interrogations in Afghanistan and Iraq” from 10/24/2005, click here; and for more on the bias of The Associated Press see Project Censored’s study online.

This work by Truthout is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.

Media Networks Fumble Reasons for Debt

2011-09-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Source: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

Extra! September 11, 2011

Deficit-Obsessed Media Misinform on Causes

By Carolyn Cutrone and Steve Rendall

At a time when the federal budget deficit is so prominently featured in the news, with pundits and “experts” (falsely) touting it as a leading concern of the U.S. public (FAIR Blog, 1/21/11), you might think corporate journalists would be well-practiced in explaining the chief causes of the deficit.

Unfortunately, if you rely on network nightly news programs for your information about the economy, you are likely to be misinformed about the main causes of the current deficit—in order of importance, the economic downturn, the Bush tax cuts and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Without the recession and these policy changes, the deficit would barely exist (Economic Policy Institute, 5/18/11).

The economic crisis has been a huge contribution to the deficit; less economic activity means less tax revenue and increased social service costs like unemployment insurance. The Center for Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP, 5/10/11) estimates that 34 percent of the 2010 deficit and 28 percent of the 2011 deficit can be attributed to the economic downturn.

The Bush tax cuts dwarf all other policy changes, costing the country an estimated $375 billion this year, or 24 percent of the deficit, according to CBPP. Newsweek (8/1/10) acknowledged their overwhelming contribution; in comparison to other policies, like the prescription drug bill and war spending, “the tax cuts were by far the largest, adding up to $2.3 trillion over 10 years.” Forty percent of the tax cuts’ benefits went to people earning over $500,000 (Salon, 8/2/10).

With cumulative spending of over $1.2 trillion for the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (Congressional Research Service, 3/29/11), the post-9/11 military escalation rounds out the list of top deficit culprits at 14 percent, CBPP found. (The cost could reach up to $4 trillion, including future veterans’ expenses—Brown University, 6/11.)

But you wouldn’t know this from the 69 nightly news segments in which the budget deficit was discussed during the first half of the year. FAIR looked at six months (1/1/11–6/30/11) of ABC World News, CBS Evening News and NBC Nightly News (including weekend news editions), analyzing segments that included the words “budget” and “deficit.” Fifteen ABC reports included these words, as did 31 CBS segments and 23 from NBC.

Only three of these 69 segments named any of the three main causes of the deficit: ABC (1/25/11) said the “slow economy” contributed to the deficit, and later (6/26/11), illustrating the contribution of the wars to the deficit, noted that the “U.S. spends more than $20 billion a year” just on air conditioning in Iraq and Afghanistan. NBC (1/26/11) explained that “The [deficit] estimate was raised after tax cuts were extended last month.”

In three quarters of the segments, no cause was mentioned, and 12 identified inaccurate or misleading causes. CBS was the most frequent misleader, discussing causes eight times and pinning the blame in seven of them on the cost of Medicaid, Medicare or Social Security. ABC twice blamed those three programs, and twice mentioned Social Security as the deficit’s cause.

Actually, Social Security and Medicare contribute nothing to the deficit; they have their own dedicated revenue streams, which since 1987 have taken in $3 trillion more than they have paid out in order to build up a trust fund for when the Baby Boomers retire (Social Security and Medicare Trustees Report Summary, 5/5/11).

Social Security and Medicare’s surpluses have been invested in U.S. Treasury bonds, and these will sooner or later need to be paid back; if they are not, trillions of dollars will have been extracted from U.S. workers under false pretenses. When these debts are paid back, though, U.S. taxpayers are not paying for the retirement programs a second time—rather, they are paying for the programs (and tax cuts) that the Treasury borrowed the money from the retirement programs to pay for in the first place. Thinking of these bond repayments as Social Security and Medicare adding to the deficit is like imagining that the Chinese are contributing to the deficit by building highways with the proceeds of their investments in T-bills.

But TV journalists have frequently given the public the false impression that Social Security and Medicare are responsible for the deficit. On CBS (6/17/11), Scott Pelley reported: “Social Security consumes 20 percent of the federal budget, so it’s part of the debate over how to manage America’s $14 trillion debt. When countries don’t manage debt, the trouble reaches far and wide.”

A few months earlier, CBS reporter Chip Reid (2/20/11) said, “The elephant in the room, so far largely ignored, is entitlements, Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security, which make up more than 40 percent of the budget.”

ABC (2/15/11) also contributed to these claims when Jake Tapper reported, “Entitlements, Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid and other programs, have ballooned to a full 57 percent of the budget today.”

Even in the sole segment that mentioned tax cuts as a contribution to the deficit, NBC anchor Brian Williams (1/26/11) still added to the ongoing confusion, reporting, “And Social Security now projected to run a deficit of $45 billion this year.”

The FAIR findings show that little has changed since Janine Jackson weighed in on causes of the deficit in these pages (4/10), where she found the media coverage of the policy change that contributed most to the deficit, the Bush tax cuts, was “tenuous at best.” From December 2, 2009, through March 2, 2010, the Washington Post and New York Times had only mentioned the Bush tax cuts in 12 of 44 stories on the deficit, or 27 percent. In the first half of 2011, with the deficit debate more heated than ever and most Republicans refusing to consider any tax increases, the network news mentioned the tax cuts in a single story out of 69, utterly failing to give proper context to the discussion.

See FAIR's Archives for more on:
Economy
Social Security

(Blog Editor's Note: This FAIR Report lists the RECESSION, The Tax Cuts, and the Wars for the real reasons for our expanding U.S. Budget Deficit and Debt. See image above., but what it doesn't do is assign a cause for the recession, responsibility for the tax cuts, or blame for the wars, so I shall.

The "RECESSION" is not a recession, but a DEPRESSION, I call it the BUSH Depression, but BUSH was nothing but a patsy, elected by a greedy few, the arrogant Neo-Conservative Republicans with their war profiteers, their 'banking' contingent, their real-estate developers and the religious fanatics who control their crazy masses. These are the real people responsible for deregulating the financial industry, allowing USURY and market manipulation to run rampant. It is important that you realize that the accountability for this depression is spread over the broad spectrum of the American Right, the small-businessmen who rob at the local level, as well as some similar groups of land-lords and industrialists in other countries and cultures, and even extends to those of us on the American left who enjoyed the economic benefits of these greedy bastards, and ignored the consequences. That said, the responsibility is not spread equally, it rests mainly with the elite leaders of the Republican Neo-Conservative War Banking Industry. These parasitical opportunists see every catastrophe as an chance to profit themselves by manipulating the public psyche and accessing government coffers. They have manipulated the rules of the game, and robbed us of our potential, our moral standing, and our future.

The Bush Tax Cuts are the biggest chuck of deficit spending. With that revenue from those 1% of American Citizens making over $500,000/yr. we would be able to fund our Federal Government. But the fault lies not just with Bush, but with both parties in Congress who approved these laws. The elected leadership of these United Sates has failed us, having fallen into the influence of the rich through our legalized systems of political bribery. We are all at fault for allowing the campaign finance system to recognize money as political speech.

The Wars, as mentioned, in Afghanistan and Iraq, were unnecessary, based upon lies, and created for empire to steal resources from the worlds masses, including the citizens of the USA. The proper response to a terrorist attack like the events of 9/11/2001 would be a massive, international police effort to investigate and apprehend the real culprits of the crimes [which were not the people publicly blamed for them]. Thus the American Afghan war was unnecessary, a misdirection to gain access to Caspian oil and sell weapons and 'security' to the US Public. The war in Iraq was more sinister, a remnant of the earlier Regan/Bush CIA Wars of the late 20th century, when Rumsfield and Cheney made pacts with the world's other despots, like Saddam and the bin Ladens, to wage secret cold war strategies against China and the U.S.S.R. But the opportunity for Halliburton and KBR and other war contractors to profit was too great to pass up, and again used as a distraction as the 'Homeland Security' expansion of Top Secret America was set up. Now we have collectively sacrificed both our security and our Bill of Rights, and live in a secret police state where our money is siphoned away in secret, paid out to a few million government contractors and their thuggish minions in a clever misdirection from the real threats to our democracy.

"If evil prevails when good men do nothing ... where are the 'good' men?" - Michael Russell )

Class War: Verizon Hires BlackWater to Police Union Members

2011-08-18T16:05:00.000-07:00

Here is an example of clear and concise message from "Acronym", video blog by Dennis Trainor, Jr. at NoCureForThat.org .

Proof, rational people, you can rant or rave without going insane.
Do we need reform, revolution, or radical transformation?

MoveON.org's new American Dream Campaign

2011-08-09T14:09:00.000-07:00

The Project to Rebuild the American Dream is a prime example of democratic media used to "Crowd-Source" ideas and develop a consensus. Catalyzed by Van Jones, the Green Jobs Guru who was fired by the Obama Administration for speaking out, the new MoveOn.org campaign to reinvent the American Dream is designed as a 'contract' (i.e. Social Contract, mirroring the replublican 'Contract on America' of the 1990's). This contract has been limited to the ten most popular ideas crowd-sourced from a few hundred-thousand members. Read More ...

1. Invest in America’s Infrastructure.
2. Create 21st-Century Energy Jobs.
3. Invest in Public Education.
4. Offer Medicare for All.
5. Make Work Pay.
6. Secure Social Security.
7. Return to Fairer Tax Rates.
8. Tax Wall Street Speculation.
9. End the Wars and Invest at Home.
10. Restore Our Democracy.

We need clean, fair elections - where no one's right to vote can be taken away, and where money doesn’t buy you your own member of Congress. We must ban anonymous political influence, slam shut the lobbyists’ revolving door in D.C. and publicly finance elections. Immigrants who want to join in our democracy deserve a clear path to citizenship. And we must stop giving corporations the rights of people when it comes to our elections and ensure our Judiciary’s respect for the Constitution. Together, we will reclaim our democracy to get our country back on track.

To join the movement ...

"Hell No" - Your Right to Dissent

2011-07-29T11:58:00.000-07:00

At what point do we begin to fight for our right to protest?
See The Real News Network

Citizens for Media Reform

2011-07-18T12:57:00.000-07:00

by Tabitha Justice

Today I invite you to join me on a journey to deconstruct the often confusing and frustrating relationship between the political establishment and the media establishment in America. If we can understand the system, we can change it. We can take the best parts of our media — the education, visibility and power — and strengthen our democracy. We can get rid it of the worst parts of our media — the partisanship, misinformation and divisiveness — and begin to work together again, to see each other as fellow Americans instead of opponents. So what do you say? Want go on a media quest?

Why study the media? I have heard it argued that the quality of a democracy is only as good as its legal framework, the participation of its citizens and the strength of their education and civic knowledge. If we consider these three elements as the balancing legs of a democracy, it only takes one wobbly leg to overturn it. While education can come from many different sources, historically, there has been no source more effective than the media. This is something our founding fathers intimately understood. That’s why the press is specifically mentioned for constitutional protection. However, it is important to note the continued existence of a free press is not guaranteed. There are no laws requiring citizens to seek out or provide journalism. There are no laws that guarantee the quality of that journalism. And there are few laws that protect the press from being purchased by powerful special interests and transformed into something else entirely. Quality journalism must be recognized, desired and demanded. And there is only one special interest who can do that: We the People.

Media, like any other product, is consumer driven. It is the consumer who decides what they read, what they listen to and what they watch. It is the consumer who decides whether to select media that educates, media that entertains, or media that distorts. As consumers, we can and we must make informed choices if we expect the standard of political journalism to change. Perhaps most importantly, we must understand that we are responsible and accountable for our own individual level of civic knowledge. We must take the initiative to seek out truth and understanding and actively disregard false and misleading information.

READ MORE! ...

Grit TV and Women Heroes - HSN interviews Laura Flanders

2011-06-27T00:22:00.000-07:00

When I grow up I want to be just like Laura Flanders.

CNN & Physicist Michio Kaku Embarrass the Japaneese

2011-06-22T21:46:00.000-07:00

This is why we need strong independent media, to report what the powers don't want you to know. How long until we accept that we need clean, safe, renewable energy?
Pay attention, Fukushima is FUBAR! Watch world rebound Japanese-American Physicist, Michio Kaku, embarrass the Japanese Utilities and Government, on CNN Reports.
Perhaps it is time we stopped building nuclear power plants on fault lines, along the coast, in populated areas? If you live in the Northwest United Sates, pay close attention to your radiation levels in foods like dairy and fish. Why waste a whole Continent because greedy power companies will not use renewable energy? Why don't we see more media coverage of this event? (hint: GE owns the media)

A Universe of One

2011-05-17T21:04:00.000-07:00

Eli Pariser laid it all out in this eye-opening TED talk, and got a standing ovation for his trouble. Pop the Filter Bubble!

Academic Uses of Social Media

2011-05-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Now we can begin to educate some of the 4-billion people who never had a chance to go to College. These Harvard professors explain how the use of "social media", from email to facebook, can change the opportunity curve, and give a billion Chinese access to our best universities, without leaving home. The most interesting thing was how all of them support the free exchange of information, as long as they get the credit for creating that information.

The antidote to apathy

2011-04-14T23:05:00.000-07:00

This TED Talk by Dave Meslin exposes seven parts of the the Social Matrix that create barriers to active participation, and challenges us to dismantle these barriers.

City Hall - Intentional Exclusion via Communications

Public Space - Price tag for freedom of expression, no unprofitable speech

Media - Distraction and Diversion, Discourages Engagement via neglect

Heroes - Chosen Heroes, voluntary, inglorious, collective, imperfect, uninvited

Political Parties - Uninspiring, uncreative, regurgitating, uncreative, exclusive

Charitable Status - no advocacy, no politics

Elections - Votes don't count

If people are selfish, stupid, and lazy, then there is no hope. Perhaps if we dismantle these obstacles; create transparency, open public dialog, re-imagine media, expect everyone to be heroic, create inclusive political parties, redefine charities, and reform elections; perhaps then people will be more selfless, intelligent, and engaged.

National Conference for Media Reform 2011

2011-04-09T02:34:00.000-07:00

Please check out the NCMR 2011, and prepare for the future of Media in San Diego. You can watch the live feed here...

The Primary Dealer Credit Facility

2011-04-07T00:12:00.001-07:00

The Primary Dealer Credit Facility - according to CNN Money and ProPublica, the total extent of this UNDISCLOSED Federal Reserve 'Emergency' (no-interest) Loan program between May 2008 & 2009, was $9-Trillion, and although $7-trillion of the PRINCIPAL has been 'repaid', this represents an increase in the money supply of ~$90-T. Meaning the US$ is worth 1/3 less today than in '08. Has your salary, home equity, or the value of investments risen by 33% in the last three years? If so, you are a winner of this game. Also, the Banks gave bonuses as a result of this 'increase' in capital and lend the money to corporations at interest, creating debt of nothing, and that expense is passed on to the consumer as a cost of business. If they had failed to pay back these 'loans' the US Taxpayer would have been responsible, via an increase in US National Debt. (so much for pocket change of the $700-B TARP, and $800-B 'Stimulus')http://money.cnn.com/2010/12/01/news/economy/fed_reserve_data_release/index.htm http://projects.propublica.org/tables/treasury-facilities-loans

Appropriate Energy Lab

2011-03-14T22:43:00.000-07:00

"Any electrical engineer who was educated before 1999 thinks renewable energy is a cute bit-player, on the side" ... but every place that takes renewable energy seriously finds that it is very easy and cost effective to invest and develop. "The (electric) GRID should be the 'EBAY' where you buy and sell power. Almost every incentive we have is for dirty power. The 'California Energy Crisis', 2001, was all about benefiting dirty power over renewable alternatives, and finding that we had a mess as a result." - Daniel Kammen, Director of UC Berkley Renewable and Appropriate Energy Lab - Renewable Energy and Economies of Scale 2006

From FORA.tv

Republicans Try To Destroy Net-Neutrality, again...

2011-03-10T23:45:00.000-08:00

US House of Representatives subcommittee has voted in favor of a resolution to throw out the US Federal Communications Commission's recently adopted net neutrality rules. The communications
subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee voted 15-8 along party lines for a resolution of disapproval that would overturn the FCC's rules. The resolution would also prohibit the FCC from re-attempting to create similar net neutrality rules. Read More...

Solutions: Salman Khan

2011-03-10T13:29:00.000-08:00

I don't do this often, but this is a special case. When someone states the obvious truth, it cuts across all lines, and I must post it everywhere.

"If Issac Newton had done calculus videos on YouTube, I wouldn't have to. (assuming he was any good) - Salman Khan"

Why do good students fail in our public schools?
FLIP THE CLASSROOM!
Traditional Classroom Model penalizes you for experimentation and failure, "DO YOU UNDERSTAND THIS?". Kids COMPETE with each other, but does not expect mastery.
Assign the lectures as homework, and do the homework in the classroom.
Pause, work at your own pace. Stay on that bicycle, experiment, failure is OK. Reward success, don't penalize failure. Allow students to COOPERATE, and you will see that your 'slow' students are just as smart as the 'gifted' kids.
But expect mastery.

Watch this video twice.
Build a Global, One World Classroom.

The Doha Debates: This House believes the world is better off with Wikil...

2011-03-07T08:04:00.000-08:00

Ever wonder why is it that Brits are willing to debate and Americans are not?

If Governments told the truth we would not need WikiLeaks.

Anyone who has secrets is doing something wrong. Truth is never wrong. What you do when no one is looking is the measure of your character. Let's debate that.

An Afternoon with Bill Moyers

2011-02-25T07:19:00.000-08:00

Bill Moyers, the most dangerous subversive progressive in the nation. Follow his every word.

A Paradise Built in Hell: The Extraordinary Communities That Arise in Disasters - by Rebecca Solnit.

"We should build a world that helps bring out our goodness, but we haven't. While human beings have an instinct, even a talent, for empathy and collaboration, our politics doesn't enlist and nurture that instinct. Instead of helping us to live constructively and cooperatively, in a spirit of 'We the People' which is based upon a moral compact. Politics has become a winner take all juggernaut, powered by malignant narcissism, and life in America today is becoming a war of all against all, putting the weak and vulnerable, working people, and the middle class at the mercy of money, power, and privilege." - Dorthy Day, Catholic Social Worker

Bill Moyers advice to those who would be ... good interviewers:

Prepare Too Much
Read the book
Outline the conversation
Only talk to people who want to talk

"Gross inequality leads to social disease, when people's experiences have virtually nothing in common because of the economic chasm that separates their lives they experience little sympathy for each other, and this produces a social class; financial, media, and political elites, with all the characteristics of sociopaths. That is RADICALLY DEPRIVED OF EMPATHY." - from Spirt Level

The Spirit Level: Why Greater Equality Makes Societies Stronger - by Kate Pickett and Richard Wilkinson.

"We allegedly have a civilization, which has taken a long time to overcome the primal instincts of the jungle. But this time the Hyenas have left a wasteland. The single minded pursuit of wealth for its own sake, with no regard for the fate of others, has thrown millions out of work and homes, stolen their hope and dignity, and once again, as in the first Gilded Era has torn America apart, and the end is not in sight." - Bill Moyers

Kabuki Democracy: The System vs. Barack Obama - by Eric Alterman

"Democracy is about the conditions that make it possible for ordinary people to better their lives by becoming political beings and making power responsive to their hopes and needs. - Sheldon Wollen

But that's not the case today, our political system now is geared to supporting the accumulation of vast wealth at the top, and instead of trying to tackle our massive and costly inequality - which will take this country right out from under us - the movers and shakers in both parties are asking ordinary people to embrace austerity and accept massive cuts in our public services even while giving the richest Americans more tax cuts and wind-falls. - Bill Moyers
Winner-Take-All Politics: How Washington Made the Rich Richer--and Turned Its Back on the Middle Class - by Jacob S. Hacker and Paul Pierson

We have reached this point by design, thirty years ago, ideologs and many in our Corporate Class, especially those at the Chamber of Commerce and the Business Round-table, set out to divide and conquer to fund electoral conflict for the purpose of forging a political class that would govern in its interest and they did it.- Bill Moyers

Drumbeat San Diego, This Saturday

2011-02-04T14:06:00.000-08:00

New Media Rights is sponsoring "Drumbeat San Diego" a conference of serious citizen journalists and activists this Saturday, February 5th, from 12:30 PM - 6:30 PM at the Queen Bee's Art & Cultural Center
3925 Ohio Street, San Diego, CA.
Check it OUT!

Media Orphans

2011-01-29T15:17:00.000-08:00

What the Hell Happened to Keith Olbermann?
From Alternet.org

The troubling message to progressives is that they remain essentially orphans when it comes to having their political interests addressed by any corporate news outlet. While the Right has built its own vast media infrastructure – reaching from newspapers, magazines and books to radio, TV and the Internet – the Left generally has treated media as a low priority.

Though some on the Left saw hope in the MSNBC evening line-up, the larger reality was that even inside the world of NBC News, the other content ranged from the pro-Establishment centrism of anchor Brian Williams to the center-right views of MSNBC’s Joe Scarborough to CNBC’s mix of free-market extremism and corporate boosterism.

MSNBC's parent company, General Electric, never seemed comfortable with some of Olbermann's material. Strange that when MSNBC is sold to Comcast, Olbermann goes the way of Phil Donahew and Bill Moyers. It seems that when you become too successful, the corporate media kills you.

The Military Industrial CONGRESSIONAL Complex

2011-01-17T12:33:00.001-08:00

It was Eisenhower's somber words about the military that caught peoples' attention.

"In the councils of government, we must guard against the acquisition of unwarranted influence, whether sought or unsought, by the military-industrial complex," he said in his farewell address. "The potential for the disastrous rise of misplaced power exists and will persist."

Eisenhower's warning was all the more powerful coming from a five-star general.
- as reported on NPR's All Things Considered

Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream...to Go to War?!"

2011-01-16T08:47:00.000-08:00

Why is it that Citizen Activists from Robert Greenwald's BRAVE NEW FILMS are the only people making media against the Afghanistan War? (pissst ... DO SOMETHING!)

Each Citizen Activists has the ability to:

- Challenge corporate media with TRUTH.
- Share the latest videos from Brave New Films.
- Give input on projects that are in development.
- MAKE A DIFFERENCE!

Please "LIKE" them on FaceBook

Are you scared yet?

2011-01-13T05:54:00.000-08:00

In Esquire Magazine, 1973, William Harrison wrote a story about corporations controlling access to all energy, transport, luxury, housing, communication, and food on a global basis. It was called a "Distopian Future". Welcome to our world.

Tim Wu on the Master Switch.

Net Neutrality sacrificed for wire-less profits

2011-01-02T18:25:00.000-08:00

From LA Media Reform:

Everyone who uses the Internet should make this issue a top priority. I can imagine a world where there is no protection against discrimination on the Internet, where the Web is no longer the dynamic and fascinating medium it is now. A world where people can only get the same old, tired crap offered on television and terrestrial radio. A world where dissent is drowned out or blacked out in favor of corporate propaganda and innovation is squashed in favor of ossification. A world where you may no longer get to read this blog. Hopefully, these new rules can be struck down, which is what an Internet law expert, interviewed below, predicts:

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Sen. Al Franken of Minnesota, who has been a tireless advocate for net neutrality, wrote in The Huffington Post this morning that no less than our free speech and right to information is at stake:

For many Americans — particularly those who live in rural areas — the future of the Internet lies in mobile services. But the draft Order would effectively permit Internet providers to block lawful content, applications, and devices on mobile Internet connections.

Mobile networks like AT&T and Verizon Wireless would be able to shut off your access to content or applications for any reason. For instance, Verizon could prevent you from accessing Google Maps on your phone, forcing you to use their own mapping program, Verizon Navigator, even if it costs money to use and isn’t nearly as good. Or a mobile provider with a political agenda could prevent you from downloading an app that connects you with the Obama campaign (or, for that matter, a Tea Party group in your area).

It gets worse. The FCC has never before explicitly allowed discrimination on the Internet — but the draft Order takes a step backwards, merely stating that so-called “paid prioritization” (the creation of a “fast lane” for big corporations who can afford to pay for it) is cause for concern.

It sure is — but that’s exactly why the FCC should ban it. Instead, the draft Order would have the effect of actually relaxing restrictions on this kind of discrimination.

A Messy Thing

2010-12-11T17:37:00.000-08:00

Democracy is a messy thing, but it is our job to cover it. - Amy Goodman

Reclaim Democracy

2010-11-26T05:50:00.000-08:00

Free Speech for People
On January 21, 2010, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that corporations are entitled to spend unlimited funds in our elections. The First Amendment was never intended to protect corporations. This cannot stand. Free speech is for people, not corporations. We must act now.

To restore the First Amendment to its original purpose, we need to enact a constitutional amendment that puts people ahead of corporations.

FREESPEECHFORPEOPLE.ORG

What's At Stake:

"Today, the Court has enthroned corporations, permitting them not only all kinds of special economic rights but now, amazingly, moving to grant them the same political rights as the people. This is a moment of high danger for democracy so we must act quickly to spell out in the Constitution what the people have always understood: that corporations do not enjoy the political and free speech rights that belong to the people of the United States." - Professor Jamie Raskin, constitutional law expert at American University's Washington College of Law and Maryland state senator

Objectivity as journalistic integrity

2010-11-26T03:47:00.000-08:00

There is a real debate going on in the press, a conflict over who should control information and the definition of journalism.

Listen to this dialog on NPR's Talk of the Nation, from November 16th, 2010.

The bias of the professional journalist is the intent to be 'objective'. Objectivity is not an achievable goal; it is a professional standard, an ideal to which we aspire. (-MER)

"The difference between journalism and opinion is that basic idea, that unlike the rest of us, journalists start by recognizing their biases and conduct their business trying to prove themselves wrong, opening their minds to different ways of looking at things. That's why journalism is a valuable civic institution that forces us to consider the merits of every point of view." That email, from Travis.

"I really think that objectivity is something that can be found in the news. It is not being found today. It's not even being sought after.

I think what's happening is, is that information - they looked at the news people as just being what they're seeing now, like models with a microphone, but there was testing of information. And with the advent of the Internet and so many ways to reach so many people, no matter how extreme a person's position is, or no matter how perverted a person's thoughts may be, there's always a group of people around the world that they can connect with to validate themselves. And that didn't exist before. And I'm really concerned about our country.

I think the one professor - the professor that's on here, that speaks about the profitability, that it's not bad in information, well, one of the things in business we know is that time is money. And good information requires time. And so often now, what's being presented is information that is found out to be false, it's not retracted, or it gets lost so that the people are not getting the information they need to be responsible citizens." - David (NPR Caller)

The provenance of the information

TED KOPPEL: (on internet technology) I don't see new hope for journalism, I see new hope for the exchange of information. But you haven't responded to my part, which is unless one knows the provenance of the information, unless I know who's putting the information out, I can't judge the validity of that.

The utmost responsibility of any journalist

"What I think would be better for journalists as a whole is to be able to follow a story, follow up with a story, like a previous caller had mentioned, and be able to really go in depth, get as many interviews as you can, and be able to publish it knowing that you have every single fact straight. That, I believe, should be the utmost responsibility of any journalist - is to first check your facts, then perhaps go back, check objectivity if you know you're not intentionally already trying for it." - Jason (NPR Caller)

TED KOPPEL: I think the country is in dreadful shape right now. The economy is in terrible shape. Unemployment is in terrible shape. We are engaged in two overseas wars. We have a deficit that is unbelievable. And if there is one thing we desperately need in this country, it is the ability to come together to debate the issues without rancor or partisanship.

Prof. JARVIS: People can share news and information themselves. And then we, as journalists, have to ask where we put our precious resources to bring the most value - not to do the same stuff, not to be a stenographer, as Keith Olbermann said, but instead to bring that higher value.

Prof. JARVIS: The problem is, it's made too simplistic. It's made simply right and simply left, and we're much more complex than that. But having a discussion, having an argument, indeed, is what makes up a democracy - not having something just fed us from a centralized place.

"FIXING THE FUTURE"

2010-11-18T03:45:00.002-08:00

"Do people exist to serve the economy, or does the economy exist to serve people?"

Watch this short interview with David Korten and begin to dream again.

Watch the full episode. See more NOW on PBS.

Watching PBS NewsHour on KPBS Channel 11 last night, I caught a glimpse of something absolutely AMAZING! In a clip from NOW with David Brancaccio.

We are talking about rebuilding community.

"Creating wealth within the community requires life values."

We need to get people engaged in their local economy. The power resides in Wall Street, not Main Street, wall street only recognizes FINANCIAL Values.

Alone we can not change the world, but we are not alone. Eighty communities around the USA and Canada, connecting 22,000 businesses and organization, growing exponentially. The potential for a global transformation of the economy is at hand.

"There are two competing paths of 'globalization' one is about CORPORATE Power, the other is about PEOPLE Power. They are diametrically opposed to each other."

If we are we going to evolve our society with the speed necessary to bring our population in balance with the resources and environment of the planet, we need to share our ideas and our knowledge freely.

Business must make a "LIVING RETURN", living owners within living enterprises with the goal of serving community. The real issue is not JOBS, its LIVELIHOOD. The less we are dependent upon the money system, the more we are in control of our lives.

1) What is the purpose of the economy?

2) What are you doing, today, to create an economy with that purpose?

3) How do we create the political power to put Main Street over Wall Street?

Join the Society for Media Justice to help create a Sustainable Future, in San Diego.

As of 2011, KCET becomes INDEPENDENT!

2010-11-15T03:51:00.000-08:00

KCET public radio and TV, which covers 11 counties in Southern California, and serves 600,000 people each week, has decided to sever its contract with the Public Broadcasting System (PBS) and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting (CPB).

Note: This letter was originally sent to Paula Kerger, President and Chief Executive Officer of PBS, and Patricia Harrison, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, on October 8, 2010.

KCET's 40 year relationship with PBS has been rewarding on many levels. PBS has provided an abundant library of quality programs to our viewers in Southern California to which we have contributed through the production of award winning programs in education, public affairs, drama, and the arts. While we share this rich and satisfying history, it appears that the time has come to acknowledge that this relationship no longer works. After careful analysis our Board of Directors determined unanimously that our potential to present the rich cosmopolitan experience that is Southern California could be enhanced if KCET suspends its active membership in PBS and its unsustainable dues obligation.

Despite our decision, we remain passionate about and committed to the mission of public media. We believe that the entire public broadcasting system model must be re-imagined, restructured, and re-launched to realize its mission in the 21st century. We plan to re-image our mission and re-launch as an independently operated public media center that integrates TV and radio broadcast with broadband, Internet, mobile and social networking capabilities that facilitate greater citizen engagement. We may also restructure our operating platform to align it with our re-imagined mission. We hope to partner with schools, libraries, cultural institutions and community organizations to raise awareness of and convene stakeholders involved in important local, regional and national issues. Based upon preliminary discussions with current and new funding sources, we are optimistic that this exciting new approach to public media can be funded successfully. If we realize our vision as an independent public media center, we hope by our experience we can continue to make a valuable contribution to the system even if our PBS membership is suspended.

Our public broadcasting system was created with noble intentions that have yet to be realized completely. By building on our obvious strengths, restructuring for a new role, and re-launching for a new era, together we can realize the original promise of public broadcasting.

Very truly yours,

Gordon Bava
Chair KCET
Board of Directors

Watch California with the Center for Investigative Reporting

2010-11-15T02:31:00.000-08:00

We are living in an age of upheaval, institutional collapse, and historic unforeseen change. And journalism is not immune. The only “business” protected by the Constitution, the business of informing the public, has been eviscerated in recent years. The role that journalism plays in a functioning democracy—informing the public and holding the powerful accountable—is at serious risk. Major issues affecting the very fabric of this nation and the world go uninvestigated. As we struggle to find solutions to two wars, climate change, immigration, a recession, and myriad other global issues, a thriving media is more important than ever.

CIR attempts to ferret out the most promising investigations. Generally, stories deserving investment should: reflect CIR's core mission by offering the strong potential to reveal injustice or abuse of power; fall under one of our reporting beats, currently social justice, environment and international reporting; add new information, a fresh angle or depth of reporting not found in other mainstream coverage; have an indication of interest from a prospective news outlet; and originate from reporters or producers with demonstrated skills and experience.

California Watch

Clash of the Media Titans: Ethical Values

2010-10-22T06:06:00.000-07:00

NPR has fired commentator and news analyst, Juan Williams. But the backlash for their public action has caused National Public Radio to be chastised by the conservatives in their audience.

Juan Williams, The Fox News Commentator admitted on TV to a prejudice and fear of muslim people. This action insulted muslims and inflamed irrational fears among the Fox viewers, which fails to positively inform the important debate about religious fundamentalism in America.

This is not the first time that Williams has caused controversy in his schizophrenic rolls on these two media networks. But his public firing has cause an unexpected emotional backlash from a vocal part of the audience, calling for an end to public funding for media, and accusations of political bias.

NPR's Ombudsman says that this "public relations nightmare" is not a case about 'free speech' or bigotry.

"Instead, this latest incident with Williams centers around a collision of values: NPR's values emphasizing fact-based, objective journalism versus the tendency in some parts of the news media, notably Fox News, to promote only one side of the ideological spectrum"

I wonder how Williams, an African-American and civil rights expert, would react if anther prominent journalist had said, "When I see a black man get on the train, I fear for my life." Juan Williams reportedly earns millions of dollars for his job on Fox, and has attacked NPR for the firing.

ACLU Says Net Neutrality Necessary For Free Speech

2010-10-20T23:52:00.000-07:00

"The ACLU has recently identified Network Neutrality a key free speech issue and said in a lengthy PDF report:

'Freedom of expression isn't worth much if the forums where people actually make use of it are not themselves free. And the Internet is without doubt the primary place where Americans exercise their right to free expression. It's a newspaper, an entertainment medium, a reference work, a therapist's office, a soapbox, a debating stand. It is the closest thing ever invented to a true "free market" of ideas.'

The report then goes on to argue that ISPs have incentive and capability of interfering with internet traffic. And not only that but the argument that it is only 'theoretical' are bogus given they list ten high profile cases of it actually happening. If the ACLU can successfully argue that Net Neutrality is a First Amendment Issue then it might not matter what businesses (who fall on either side of the issue) want the government to do."

Discuss this story at: slashdot

ACLU Says Net Neutrality Necessary For Free Speech

2010-10-20T23:50:00.000-07:00

"The ACLU has recently identified Network Neutrality a key free speech issue and said in a lengthy PDF report: 'Freedom of expression isn't worth much if the forums where people actually make use of it are not themselves free. And the Internet is without doubt the primary place where Americans exercise their right to free expression.

It's a newspaper, an entertainment medium, a reference work, a therapist's office, a soapbox, a debating stand. It is the closest thing ever invented to a true "free market" of ideas.' The report then goes on to argue that ISPs have incentive and capability of interfering with internet traffic. And not only that but the argument that it is only 'theoretical' are bogus given they list ten high profile cases of it actually happening. If the ACLU can successfully argue that Net Neutrality is a First Amendment Issue then it might not matter what businesses (who fall on either side of the issue) want the government to do."

Discuss this story at: slashdot

Corporate Media: "The Revolution will be televised (for 30 seconds)"

2010-10-11T11:33:00.000-07:00

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Waxman Compromise on Net Neutrality DOA

2010-10-04T08:02:00.000-07:00

by Sylvia Moore of L.A. Media Reform

When word leaked a few days ago that House Energy and Commerce Chairman Henry Waxman had drafted compromise legislation that would effectively neuter strong net neutrality rules, media reformers erupted in protest. Waxman has been a strong proponent of net neutrality, and had reaffirmed his support in a meeting with citizens and members of L.A. Media Reform and Free Press earlier this month. So the news came as a shock. Or perhaps it shouldn’t have been. Lobbyists from the telecommunications industry have literally been inundating members of Congress like flies swarming a piece of meat. I’m quite sure they were breathing down Waxman’s back.

Theories abound as to why Waxman decided to cut a deal with the telecoms – one possible reason being resolving the issue in the best way possible in case the GOP takes over the House in November. But, no matter. The Washington Post reported today that the GOP shot down the bill anyway, and Waxman is urging the Federal Communications Commission to reassert its authority over broadband. Waxman is still pinning his hopes on a bipartisan approach to this issue, but he realizes it probably ain’t likely.

The fight over keeping corporations from treating the Internet like their own personal fiefdom illustrates the sorry state of America’s electoral system. The fact that Waxman feels that he even has to compromise with a bunch of amoral profitmongers, who, I believe, wouldn’t hesitate to put Web users in digital straitjackets if that will pad their bottom line, shows that the needs of ordinary Americans count for less and less in Congress. If we Americans want different behavior from our political representatives, we’re going to have to support politicians who are going to work to take away corporations’ ability to meddle in our democracy.

I wonder if the Democratic Party leadership realizes how a free and open Internet is the only thing right now that is keeping the party competitive with the Republicans in the wake of Citizens United, the Supreme Court case that practically handed the electoral store to the monied interests. It was the blogosphere that enabled the Democrats to retake Congress in 2006, and it was the legions of small donors who used the Web to help put Barack Obama in the White House.

The corporate media cabal made up of network and cable television, print newspapers and talk radio simply does not put the progressive point of view on an even playing field with the conservative one. The Internet is the only place one can turn to for an alternative to the conventional, corporate-dominated Beltway thinking of the traditional media.

Non-Profit News, via Scott Lewis, CEO of VOSD

2010-09-25T08:13:00.000-07:00

What's that site I'm linking to, you ask? This is something we've launched to handle the string of inquiries we get from academics, media across the country and people who want to start something similar to what we've done here. NPJHub.org will be completed soon with profiles of our siblings around the country and, we hope, an active blog and source of the best new analysis of the nonprofit news business model.

Let’s do a quick review: A for-profit organization is owned by an individual or shareholders and its purpose, its mission, is to deliver dividends and value to them.

A nonprofit, on the other hand, has no shareholders, no owners. Instead, it has a mission. Bringing in money is a big factor in whether the organization fulfills that mission.

Revenue promiscuity means that we have a mission — to do public service journalism — and we’re cultivating an ever-growing collection of ways to pay for it. Most of us are obsessively pursuing all kinds of revenue sources, from syndicating content, to donations from the masses, to major contributions and grants, to corporate sponsors and advertising.

Revenue promiscuity is the product of a survival instinct. When you want to survive, you do things differently than if you want to make money for shareholders.

For instance, a for-profit start-up and its funders do not usually have much patience.

Entrepreneurs come up with a plan. They find investors. They give it a go. Maybe they stumble a bit so they find more investors and on and on and then, one of two things happen:
1) the idea works, revenue comes in and they send the kids to private school. Or
2) they fail for the last time, and unable to find more investors, decide to bury the idea. All of it can happen very fast.

The journalism professor Jay Rosen, from NYU, has compiled a menu of all the “sources of subsidy” a news entrepreneur could choose.

What is sustainability? We believe sustainability is actually defined by developing such a diversity of revenue sources that no matter what happens to one of them or a group of them, your organization can survive. It’s like a well diversified investment portfolio: set up to grow but absorb losses without catastrophe in bad times.

At our core, our ability to appeal to the entire community to support our effort and mission is itself our most valuable asset. And it is one that a shareholder owned — a for-profit — entity does not have available.

Experts from "Sleeping Around the Non-Profit Edge" - by Scott Lewis, CEO of Voice of San Diego

Net Neutrality Update

2010-09-18T03:48:00.000-07:00

Republished from 'the full buzz' at the The Berkman Center for Internet & Society at Harvard University.

"Now the FCC has re-entered the picture with its September “further inquiry,” and done so with a deft touch. First, by seeking additional comments, the document makes it clear that its “NPRM” — a proceeding to craft rules to promote an open Internet that many thought the Comcast decision had derailed — is still alive. Exactly how any rules will be made is not discussed; instead, the FCC notes the areas where consensus has been reached: some conception of net neutrality is a good idea, at least on non-wireless platforms; that network practices should be disclosed; that net neurality shouldn’t preclude reasonable network management practices by ISPs; and that case-by-case, flexible adjudication beats lengthy and complex rules." -
From Jonathan Zittrain's blog post "Net neutrality: the FCC takes back the ball"

About Jonathan Zittrain:
(Bonus: All of the posts from Concurring Opinions' recent symposium on Professor Zittrain's "The Future of the Internet" can be found here.)

Now time for some REAL NEWS

2010-09-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

INVERTED TOTALITARIANISM
Chris Hedges

Click Here If You Can't See The News

(San Diego could produce this kind of online media, but the locals either don't have the funds or refuse to work together. Wonder why?)

The National Entertainment State

2010-08-16T00:16:00.000-07:00

View this Chart of the Six Media Corporations that own US Broadcasting from 2006, the Nation Magazine. Add Google/Verizon and Apple to either side.

Where do Americans get their news and who controls what they consume? Ten years ago, when The Nation first charted a map of the National Entertainment State, four colossal conglomerates spread across the media landscape. Today, that map has significantly changed, because of the rise of new media and a vigorous reform movement, but the old corporate giants still hold most of the cards. Google, Yahoo! and Microsoft are quickly rising, but are not included in this chart because they do not own — not yet, anyway — the major television networks, which remain Americans’ #1 source of news.

Illustration by Peter Ahlberg.
Research: Emily Biuso, Sarah Goldstein.

Is the Internet DOOMED?

2010-08-14T23:55:00.000-07:00

Watch the Story on PBS.org

Watch the full episode. See more Need To Know.

Here is what I know:
In an age of conflict, the internet unites us.
In an age of ignorance, the internet educates everyone.
In an age of fascism, the internet gives one hope.
If we loose the internet, the same way we lost the broadcast media.
If money chooses what you can learn, and what you don't, then this is the end of America.

Google has gone to the DARK SIDE.
Do something.

“What happened to radio, happened to television, and then it happened to cable. If we are not diligent, then it will happen to the Internet [creating] a media plantation for the 21st Century dominated by the same corporate and ideological forces that have controlled the media for the last 50 years.”
Source: Bill Moyers, keynote speech (comparing big media corporations to plantation owners and American media consumers to their slaves) opening 2007 Media Reform Conference, Jan. 12, 2007

Join Common Cause for Net-Neutrality

2010-08-12T16:37:00.000-07:00

As the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) considers how to write the rules to protect freedom and openness on the Internet, who should they turn to: consumers like you and me, or profit-hungry telecommunications companies?

Verizon and Google announced this week that they have it all figured out when it comes to net neutrality.* They unveiled a policy framework that would give telecom companies the right to speed up or slow down certain kinds of content, and to block outright applications or content on wireless networks.

That sounds downright scary to me.

Please join me in telling the FCC to say 'thanks, but no thanks' to the Verizon/Google plan.

It shouldn't be up to giant corporations to decide the rules and regulations that govern their behavior.

The FCC should act immediately to protect the long-standing principle of net neutrality so that the Internet can continue to grow, fuel innovation and facilitate communication.

Today the Internet serves as our "town square" -- where we talk to one another, exchange views, find information from many diverse sources of news and opinion, blog, contact candidates, and engage in our democracy. We must make certain that for-profit interests don't destroy the (small-d) democratic culture of the web.

Please tell the FCC to reject the Verizon/Google plan, and act immediately to put strong net neutrality protections in place.

Sincerely,

Bob Edgar
and the rest of the team at Common Cause

The Danger Of Content Mills

2010-08-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

Here is an interesting interview from Media Shift on PBS by Mark Galser on "Content Farms" which mine the internet trying to get high search engine rankings and in the process create lots of bad information to sell product. Often produced by low wage workers in places like India, I've seen these proliferate to the point where they are even generated by computer and they are sickening. Professional journalists worry over their loss of wages due to the dilution of mind share, and complain that the information is un-vetted and potentially dangerous. The take away is that for good journalism you must set the agenda not react to the audience, you must be on the ground at the event, an you must be 'local' to your audience, that is, accessible and part of their community.

I especially like Ari Soglin's Patch.com local journalist model, because it has a place for professional journalists as mobile reporters and editors, as well as the occasional freelancer who specializes on events or issues.

FCC fails

2010-07-29T05:30:00.000-07:00

Just because a company owns the INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE does NOT give it the right to regulate which information we will be 'allowed' to communicate! Any company that passes information from one state to another falls under Federal Jurisdiction. Thus, ALL INTERNET SERVICE PROVIDERS should fall under FCC jurisdiction. COMCAST is an interstate information infrastructure corporation, and must not be allowed to regulate free speech.

Here’s the deal: under the Bush FCC, the agency decided to classify and treat broadband Internet service providers the same as any Internet applications company like Facebook or Lexis-Nexis, placing broadband providers outside of the legal framework that traditionally applied to the companies that offer two-way communications services.

That’s the loophole that let Comcast wiggle out from under the agency’s thumb.
Change it back

There’s an easy fix here: The FCC can change broadband back to a “communications service,” which is where it should have been in the first place. By reclassifying broadband, all of these questions about authority will fall away and the FCC can pick up where it left off – protecting the Internet for the public and bridging the digital divide.

Legend Daniel Schorr, Dead at 93'

2010-07-23T23:15:00.000-07:00

Legends of News Reporting:
Edward R. Morrow (April 25, 1908 – April 27, 1965)
Walter Cronkite (November 4, 1916 – July 17, 2009)
Bill Moyers
Ted Koppel
...
Daniel Schorr ( August 31, 1916 - July 23, 2010)

Following several years as a stringer, in 1953 he joined CBS News as one of the recruits of Edward R. Murrow (becoming part of the later generation of Murrow's Boys). In 1955, with the post-Stalin thaw in the Soviet Union, he received accreditation to open a CBS bureau in Moscow. In June 1957, he obtained an exclusive interview with Nikita Khrushchev, the Soviet Communist party chief.

Schorr attracted the anger of the Nixon White House. In 1971, after a dispute with White House aides, Schorr's friends, neighbors, and co-workers were questioned by the FBI about his habits. They were told that Schorr was under consideration for a high-level position in the environmental area. Schorr knew nothing about it. Later, during the Watergate hearings, it was revealed that Nixon aides had drawn up what became known as Nixon's Enemies List, and Daniel Schorr was on that list. Famously, Schorr read the list aloud on live TV, surprised to be reading his own name in that context.

Schorr provoked intense controversy in 1976 when he received and made public the contents of the secret Pike Committee report on illegal CIA and FBI activities.[2] Called to testify before Congress, he refused to identify his source on First Amendment grounds, risking imprisonment.

Schorr won three Emmy Awards for his television journalism. Schorr is survived by his wife, Lisbeth; a son, Jonathan Schorr; a daughter, Lisa Kaplan; a son-in-law, Alex Kaplan; and a granddaughter, Nora Rose.

I listened to Daniel Schorr's commentaries and reports on NPR for the last eighteen years. He was an old-school professional ass-kicker, balls-out truth-teller, and rock wit. I'll miss him.

The Golden Age of Journalism, Huffington Post

2010-07-19T15:13:00.000-07:00

The Huffington Post provides a platform for those who want to express themselves, a public square. But the editors and journalists who are required to write on deadline are paid. The difference between journalism and advocacy is clear, bloggers can advocate, journalists can not that's why they get paid.

"All you really have is you time and attention. I use my compassion for stories where I can make a difference. Stop wasting your time on stories of personal tragedy and focus upon stories of national significance.

Find one individual affected by the significant issue, and tell their story from a personal point of view. Show the effects of the issue in a way that reaches your audience emotionally, and thus moves them to action.

The job of journalists is to ferret out the truth. Go beyond the Left/Right narrative. Move past the assumption that every issue has a Liberal and Conservative side, and concentrate on the facts.

Don't work in some fantasy world of journalistic objectivity, but in pursuit of the truth of the issue.

People don't want to just consume news, they want to engage and tell the stories of their time. The new media is for a consumer in motion.

Self expression for millions of people is the new form of entertainment. The old media don't understand why people will spend 8 hrs a day writing blogs for free? But they are content with people who want to spend 8 hrs a day watching bad TV.

Now that everyone can participate in the media, engage in the news, people want to know who to believe. Now is the time for 'editors'. The job is to tell the truth, and tell stories that capture the imagination and the hearts (emotions), we must earn the people's trust. Trust is the new value.

Many people compare Fox News and MSNBC as if they were equals, but although they both tell their 'opinion stories' with obvious passion, Fox works in pure fantasy while MSNBC acts passionately on objective facts. Fiction is not the equal of Non-Fiction.

We journalists should not be above the conflict, we are not gentile narrators, we must become effective communicators, and that requires shouting when their is an emergency. But to cry wolf, again and again, as a pho-news reporter, or to distract people with meaningless and irrelevant gossip while the house burns down, is nothing less than criminal, this is the tragedy of such propaganda." - A. Huffington

Move your money campaign.

Online Book "The New Journalism"

Media Consolidation = keeping the people ignorant of their government

2010-07-18T15:37:00.000-07:00

The Federal Communications Commission is reviewing its media ownership rules for the fourth time since 2000, and the National Association of Broadcasters is again asking the commission to ease up on the regulation.

Specifically, the NAB wants the FCC to eliminate rules restricting cross-ownership of newspapers and broadcast stations, relax radio station ownership rules as well as rules restricting ownership of television stations in certain markets. Media watchdog group, Free Press, immediately petitioned the FCC, criticizing the NAB’s request, and noting that the commission has gone too far already in allowing more media company consolidation. Free Press Policy Counsel Corie Wright:

“The FCC’s media ownership rules are critical to ensuring that the public’s primary news and information sources do not become consolidated in the hands of a few companies. Moreover, the so-called efficiencies of consolidation have not materialized. Instead, the cost of consolidating has placed a number of companies that might otherwise be profitable in dire straits, resulting in disinvestment in newsgathering and job losses for journalists.
“We urge the Commission to resist industry pressures to further weaken ownership limits. Companies that have made poor business decisions should not be rewarded with permission to engage in even more media consolidation that would further injure competition and diversity among local media outlets. It is not the Commission’s job to protect industry profit margins. Rather, its role is to promulgate and enforce regulations designed to promote competition, diversity and localism so that the public interest is served.”

A new age of journalism.

2010-07-18T13:33:00.000-07:00

From Sylvia Moore, of L.A. Media Reform - How to be a Mainstream Media Journalist. Made using a novel “text to movie” website called xtranormal, this is just the beginning of a revolution. Soon we will not need reporters or journalists at all, we can replace them with computers programed to seem just like real people.

http://www.xtranormal.com/

Using Intertubes to beat CENSORSHIP.

2010-07-10T16:43:00.000-07:00

(Can there be legitimate students at a place called Georgia Tech?) Read More Here.

Trying to get out in front of what they call a censorship arms race, a team of researchers has come up with technology that lets users exchange messages through heavily censored networks in countries such as China and North Korea in hidden channels via user-generated content sites such as Twitter or Flickr.

Researchers with the Georgia Tech School of Computer Science will demo the technology known as Collage for the first time at next month's Usenix security conference and ideally have a working package the public can download by the end of August. The researchers will have a test version of the Collage tool here.

15 genius algorithms that aren't boring

Collage has two components: a message vector layer for embedding content in cover traffic; and a rendezvous mechanism to allow parties to publish and retrieve messages in the cover traffic, according to one of the Collage authors Sam Burnett, a researcher with Georgia Tech.

Technically speaking Collage is written in Python and uses an image steganography tool calledOutguess for hiding content in images and a text steganography tool called Snow for embedding content in text. "We recognize that steganography techniques offer no formal security guarantees; in fact, these schemes can and have been subject to various attacks," the researchers noted.

NPR TOTN covers Videotaping Police

2010-07-08T20:34:00.000-07:00

Charged with a felony, "unlawful surveillance", for recording your own arrest.

"The Los Angeles police beating of Rodney King resonated, in part, because it was caught on video tape. The images played out on television news programs night after night. Now, twenty years later, almost everyone with a recent model cell phone also has a video camera in their pocket. And many police departments struggle to draw the line between citizen's and journalists' right to film arrests and their officers' rights to privacy. In several cases, bystanders recording an arrest were handcuffed themselves — charged with illegal electronic surveillance. Other departments hope to add wearable cameras to their officers, to capture every detail of every arrest. Neal Conan talks about the rules, and your rights, when it comes to taping police arrests."

Police, PLEASE ARREST ME FOR RECORDING YOU, I NEED THE MONEY!

Secret Back Room Deal for Big Corporations

2010-06-23T12:38:00.000-07:00

The Wall Street Journal just revealed that the FCC has been convening secret backroom meetings with phone and cable lobbyists to cut a deal on Net Neutrality.

The closed-door meetings have included a small group of lobbyists from AT&T, Verizon and Google. The goal, according to insiders, is to "reach consensus" on rules of the road for the Internet.

This is outrageous. The FCC can’t ignore the public's demand for Net Neutrality and then quietly give control over the Internet to a few massive corporations.

Tell Obama and the FCC: Stop These Secret Meetings

President Obama pledged to "take a back seat to no one" in his support for Net Neutrality. To head the FCC, he appointed Julius Genachowski, the man who crafted his pro-Net Neutrality platform in 2008.

But even after millions of people joined Obama’s call for Net Neutrality, FCC staff is huddling with industry lobbyists in secret to cut a deal that could leave the free and open Internet in jeopardy.

This plot is all too familiar. We've seen it before, during the BP oil disaster and the subprime mortgage meltdown, when government officials put the interests of big business ahead of those of the public.

Now, the same thing is happening to the Internet. We can’t let the one agency tasked with oversight of communications strike secret deals that undermine Net Neutrality.

Don’t Let Lobbyists Determine the Future of the Internet

Sign our letter to President Obama and the FCC to end the secret meetings and guarantee that the public -- including the tens of millions of Americans who use the Internet every day and in every way -- is given a seat at the table.

Thank you,

Josh Silver
President and CEO
Free Press
www.savetheinternet.com
www.freepress.net

The Berkman Center for Internet and Society at Harvard Hosts Law.gov Inishitive

2010-06-09T22:01:00.000-07:00

Next Thursday (6/17) and Friday (6/18) the Harvard Law School Library and the Berkman Center for Internet & Society will host two workshops focused on the Law.gov initiative, a proposed registry and repository of all primary legal materials of the United States. The workshops, organized by Carl Malamud, President of Public.Resource.Org, aim to convene advocates for the public domain, lawyers, policy makers, librarians, archivists, students, and all those interested to discuss issues around access to primary materials in Massachusetts, and also to reflect on the national series of workshops held in the past year in order to identify core principles and policy mechanisms for public information.

The workshops will feature Carl Malamud, Berkman Faculty Co-Director John Palfrey, Harvard Law Professor Lawrence Lessig, the Honorable Dina E. Fein, Boston College Librarian Joan Shear, Harvard Law Cyberlaw Clinic Director Phil Malone, and many more.

We hope you will join us for one or both of these events. To learn more or register, please visit, More about the workshops.

Are cell phone cameras the most dangerous weapon against police?

2010-06-04T02:33:00.000-07:00

In response to a flood of Facebook and YouTube videos that depict police abuse, a new trend in law enforcement is gaining popularity. In at least three states, it is now illegal to record any on-duty police officer.

Even if the encounter involves you and may be necessary to your defense, and even if the recording is on a public street where no expectation of privacy exists.

The legal justification for arresting the "shooter" rests on existing wiretapping or eavesdropping laws, with statutes against obstructing law enforcement sometimes cited. Illinois, Massachusetts, and Maryland are among the 12 states in which all parties must consent for a recording to be legal unless, as with TV news crews, it is obvious to all that recording is underway.

When the police act as though cameras were the equivalent of guns pointed at them, there is a sense in which they are correct. Cameras have become the most effective weapon that ordinary people have to protect against and to expose police abuse. And the police want it to stop.

Almost without exception, police officials have staunchly supported the arresting officers. This argues strongly against the idea that some rogue officers are overreacting or that a few cops have something to hide. "Arrest those who record the police" appears to be official policy, and it's backed by the courts.

The selection of video "shooters" targeted for prosecution do, indeed, suggest a pattern of either reprisal or an attempt to intimidate. The only people who seem prone to prosecution are those who embarrass or confront the police, or who somehow challenge the law. If true, then the prosecutions are a form of social control to discourage criticism of the police or simple dissent.

Read More ...

San Diego News Network apparently out of business.

2010-06-01T14:12:00.000-07:00

According to reports in the San Diego Reader and The Voice of San Diego - Neil Santuria is calling it quits and selling out.
SDNN got the engine running then ran out of gas.

"This has happened before. Neil will say one thing publicly but privately you know it is not as rosy as what he is making it out to be," says William Yelles, former managing editor of SDNN. Some think SDNN may have resembled a Potemkin Village all along; it was never what it was made out to be, and was being prettified for the public offering and/or sale of the enterprise. - said the Reader

One SDNN writer blithly commented:

"I think I will go into the lemonade business. The little girl across the street made $75 for the day selling lemonade for 3 hours on Memorial Day... a vast improvement over the big $25 per weekly column I was paid at SDNN...after 8 months of pro bono...the things you do for charity!"

William Yelles, former managing editor of the online SDNN, says that one year ago, in May of 2009, the founder, Neil Senturia, called Yelles to La Jolla and said the company was broke and would lay off everybody except Yelles and somebody on the advertising side. The next month, however, Gary Jacobs, son of the Qualcomm founder, put in some money. Yelles believes Jacobs put $500,000 in twice, and an Orange County investor put in at least $750,000. In fall of 2009, Senturia said the online operation in San Diego had exceeded expectations, and the company (the parent is named U.S. Local News Network) would expand to 40 markets. However, Yelles does not believe the company ever had a profitable month. Early this year, the company said it had raised $3.18 million from investors to be used for its expansion to the outlying markets. One source says that investors (besides Jacobs and the Orange County angel) put in $100,000 each. Senturia and his partner Barbara Bry are said to have contributed $140,000. (That is not pinned down.) U.S. Local News Network talked of an initial public offering.

I have heard from a reliable source that Senturia initially asked a million dollars for the enterprise, but at the end of talks, the price was down to zero. I reached Mike McKinnon, majority owner of the company controlling KUSI. "We've had discussions with him [Senturia]," says McKinnon. "He's a nice fellow, working hard, but we are not ready to make a move in that direction." Continues McKinnon, "We will probably be in that business within a year," but, from what he says, I don't think he would enter by buying SDNN. I also talked with Nancy Sullivan, vice president of communications of the Los Angeles Times. "We have undertaken a couple of ventures" with the parent of SDNN (particularly the La Jolla/Del Mar paper), she says, but she tells me I will have to get information from the San Diego company, which did not respond to repeated calls and emails over the weekend. I do not see how it would be possible to continue putting out that paper without the creators of content, who have been severed.

FreePress Summit, network neutrality

2010-05-21T13:46:00.000-07:00

Listen in on a Facebook Lobbiest as he gets OWNED at FreePress Summit, in Washington DC.

Comment on Comcast/NBC Merger

2010-05-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

Add your voice to the petition to the FCC and stop the merger of Comcast and NBC. Media Consolidation on this scale helps no-one. It only creates artificial fortunes for the owners of media. We need to restore the broadcast airwaves to the people of the United States of America.

FRIDAY – FCC at STANFORD

2010-05-19T13:43:00.000-07:00

The FCC is coming to Stanford on Friday, May 21st, for a public hearing on the impact media consolidation and tech innovation has had on journalism. This is part of their 2010 review of media ownership laws. You probably remember that during the Bush administration the FCC relaxed media ownership laws – particularly the 30 year-old newspaper/broadcast cross-ownership ban (a move we have shown will hurt newsroom jobs and lead to less local news)

Even though President Obama has opposed media consolidation, Big Media has been beating down the door at the FCC. They are pushing the Obama FCC to go even farther than the Bush FCC and dramatically relax media ownership laws, letting absentee Big Media giants control even more local media.

This fight is coming to Stanford on Friday, and we need to turn out a crowd to show the FCC the public still cares about media consolidation.

What: Media Ownership Public Hearing
When: May 21, 2010,10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. (the public comment section is at 11:45 and 3:30)
Where: Stanford University, Dinkelspiel Auditorium, 471 Lagunita Drive, Stanford, CA
*This event is free

The public hearing on Friday will have time for local communities to weigh in on these issues. We need to be sure the public interest is strongly represented or the only people they will hear from are giant companies.

Please share this broadly with others.

Some of the panelists include Tim Westergren, Founder of Pandora Music, Eddy W. Hartenstein, Publisher and CEO, Los Angeles Times, Jim Joyce, President, National Association of Broadcast Employees and Technicians, and Vice President, Communications Workers of America and Alan Mutter, Publisher, Reflections of a Newsosaur, and Tiffiniy Ying Cheng, Co-Founder, Participatory Culture Foundation. The full agenda is here: http://hraunfoss.fcc.gov/edocs_public/attachmatch/DOC-298195A1.pdf

If you have questions or want to help with turnout – please contact me.

Josh Stearns
Program Manager
Free Press :: www.freepress.net
SaveTheNews :: www.savethenews.org
Twitter: @jcstearns
Phone: 413.585.1533 ext. 204

--
Mera Szendro Bok
Communications and Information Officer
New Media Rights
3100 5th Ave. Suite B
San Diego, CA 92103
619-591-8870
mera@newmediarights.org,
www.newmediarights.org

Follow New Media Rights on Twitter:

www.twitter.com/NewMediarights

Become a fan on Facebook:

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Subscribe to our Youtube channel:

http://www.youtube.com/user/newmediarightsstudio

Future Tense from American Public Radio

2010-04-27T13:05:00.000-07:00

What is the
Public Insight Network?

The Public Insight Network is you and thousands of others like you who have agreed to share what they know to help public radio cover the news, find stories, and add depth to our reporting.

As part of Future Tense's Public Insight Network, you have an open line into our newsroom. We'll send you about an e-mail a month asking for your knowledge on issues and stories we are pursuing.

Future Tense is American Public Media's daily "Journal of the Digital Age."

Produced and hosted by Jon Gordon, Future Tense keeps pace with the latest technology topics in daily five-minute capsules from electronic privacy and digital democracy to spam and computer worms.

American Public Media also produces Marketplace,Marketplace Money, Weekend America, Speaking of Faith and other programs.

American Public Media puts audiences first.

American Public Media's mission, vision and values express a commitment to serving the 16 million listeners and over 100,000 contributing members who are better informed, enriched and inspired by the content we provide.

MISSION

Our Mission is to enrich the mind and nourish the spirit, thereby assisting our audiences to enhance their lives, expand perspectives and strengthen their communities.

VISION

We will be the most relevant, innovative and insightful media company in America.

OUR STRATEGY

We will create indispensable content that engages with diverse audiences to connect people with each other, their communities, their country and the world.

The Commonwealth Club of California

2010-04-21T12:12:00.000-07:00

Mission

The mission of The Commonwealth Club of California is to be the leading national forum open to all for the impartial discussion of public issues important to the membership, community and nation.

The Commonwealth Club of California is the nation's oldest and largest public affairs forum, bringing together its more than 18,000 members for over 400 annual events on topics ranging across politics, culture, society and the economy.

Founded in 1903, The Commonwealth Club has played host to a diverse and distinctive array of speakers, from Teddy Roosevelt in 1911 to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, actor Alec Baldwin and author Christopher Hitchens in recent years. Martin Luther King, Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton and Bill Gates have all given landmark speeches at The Club.

As a nonprofit, nonpartisan educational organization, The Commonwealth Club relies on the support of its membership, the Business Council and foundation grants to continue its role in fostering open public discussion in the San Francisco Bay Area and throughout the nation via radio, Internet and television.

The Club has offices in San Francisco and San Jose, with regular events in both cities, as well as programs in the East and North Bay.

For members outside the Bay Area, The Club's weekly radio broadcast - the oldest in the U.S., dating back to 1924 - is carried across the nation on public radio stations. Our web site archive features audio of our recent programs, as well as selected speeches from our long and distinguished history.

The California Report

2010-04-21T10:19:00.000-07:00

KQED Radio, in collaboration with public radio stations throughout California, launched The California Report, a statewide radio news program, on October 2, 1995. Distributed by satellite from the KQED Radio studios in San Francisco, The California Report provides daily coverage of issues, trends, and public policy decisions affecting California and its diverse population. It is carried by more than 30 public radio stations from Arcata to San Diego. Many local station reporters are regular contributors to the program.

The daily morning edition of The California Report, a 9-minute program, airs on KQED 88.5FM Monday through Friday at 5:50am, 6:50am and 8:50am. The Friday afternoon edition, a half-hour magazine, airs on KQED 88.5FM at 4:30pm, 6:30pm and 11:00pm, and brings you in-depth analysis of the week's top news stories, sound-rich radio excursions and commentaries from voices around the state. Please see the California Report tune in page for information about where and when to tune in to The California Report in your area.

About PRI - PUBLIC RADIO INTERNATIONAL

2010-04-15T19:58:00.000-07:00

At Public Radio International, we invite listeners to hear a different voice with content that provides unique perspectives on our interdependent world.

Partnering with public media's most talented producers and hosts, we offer distinctly global voices on PRI's "The World" and BBC World Service. We offer singular, diverse voices on "The Tavis Smiley Show." We present voices of culture, contemporary American life and artistry on "This American Life" and "Studio 360 from PRI and WNYC." And we provide decidedly fresh takes on "WireTap" and "The Sound of Young America."

Mission

Public Radio International's mission is to serve audiences as a distinctive content source for information, insights and cultural experiences essential to living in our diverse, interconnected world.

Core principles

Public Radio International recognizes as core principles:

the central role played by diversity in our nation's past and its importance to our future
the urgent need to understand connections between American life and cultures around the globe
the responsibility of public media to encourage the exchange of ideas and search for common principles fundamental to a civil society and
the power of sound and of the spoken word to engage the mind and nurture the human spirit.

PRI productions

The Takeaway
PRI's Sound & Spirit with Ellen Kushner
Studio 360 from PRI and WNYC
PRI's The World

Distributed programs (sampler)

BBC World Service
Bob Edwards Weekend
Capitol News Connection with PRI
Living on Earth
Michael Feldman's Whad'Ya Know?
Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra
The Sound of Young America
The Tavis Smiley Show
This American Life
To the Best of Our Knowledge
To the Point

National Center For Media Engagement

2010-04-13T23:06:00.000-07:00

National Center for Media Engagement
Mission

The mission of the National Center for Media Engagement is to ensure public media as essential to building community connections across multiple platforms. We provide resources for stations and producers that engage and educate citizens, build sustainable community relationships and stimulate citizen participation.

Our Vision

National Center for Media Engagement is the recognized catalytic leader for community engagement by public broadcasting across all platforms.
We provide vigorous leadership, timely guidance, and finely tuned resources on multiple platforms
We maintain a constant focus on the changing needs of both radio and television stations, as well as national producers of content, and public broadcasting leadership organizations
We carefully follow and experiment with new technologies and what might be considered “best practices” and models, to both create and deliver community engagement initiatives on every platform.

Our Guiding Principles

Accelerate change within public broadcasting from one-way communicators to essential community institutions
Encourage public broadcasting to put community first and content second
Actively support public broadcasters to convene, connect, and collaborate on all platforms: on-air, online, in person

Services We Provide

For Stations
An online portal of essential community engagement knowledge, resources and links

A multitude of resources including a station directory, stories of impact, an online planning tool and common grant application, as well as hands on tools to engage citizens
Outcomes assessment tools to gauge community impact and station investment

Continuous Learning Opportunities

Peer-to-peer Network: Including monthly dialogues that convene, connect, and encourage collaboration among public broadcasting peers
Pipeline, Pipeline Plus & annual videoconference to access engagement initiatives
Coaching and consultation from our staff to help you strategize and problem solve.

For National Content Producers & Initiatives

Partnerships for Learning

Grants administration and management through our online tool
Promotion and system-wide communications
Coaching and technical assistance in rolling out a national initiative
Professional development assistance

Customized Fee-Based Services

Assessment and Survey Development (including online tool design & construction)
Community Engagement Research and Development
Overall Project Management of Community Engagement Endeavors

A taste of TED

2010-04-12T21:28:00.000-07:00

Every Year TED comes to Long Beach, CA, and for two days speakers are requested to give the speech of their life in 22 minutes.

The People's Post

2010-04-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

The People's Post - from Voice of San Diego

The People's Post is a project of The San Diego Foundation's Regional Information Initiative, a venture launched in partnership with the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation to inform and engage the region's diverse communities through innovative use of digital media. Nonprofit partners include the voiceofsandiego.org, Media Arts Center San Diego and the San Diego County Library.

The People's Post strengthens civil society by enabling San Diego County residents to record, share and value their own stories. It fosters a broader, deeper understanding of the insights and experiences of others in the region. It encourages public dialogue, builds community knowledge and empowers positive social change.

The People's Post is made possible through the support of the Gertrude H. & Arthur C. Anderson Fund, the Mary E. Hield and Robert R. Hield Endowment Fund, the Colonel Frank C. Wood Memorial Fund and the Woolley Fund of The San Diego Foundation; and a matching grant from the John S. & James L. Knight Foundation.

For more information or to access the growing collection of stories, visit ThePeoplesPost.org or a San Diego County Library.

The People’s Post gives San Diegans a way to record and share their unique, personal and true stories. It’s easy to record your story.
1. CONTACT the San Diego County Library at 858.495.5037 or info@thepeoplespost.org to schedule an appointment with a community videographer.
2. DEVELOP your story idea about local happenings:
an important event an inspiring person a significant place a meaningful personal item
3. RECORD your story for free with a community videographer; get a free DVD of your finished video.
4. SHARE your story with family and friends. Your story may also be shared online at The People’s Post. For more information, or to view the growing collection of stories, visit www.ThePeoplesPost.org.

About Miro Community

Miro Community helps communities gather their videos into one place. It's a project of the Participatory Culture Foundation.

HULU.com

2010-04-12T06:03:00.000-07:00

Company

Founded in March 2007, Hulu is operated independently by a dedicated management team with offices in Los Angeles, New York, Chicago and Beijing. NBC Universal, News Corp., The Walt Disney Company, Providence Equity Partners and the Hulu team share in the ownership stake of the company.

Mission

Hulu's mission is to help people find and enjoy the world's premium video content when, where and how they want it. As we pursue this mission, we aspire to create a service that users, advertisers, and content owners unabashedly love.

Overview

Hulu is an online video service that offers hit TV shows, movies and clips at Hulu.com and other online destination sites — anytime in the U.S. For more details on Hulu's service, check out the Hulu product tour.

Content: Hulu brings together a large selection of videos from over 200 leading content companies, including FOX, NBC Universal, ABC, ABC Family, Biography, Lionsgate, Endemol, MGM, MTV Networks, National Geographic, Digital Rights Group, Paramount, PBS, Sony Pictures Television, Warner Bros. and more. Users can choose from more than 1,700 current primetime TV hits such as The Simpsons, 30 Rock, LOST, Glee and The Office the morning after they air; classics like Buffy the Vampire Slayer, The A-Team, Airwolf and Married...with Children; movies like Last of the Mohicans and Basic Instinct; documentaries like Super Size Me, Crawford and The Times of Harvey Milk; and clips from Saturday Night Live; web originals like Dorm Life; and other popular TV shows and movies.

User Experience

Hulu is focused on quality and convenience and strives to create the best possible online video experience.

Hulu gives users the ability to customize their viewing experience online.
Hulu allows users to watch favorites or discover new shows anytime — at home or on the road.
Hulu's search feature helps users find any premium video online even if it is not directly available on Hulu.com.

Hulu is easy to use and share. Simply go to www.hulu.com, and click on a video to watch right away.

Hulu does not require a download of any software. Users only need a Flash 10.0.22 enabled computer and an Internet connection to enjoy.
Hulu offers the freedom to share full-length episodes or clips via e-mail or embed on other Web sites, blogs and social networking pages.
Hulu's clipping feature allows users to select a portion of the video they would like to share.

Hulu is free and legal through an advertising supported model.

Videos are available for unlimited streaming; watch favorite shows and clips over and over, for free
Videos contain fewer ads than on TV. Advertisements appear during normal commercial breaks
Hulu acquires the rights to distribute its videos, making them available to users legally

Distribution: Hulu allows users to enjoy great videos on Hulu.com and on 35 other popular Web sites across the Web. Hulu videos are available on AOL, IMDb, MSN, MySpace, and Yahoo! in the U.S. as well as a growing network of personal blogs, fan sites, and other Web sites where users choose to embed the Hulu video player.

Advertising: Hulu gives advertisers an opportunity to associate their brands with premium online video content, connect with highly engaged consumers and extend their reach beyond Hulu.com to Hulu's distribution network. Additionally, Hulu offers and is committed to the continued development of innovative, new advertising experiences. Currently, Hulu partners with over 250 Fortune 500 advertisers including Johnson & Johnson, McDonald's, Visa, American Express, Best Buy, Chili's, DirectTV, GM, Intel, Nissan, State Farm, Unilever, Wal-Mart, Cisco, and Procter & Gamble.

TED vs. FORA

2010-04-12T05:55:00.000-07:00

TED vs. FORA

TED is a small nonprofit devoted to Ideas Worth Spreading. It started out (in 1984) as a conference bringing together people from three worlds: Technology, Entertainment, Design. Since then its scope has become ever broader. Along with the annual TED Conference in Long Beach, California, and the TEDGlobal conference in Oxford UK, TED includes the award-winning TEDTalks video site, the Open Translation Program, the new TEDx community program, this year's TEDIndia Conference and the annual TED Prize.

The annual conferences in Long Beach and Oxford bring together the world's most fascinating thinkers and doers, who are challenged to give the talk of their lives (in 18 minutes).

On TED.com, we make the best talks and performances from TED and partners available to the world, for free. More than 500 TEDTalks are now available, with more added each week. All of the talks feature closed captions in English, and many feature subtitles in various languages. These videos are released under a Creative Commons license, so they can be freely shared and reposted.
Click here to subscribe to TEDTalks video:

Our mission: Spreading ideas.
We believe passionately in the power of ideas to change attitudes, lives and ultimately, the world. So we're building here a clearinghouse that offers free knowledge and inspiration from the world's most inspired thinkers, and also a community of curious souls to engage with ideas and each other. This site, launched April 2007, is an ever-evolving work in progress, and you're an important part of it. Have an idea? We want to hear from you.

FORA.tv

2010-04-12T05:36:00.000-07:00

FORA.tv helps intelligent, engaged audiences get smart. Our users find, enjoy, and share videos about the people, issues, and ideas changing the world.

We gather the web's largest collection of unmediated video drawn from live events, lectures, and debates going on all the time at the world's top universities, think tanks and conferences. We present this provocative, big-idea content for anyone to watch, interact with, and share --when, where, and how they want.

With our community of savvy users and an extensive, growing library of smart videos, FORA.tv is at the forefront of the ongoing integration - and transformation – of the traditional media, TV, cable, and online industries from mass-market to high-quality, high-value content.

FORA.tv was founded in 2005 and is funded by a select group of investors including William R. Hearst III and Adobe Ventures.

ProPublica

2010-04-11T16:04:00.000-07:00

ProPublica is an independent, non-profit newsroom that produces investigative journalism in the public interest. Our work focuses exclusively on truly important stories, stories with “moral force.” We do this by producing journalism that shines a light on exploitation of the weak by the strong and on the failures of those with power to vindicate the trust placed in them.

Profit-margin expectations and short-term stock market concerns, in particular, are making it increasingly difficult for the public companies that control nearly all of our nation’s news organizations to afford—or at least to think they can afford—the sort of intensive, extensive and uncertain efforts that produce great investigative journalism.

We have created an independent newsroom, located in Manhattan and led by some of the nation’s most distinguished editors, and staffed at levels unprecedented for a non-profit organization. Indeed, we believe, this is the largest, best-led and best-funded investigative journalism operation in the United States.

The Sandler Foundation has made a major, multi-year commitment to fund ProPublica. Other philanthropic contributions have been received as well, and more are needed. Click here to donate.
ProPublica is a non-profit corporation, and is exempt from taxes under Section 501(c)(3). It has its own Governing Board, chaired by Herbert Sandler. Mr. Steiger is a member of the Board. A Journalism Advisory Board of leaders in the field has also been assembled.

This American Life

2010-04-11T15:48:00.000-07:00

This American Life is a weekly public radio show broadcast on more than 500 stations to about 1.7 million listeners. It is produced by Chicago Public Radio, distributed by Public Radio International, and has won all of the major broadcasting awards. It is also often the most popular podcast in the country, with more than a half million people downloading each week. From 2006-2008, we produced a television version of This American Life on the Showtime network, which won three Emmys. We're also the co-producers, with NPR News, of the economics podcast and blog Planet Money. And a half dozen stories from the radio show are being developed into films.
The radio show and TV show follow the same format. There’s a theme to each episode, and a variety of stories on that theme. It’s mostly true stories of everyday people, though not always. There’s lots more to the show, but it’s sort of hard to describe. Probably the best way to understand the show is to start at our favorites page, though we do have longer guides to our radio show and our TV show. If you want to dive into the hundreds of episodes we’ve done over the years, there’s an archive of all our old radio shows and listings for all our TV episodes, too.
There are several ways to get the show:

Stream radio episodes for free from the archive
Subscribe to the free weekly podcast
Download the most recent episode a la carte, free, from the homepage
Download old episodes for $0.99 on iTunes
Stream episodes through our iPhone app
Listen on the radio
Purchase CDs of radio episodes and greatest hits collections
Purchase DVDs of our TV seasons
Download TV Season One or Season Two on iTunes

You can also read about shows we're doing on the road, about our staff, about how to submit a story idea, about how to learn to make radio, about our internship program or about about press coverage, check answers to frequently asked questions, or join our group on Facebook.

Story Lab: from the Washington Post

2010-04-10T21:56:00.000-07:00

The Lab is, as you'd expect from the name, an experiment. This is a place for people who are not only curious about what's going on in the world, but also about how the news is gathered and packaged. With the media landscape in turmoil and readers empowered to construct their own windows onto the world, the role of traditional news organizations is ever more in question. We want to add to those questions, and maybe provide some answers along the way.

Story Lab has four main elements:

1) Humility: It's a place where stories will be born, grow and occasionally die. Reporters from the Story Lab team and throughout The Post will come to you with story ideas and ask for the collective wisdom of the readers: Is a concept for a story right? How should it evolve? Can readers help reporters find the sources and scenes that might take us closer to the truth?

2) Transparency: Story Lab is where you can learn more about how stories are reported. "How I got that story" will be a regular feature on Story Lab--including interviews with reporters covering some of the top stories in the news and insights on the journalistic and ethical challenges that we face. Another feature, "What we left out," will be a place for reporters to present aspects of stories that may add depth or insight to the main article.

3) Consequences: In a feature called The Blowback, reporters will open a window onto what happens after a story appears in print and online. As much as we appreciate readers adding their voices in the online comments at the bottom of each article, reporters hear much more from readers by phone, email and even good old snail mail. The discussions that follow publication of a story sometimes add a whole new dimension to the original report, and you'll see those debates unfold here.

4) Craft: If you've come along this far, you're someone who enjoys the craft of writing--and Story Lab's writers are eager to share the best stories of the day. Every weekday morning, we'll present our Pick Story of the Day, which could be from The Post or anywhere else in the world of great writing. And you're invited to add your suggestions of stories that readers shouldn't miss. Post writers will also use Story Lab to talk about their craft and to present interviews with some of the country's top non-fiction writers.

Wikileaks.org

2010-04-09T15:20:00.000-07:00

The internet can be a great leveler, making information available to the common man on the street, but even so there is a price to pay. We can't know what is true until we test it. Wikileaks.org is changing the game.

Powerful forces have come after the site, but without much luck. In 2008, after WikiLeaks posted documents alleging money laundering at the Swiss bank Julius Baer, the firm unsuccessfully tried to shut down its California servers. When the site posted a secret list of websites blacklisted by the German government, including several child pornography sites, the student who ran the German WikiLeaks site was arrested for disseminating kiddie porn. Even the hyper-litigious Church of Scientology has failed to get its materials removed from the site.

If you know something that others should know, keep WikiLeaks.org on speed-dial.

Private For-Profit Corporations VS. People

2010-04-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Please Listen to this dialog at the Center for Media Justice:

The Stories That Never Get Told

2010-04-07T21:01:00.000-07:00

Each week, each day, each minute, there are important stories that are ignored and buried by the corporate media. These are the stories that offend the rich, that slam the powerful, that hold them to account and reveal the secret systems of influence and finance that underlie our capitalist society.

These unknown tales are often complex and detailed, require time and work to tell. They are not the easy, emotional, shock-jock type stories that, like junk food, leave you entertained but empty. They are the underground stories about illegal and illicit power structures, immoral and fraudulent schemes, that pulse beneath the surface.

These omissions, hidden behind the opaque edges of the screen, are the kind of accounts we discover after a lifetime of suffering and call wisdom. But these stories are we loose, all the time.

Why are we so bereft of real news? Why do the major news outlets choose not to cover these stories, why do editors walk away from them? These are hard stories to tell, it takes talent, and that costs. The resources necessary to do one investigative report can equal all the resources required to produce the entire 22 minute news cast (not including commercials).

Add the influence of those who fund commercials, the corporate businesses that employ most of the people in any area, and you can see why an editor at a corporate media outlet might choose a shallower, less challenging story. Why examine the unprofitable details of an ethnic minority problem, or the confusing financial accounts of a corporate land developer, when you can talk about the blond girl who was showing her woo-hoo while getting out of the car?

In San Diego, KPBS did an in-depth report about California Prop.13, but completely omitted from their coverage the fact that holding companies and shell corporations avoid billion$ in property taxes using the Prop.13 tax loop-hole. Why would they omit that?
In San Diego, African-American Media is all but non-existent, yet that community makes up about 10% of the population? Why aren't minority communities represented proportionally in the media?
How many stories do you know about that are un-represented in the traditional press? If you can't think of any, why do you think that is?

Do you feel me?

Check out this web site: Project CENSORED

Welcome to the San Diego Media Justice Log

2010-04-07T19:46:00.000-07:00

The County of San Diego, California, is one of the most embattled areas of nation in terms of the media. Our political and ideological debate is nearly non-existent. The conversation, civil or otherwise, has been shut down by our (mostly right leaning) local media.

The Television Channels are all main-stream or right-leaning in their biased opinions and choice of 'news'. Faux News is the most unbalanced offender, of course, but all the local channels rely upon conservative corporations for their advertising dollars, and thus are very reluctant to offend or investigate any corporate or political wrongdoing. Their concerned with offending their audience of conservative business and military viewers.

Their are glimmers of hope. KPBS our local NPR Radio and TV station at SDSU attempts to be journalistically neutral regarding most issues (with some seriously questionable omissions) . Other on-line sources of news, like Voice of San Diego and the East County Magazine, also attempt ethical journalism. But these fringe sources of good news content must be sough out, and lack a broad audience.

In San Diego County, we lack the resources and the will to work together to produce progressive media models. Non-profit media and social businesses only evolve when the soil they grow out of is fertile and the sunlight is bright. Without water, in the desert of conservative San Diego, every new media attempt seems to wither and die.

In other parts of the country, other communities inflicted by unbalanced media have begun to organize and make change. This website will attempt to log these communities, to link you to them, and provide hope for the San Diego Community.