Vigilant broadcast media is part of civic responsibility in America.
"The Founding Fathers were smart enough to realize that if you monopolize the tools to forge ideas, you get tyranny." - Jim Pearson, A.K.A. D.J. Him;
"Quis custodiet ipsos custodes?"
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.
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
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!)
- Challenge corporate media with TRUTH. - Share the latest videos from Brave New Films. - Give input on projects that are in development. - MAKE A DIFFERENCE!
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.
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:
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.