tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-52008982011-06-08T02:37:04.001-04:00We Want the Airwaves! blogDocumenting the decline of free speech in the mass media (and the fight to retain it).
Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comBlogger821100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1170441692646343102007-02-02T13:40:00.000-05:002007-02-02T13:41:32.660-05:00Fighting for itI heard this guy interviewed on Sam Seder's show Wednesday*, and he was talking about how the FCC is trying again to allow more media consolidation - basically, to remove all restrictions on a single media company dominating any and all markets. That means it's time for everybody to start leaning on your reps about how we need to roll back to the pre-Murdoch limits on media Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1130267561893436922005-10-25T15:11:00.000-04:002005-10-25T15:12:41.900-04:00The sorry state of The New York TimesAtrios:A letter writer to Romenesko makes a point I was previously trying to make but does so much more succintly.As the New York Times has learned, to its apparent chagrin, when a newspaper quotes anonymous sources, it is substituting its credibility for that of the source. Given the current public opinion of American journalism, should the Times be using itsAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1124278457525230292005-08-17T07:31:00.000-04:002005-08-17T07:34:17.530-04:00Fighting back against the RIAAFrom Techdirt:Someone Finally Fighting Back Against RIAA Lawsuits In CourtEver since the RIAA started filing lawsuits directly against people for sharing music online, we've wondered why no one fought back and took the case to court in the US. As the courts in Canada have noted, simply having the IP address of someone you believe to be sharing an unauthorized file Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1109502620744106832005-02-27T05:02:00.000-05:002005-02-27T06:10:20.746-05:00The False Mathematics of the RIAA by Barry Ritholtz says that downloaders buy songs they would never buy and the industry's current practice of failing to develop talent tailored to the larger audience and blaming poor sales on file-sharing is mismanagement. The article also cites some useful sources:Balding Rockers and Big MoneyJOHN LELANDNYT, Sunday, February 13Napster-to-Go reviewed, math Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1106920613104705012005-01-28T08:51:00.000-05:002005-01-28T08:57:59.183-05:00White House gives up on Powell's attempts to to turn FCC into nothing more than censor and anti-Democratic hit machine
From The New York Times, White House Drops Effort to Relax Media Ownership Rules:The Bush administration has decided to abandon the effort by Michael K. Powell, the outgoing chairman of the Federal Communications Commission, to relax the regulations that have prevented the Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1103390920118603322004-12-18T13:27:00.000-05:002004-12-18T12:28:40.116-05:00Bill Moyers' great work
NOW: For the nearly 20 years she has been in Congress, Louise Slaughter (D-NY) has fought for fairness on the airwaves. Her latest legislation on the topic is HR 4710, "The MEDIA Act," which would reinstate the fairness doctrine and ensure that broadcasters present discussions of conflicting views on issues of public importance. Read the transcript of a web exclusive Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1103170347543592472004-12-15T23:10:00.000-05:002004-12-15T23:12:27.543-05:00From Steve Clemons:FCC BETS ON MONOPOLIES: TEDDY ROOSEVELT TURNS OVER IN GRAVE
True to President Bush's odd celebration of people and policies seemingly at odds with his own administration, Bush has often celebrated Teddy Roosevelt, who broke up America's big trusts and monopolies -- while Bush and his team build them up.
Today, the FCC ruled in a contentious battle to deny wholesale rate Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1102374863768974222004-12-06T18:10:00.000-05:002004-12-06T18:16:17.876-05:00Survey: Net file-sharing doesn't hurt most musicians
From CNN:
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -- Most musicians and artists say the Internet has helped them make more money from their work despite online file-trading services that allow users to copy songs and other material for free, according to a study released Sunday.
Recording labels and movie studios have hired phalanxes of lawyers to pursue "peer Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1101259306907059492004-11-23T20:12:00.000-05:002004-12-15T23:13:53.976-05:00Media insider Jeff Cohen on media bias
Communications Criticism: Jeff Cohen on the Media and the ElectionIn 2002, I was an on-air commentator at MSNBC, and also senior producer on the "Donahue" show, the most-watched program on the channel. In the last months of the program, before it was terminated on the eve of the Iraq war, we were ordered by management that every time we booked an antiwar Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1093279462723160532004-08-23T12:39:00.000-04:002004-08-23T12:44:22.723-04:00Andy Oram:
Before you speak of information piratesPeople who casually use the term "piracy" to refer to the unauthorized exchange of copyrighted music, movies, books, and software would gain a deeper understanding of the terms they use by picking up the highly readable book Villains of All Nations: Atlantic Pirates in the Golden Age by Marcus Rediker. This recently released study (Beacon Press, Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1092229249445986192004-08-11T08:55:00.000-04:002004-08-11T09:00:49.446-04:00Kerry on Media in The Nation:
As a constant consumer of news, Kerry says he spends a good deal of time thinking about the role of media in a democratic society. And he gets frustrated when television networks fail to live up to the responsibility that should go with a license to use the people's airwaves.
When it was mentioned that many Americans had expressed disappointment with the decision Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1091565222111587782004-08-03T16:29:00.000-04:002004-08-03T16:33:42.110-04:00Paul Krugman's last two articles have critiqued media coverage of the presidential campaign.
Reading the Script-8.3.04
on anti-Democratic media bias, with coverage of the 2004 Democratic Convention as a case study
Triumph of the Trivial-7.30.04
Krugman takes on media superficiality and conservative biased coverage. Click here to read CBS News Producer's response to this article and Krugman's Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1089474105890376412004-07-10T11:39:00.000-04:002004-07-10T11:43:11.203-04:00Eric Alterman, Media Concentration: The Repudiation of Mr. Powell:Our media system: is the result of a wide range of explicit government policies, regulations, and subsidies. Each of the 20 or so giant media firms that dominate the entirety of our media system is the recipient of massive government largesse-what could be regarded as corporate welfare. They receive (for free) one or more of: Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1088211762921114892004-06-25T21:00:00.000-04:002004-06-25T21:02:42.920-04:00Friday's New York Times had two articles on music played or traded on the Internet:
William Fisher wisely says it is stupid for the music industry to hinder web radio in Don't Beat Them, Join Them.
And Kembrew McLeod says - also wisely - that the industry is making a mistake in blaming file-sharing for their problems in Sharethe Music.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1084316068079394402004-05-11T18:51:00.000-04:002004-05-11T18:54:28.080-04:00The mighty windbags
At Salon:
As Gore's experience demonstrated, Democrats ignore these attacks at their peril: Not only do such attacks confirm the preconceptions of Republicans but they shape the thinking of undecided voters and even of Democrats. One of the most frightening experiences I have had in recent years in talking with rank-and-file Democrats is the extent to which they unconsciouslyAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1079190796156647362004-03-13T10:13:00.000-05:002004-03-13T10:16:24.466-05:00First They Came for the Shock Jocks
by Ted Rall
Ironically two of the hard right's recent high-profile speech martyrs, Bill Maher and Howard Stern, are libertarians--a group whose distrust of big government traditionally prompts them to vote Republican. ABC, a subsidiary of the Walt Disney Company--a major political contributor to Bush's 2000 presidential campaign and other Republicans--Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1078666501583478152004-03-07T08:35:00.000-05:002004-03-07T08:38:01.546-05:00Rall: NYTimes.com Pulled Comic Because of Conservatives - Rall is certain this is just cowardice on the part of the NYT in the face of freeper attacks. He's been writing about it on Rallblog.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1078666077769450712004-03-07T08:27:00.000-05:002004-03-07T08:30:57.826-05:00Stern Feels Bush-Whacked End Is Near - Howard's continuing rant on how turning anti-Bush is what really caused Clear Channel to drop his show.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1078664024622660472004-03-07T07:53:00.000-05:002004-03-07T07:58:48.000-05:00Quick links
Cut details new calls for Internet Censorship in the UK in the wake of another sensational crime.
Eric Boehlert looks at the sudden severing of ties between Clear Channel and Howard Stern, in Salon.
Pacific Views on "a bill that would allow database companies to own facts":I note with alarm that such a bill would almost certainly make the majority of my blog posts (and most Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1077449811512954232004-02-22T06:36:00.000-05:002004-02-22T06:39:32.826-05:00Bush and the Media:
New Threats to the Public Interest
Kevin Healey
Bush and the Media offers a detailed, well-documented account of the various media strategies the Bush administration has employed since taking office.
[...]
This problem is well illustrated in remarks made by Michael Powell, FCC chairman under George W. Bush, when he was asked in a press conference what he thought the term "Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1066491351460340572003-10-18T11:35:00.000-04:002003-10-18T11:36:36.580-04:00Bill Moyers on Big MediaThe flimflam-ery goes on. In 33 other cities, stations that are supposed to be competitors have found clever ways to undermine the existing rules, mergers and takeovers, for example. Remember when Viacom married CBS and Rupert Murdoch's News Corp ponied up for the television stations owned by Chris-Craft? Those deals put both conglomerates in violation of the rule that no Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1060050421951326392003-08-04T22:27:00.000-04:002003-08-04T22:27:01.873-04:00Stealing The Internet Ever stop to wonder what is really happening to the Internet these days?The crackdown by the music industry on illegal downloading tells just part of the story. Even with the dot-com bust, the digital boom is here, as high-speed connections, faster processors and new wireless devices increasingly become part of life. But the thousands of lawsuits are not just about ensuring Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1058398544889196612003-07-16T19:35:00.000-04:002003-07-16T19:37:48.253-04:00Frustrated Democrats complain of media biasBy Alexander Bolton in The HillDemocrats in Congress claim the mainstream print and broadcast media are giving the Bush administration and Republican leaders on the Hill a free ride.These lawmakers complain that the press holds President Bush to a much lower standard of accountability than it did President Clinton. Bush’s predecessor weathered such mediaAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-1058292513474144422003-07-15T14:08:00.000-04:002003-07-15T14:08:33.440-04:00Narrowing BroadcastingJeff ChesterComcast, the nation's largest and most powerful cable company, wants to kill off public access television and related educational networks -- the last bastion of diverse, local, educational and commercial-free TV -- by not updating systems for the 21st century. To accomplish this goal, Comcast has embarked on a litigation strategy to not only erode the power of Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-959238692003-06-22T16:58:00.000-04:002003-06-22T16:58:06.113-04:00Lisa celebrates at RuminateThis , but it's not over yet:IT'S ON TO THE FULL SENATE...What next?Well, it's now out of Committee and on to the full Senate, where it is expected that lawmakers on both sides of the aisle will vote to pass the bill. Then, the real battle begins...The House of Representatives, elected every two years is not nearly as discerning as their Senate couterparts. They have toAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-952578212003-06-03T18:58:00.000-04:002003-06-03T18:58:09.103-04:00Who Owns You?Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-950954912003-05-30T16:36:00.000-04:002003-05-30T16:36:50.120-04:00Lisa has miles of great stuff on media concentration up at RuminateThis right now. The big day is Monday; have you written to your representatives?Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-949814182003-05-28T05:24:00.000-04:002003-05-28T05:24:39.400-04:00A look at proposed changes to media ownership rule
DAVID HO
Some questions and answers about media ownership rules and proposed changes to them that the Federal Communications Commission will consider June 2:
Q: What are the rules?
A: Adopted between 1941 and 1975, they limit how many newspapers and television and radio stations a company can own, and in what combinations. The rules were Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-949104622003-05-26T17:12:00.000-04:002003-05-26T17:12:58.553-04:00The Great Media GulpWILLIAM SAFIREThe F.C.C. proposal remains officially secret to avoid public comment but was forced into the open by the two commission Democrats. It would end the ban in most cities of cross-ownership of television stations and newspapers, allowing such companies as The New York Times, Washington Post and Chicago Tribune to gobble up ever more electronic outlets. It would Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-942966112003-05-13T20:16:00.000-04:002003-05-13T20:16:33.766-04:00The Unofficial Paul Krugman on "The China Syndrome" A funny thing happened during the Iraq war: many Americans turned to the BBC for their TV news. They were looking for an alternative point of view — something they couldn't find on domestic networks, which, in the words of the BBC's director general, "wrapped themselves in the American flag and substituted patriotism for impartiality."Leave Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-941619622003-05-11T16:03:00.000-04:002003-05-11T16:03:03.333-04:00FCC QUID PRO QUO?
Reporting for the Los Angeles Times, Edmund Sanders tells us that pressure is building on FCC Chairman Michael Powell's drive to deregulate and consolidate the American media. Now, some legislators are wondering about Powell and a suspected quid pro quo with a Texas media corporation..
WASHINGTON — In a sign of building political heat in the media ownership debate, two Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-941618312003-05-11T15:59:00.000-04:002003-05-11T16:14:04.000-04:00Chicago Passes Resolution Opposing FCC Consolidation Efforts
Free Media brings us some very good news from Chicago, where every last member of the City Council voted to pass a resolution (50-0) that calls for an end to continued media deregulation and a refocus on media diversity and democracy. This is a major event and one that by all rights, should be replicated at council meetings throughoutLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-935921412003-05-01T09:09:00.000-04:002003-05-03T09:39:04.000-04:00Commish: Media Copping Out on Coverage
Reporting for Multichannel News, Ted Hearn tells us about FCC Commissioner Michael Copps' latest charge that the American corporate media is dodging a very important news story: itself. Copps goes out of his way to say he's not alleging any conspiracy.
Michael Copps is a nice man. On this issue, perhaps too nice. Let's call a spade a spade...
The Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-935914732003-05-01T08:51:00.000-04:002003-05-01T09:54:52.000-04:00Working to tame the giants
Here's a clip from an inspiring piece from Working to Tame the Giants, by Mark Jurkowitz, Boston Globe's media columnist...
In June, the Federal Communications Commission is expected to usher in sweeping changes to the information landscape by weakening and perhaps discarding several crucial rules limiting media ownership. In an era of corporate giants such as AOL Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-933176792003-04-26T20:02:00.000-04:002003-04-26T20:03:16.000-04:00Tune in to Media Matters
On tomorrow's Media Matters broadcast, host Bob McChesney interviews Reese Erlich, longtime journalist and producer of award winning radio documentaries. Together with Norman Solomon, Erlich recently co-authored Target Iraq: What the News Media Didn't Tell You.
Click here and here for additional background on Reese Erlich.
Media Matters airs on Sunday afternoons 1-2 Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-933039792003-04-26T13:43:00.000-04:002003-04-26T13:45:42.000-04:00This story from The Times is apparently only in the print edition, but the headline is: "As ITN reporter Terry Lloyd is laid to rest, the Americans finally admit they fired on his car." Lloyd is the only ITN reporter to die in the network's history. But he's not the only reporter to die at the hands of American forces in Iraq. Proportionately speaking, a hell of a lot of reporters seem to haveAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-932989682003-04-26T11:43:00.000-04:002003-04-26T11:43:50.000-04:00Killing liberal media, one step at a time:Right Turn at Two Largest New York HousesNow, within several days of each other, the country's two largest houses have announced their first incisions. Penguin says it will do fifteen new conservative-leaning titles in a yet-to-be-named imprint under Adrian Zackheim, who's been concentrating on business titles at Portfolio but also has notched Newt Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-932643972003-04-25T17:52:00.000-04:002003-04-25T18:41:04.000-04:00Turner Calls Rival Media Mogul Murdoch 'Warmonger'
by DUNCAN MARTELL
SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Ted Turner said on Thursday too few people owned too many media organizations and called rival media baron Rupert Murdoch a warmonger for what he said was Murdoch's promotion of the U.S. war in Iraq.
"He's a warmonger," Turner said in an evening speech to the Commonwealth Club in San Francisco of Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-932636542003-04-25T17:37:00.000-04:002003-04-25T17:37:29.286-04:00BBC Takes Aim at US Media...
BBC Director General Greg Dyke singled out for criticism the fast growing News Corp. Ltd.'s Fox News Channel, owned by media baron Rupert Murdoch, and Clear Channel Communications Inc., the largest operator of radio stations in the United States, with over 1,200 stations, for special criticism.
"Personally, I was shocked while in the United States by how Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-932181492003-04-24T23:24:00.000-04:002003-04-24T23:25:01.000-04:00From Thousand Yard Glare on Commerce Secretary Don Evans' push for a June 2 FCC rules vote:
Never mind that there are folks in Congress and some parts of the media holding up stop signs, wanting more information on this process that they haven't seen fit to tell anyone about yet.
Have you ever been so mad about something that you can't think or talk or see straight?
Yeah... Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-932003122003-04-24T17:19:00.000-04:002003-04-24T17:19:12.280-04:00From Ceefax:BBC condemns US media's coverage of warThe US media's credibility was undermined by it's "unquestioning" coverage of the war in Iraq, BBC director-general Dreg Dyke has said.In a speech at the University of London he said he had been "shocked" by the US news broadcasts.Since the attacks of September 11, many networks had swapped impartiality for patriotism," Mr. said.He singled out Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-932002132003-04-24T17:17:00.000-04:002003-04-29T15:22:19.000-04:00Absolutely must-read piece by Kip Manley at Long story; short pier about radio, in which he introduces (at length) an article he wrote a few years ago about pirate radio. From the introductory section:Subterradio’s gone; Dunifer lost; Clear Channel won the Oklahoma land rush Clinton sparked when he signed the 1996 Telecommunications Act into law. Decades of law and regulation designed to keep Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-930808022003-04-22T20:59:00.000-04:002003-04-22T20:59:58.370-04:00The press and freedom: some disturbing trendsBy BOB EDWARDSSpecial to The Courier-JournalKentucky journalism and broadcasting have changed drastically since I left here 33 years ago. Back then, you owned it. Your major newspapers, television and radio stations were owned and operated by Kentuckians. Today home ownership is pretty much confined to small-town weeklies, KET and the public radio Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-930759152003-04-22T19:16:00.000-04:002003-04-22T19:18:20.000-04:00Atrios at Billboard:Beat the Press
The recent admission by CNN executive Eason Jordan that journalists in their Baghdad bureau didn't report on some instances of brutality in order to protect themselves and their sources set off a rather predictable round of moral posturing. CNN was almost universally condemned for this elsewhere in the media. Some claimed, perhaps justifiably, that this had Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-928960042003-04-19T13:45:00.000-04:002003-04-19T13:45:13.186-04:00From Tim Robbins' speech to the National Press Club in Washington, D.C., on April 15, 2003
And in the midst of all this madness, where is the political opposition? Where have all the Democrats gone? Long time passing, long time ago. (Applause.) With apologies to Robert Byrd, I have to say it is pretty embarrassing to live in a country where a five-foot- one comedian has more guts than most Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-928872982003-04-19T10:01:00.000-04:002003-04-19T10:01:23.483-04:00
Seeing the Forest on the need to develop a message amplification structure of our own to counteract the right-wing Wurlitzer.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-928841272003-04-19T07:46:00.000-04:002003-04-19T07:46:55.123-04:00Who Covered The War Best? Try al-JazeeraThroughout the war in Iraq, al-Jazeera has been accused, both by U.S. and Mideast officials, of being a propaganda tool. But continued attacks on the Arab satellite network, most dramatically exemplified by the recent U.S. bombing of a newsroom in Baghdad that killed a correspondent, shows that al-Jazeera's approach to covering the war - both critical and Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-928644572003-04-18T20:36:00.000-04:002003-04-18T20:36:10.436-04:00Nat Hentoff wants to know:So where's the follow-up by the media? Will any of the elite Washington press corps ask Ari Fleischer about the president's culpability if clueless citizens are hospitalized, or die, because of this government secrecy? Or, at one of the president's own rare press conferences, will a reporter demand whether the president plans to attend any of the resulting funerals?Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-928527512003-04-18T15:27:00.000-04:002003-04-18T15:42:45.000-04:00Powell says, "No Delays"
With Congress now in recess, FCC Chairman Michael Powell responded to that Senate Commerce Committee letter he received last week. Powell's announced that he'll not allow any delays that threaten to stand in the way of an FCC June 2 vote - a vote that for all practical puposes will mean the handing over of American media to a few large conglomerates. I wonder what Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-928516762003-04-18T15:05:00.000-04:002003-04-18T15:06:32.000-04:00Check out McChesney's Media Matters...
Media Matters is the weekly radio broadcast hosted by Bob McChesney, one of the nation's foremost analysts and writers on the subject of what else...media matters. McChesney is also a research professor at the Institute of Communications Research and the Graduate School of Information and Library Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-927978462003-04-17T16:28:00.000-04:002003-04-17T16:28:07.920-04:00Now playing at Scoobie Davis Online: One More Reason (Out of Millions) Not To Trust Fox News.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-924916572003-04-12T13:34:00.000-04:002003-04-12T18:43:40.000-04:00Prime-Time Payola
Steven Marshall has a terrific piece over at In These Times It's one that focuses on uber-right wing radio monopolizer, Clear Channel, "corporate-sponsored nationalism," and the drive toward media consolidation. Here's a clip from Prime Time Payola...
Just days after the 9/11 attacks, slates of blacklisted songs, including Cat Stevens’ “Peace Train” and John Lennon’s “Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-924911972003-04-12T13:22:00.000-04:002003-04-12T13:24:11.000-04:00A Virtual Discussion...
Over at Slashdot, chime in with the rest of Blogistan by offering up your thoughts on media consolidation.Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-924908392003-04-12T13:14:00.000-04:002003-04-12T13:25:27.000-04:00Promising News?
Led by committee chair Sen. John McCain (R-AZ), the US Senate Commerce Committee is pushing for greater public debate on the issue of media consolidation. From Reuters...
At issue are decades-old rules that prevent a company from owning television stations that reach more than 35 percent of the national television audience as well as a ban on common ownership of a newspaper andLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-922847552003-04-09T08:03:00.000-04:002003-04-09T08:07:50.000-04:00Jimm Donnelly's Project for a New Century of Freedom takes a look at Corporate Media Business Interests and calls for national sunshine laws in the Separation of Media and State.
Elsewhere on blog, you'll also find Jimm's thoughts on Italy, Silvio Berlusconi and a secret vote that might have put a temporary kabosh on this prime minister's goal of monopolizing the national media. Not Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-922838232003-04-09T07:35:00.000-04:002003-04-09T07:35:46.043-04:00One Politicians Control of the Media Microphone...
Media consolidation isn't just an American problem - not by a longshot. In Italy, where Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi owns 92% of television (yes, you read that right...92%), opposition has been mounting to his party's recent moves toward increasing that control. From the New York Times:
"In no other democratic country in the world does oneLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-922830522003-04-09T07:10:00.000-04:002003-04-09T07:17:19.000-04:00Diller Blasts Media Deregulation as Threat to Independents
It's good to have friends in high places, and those looking to limit the stranglehold of a few media conglomerates have a friend in Barry Diller, former chairman of Vivendi Universal.
In his keynote address at this week's National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) meeting in Las Vegas, NV, Diller called on media conglomerates to supportLisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-921711922003-04-07T16:27:00.000-04:002003-04-07T16:27:19.873-04:00Benton Foundation Home Page
Benton to Host Media Ownership Forum on April 7;
Event Will be Streamed Live on the Net
On Monday, April 7, the Benton Foundation will host a public forum on the FCC's review of US media ownership rules. The event will take place in Phoenix, Arizona, and is being organized with The ASU Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication and the Maricopa Community Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-921702382003-04-07T16:10:00.000-04:002003-04-07T16:10:21.716-04:00Newsday.com - Cablevision: 'No' on DirecTV News Corp. is expected to formalize its bid for DirecTV as early as this week. It is expected to offer about $7 billion for the 20-percent stake that General Motors holds in the tracking stock of DirecTV parent Hughes Electronics plus between 15 percent and 20 percent held by the public.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-921651462003-04-07T14:46:00.000-04:002003-04-07T14:47:46.000-04:00Tim Porter's First Draft is a useful look at "Newspapering, Readership & Relevance". Tim is away from his blog at the moment but you might want to catch up on items like Retooling the News Factory that analyze the current state of affairs.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-921120662003-04-06T19:24:00.000-04:002003-04-06T19:24:29.263-04:00NOW: Politics & Big Media - Overview | PBS
NOW has addressed the issue of media consolidation several times in the past year — in "Virtual Radio," and Bill Moyers Journal on FCC Deregulation we presented information about how consolidation in the media industry may change what you hear and see. With "Big Media" NOW updates the story of the proposed relaxation of media ownership rules as the Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-920963372003-04-06T13:20:00.000-04:002003-04-06T13:20:28.186-04:00This permalink for The Scope doesn't seem to work at the moment but there are two articles on the main page about the Los Angeles Times having made some interesting alterations to an article about "friendly fire". The later piece is an update after Our Hero actually made like a real reporter should and tried to find out why.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-920750912003-04-06T00:43:00.000-05:002003-04-06T00:43:39.763-05:00Recording Industry Sues 4 Students for Allegedly Trading Songs Within College NetworksAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-920453652003-04-05T11:37:00.000-05:002003-04-05T11:54:55.000-05:00America To CNN: News Please @ OliverWillis.Com
"I can't trace this directly to Connie Chung being fired, but I'm willing to bet that it sure didn't hurt. I know it's crazy, but viewers seem to be rewarding the Cable News Network for doing... News!"Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-920007722003-04-04T14:55:00.000-05:002003-04-04T14:59:17.000-05:00WE'RE HEADING INTO THE UNKNOWN
So says Commissioner Michael Copps, one of two Democratic appointees on the Federal Communications Commission. Much of the ruffling of feathers you might be witnessing now, as FCC Chair Michael Powell moves to consolidate the American media, can be attributed to Copps. He has advocated informing the public interest and gauging public opinion on the subject of Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-920007002003-04-04T14:54:00.000-05:002003-04-04T14:54:43.466-05:00OrcinusThe War On Dissent: The popular front
The dogs are being unleashed.
The thuggish element of the far right that has taken up residence with the mainstream GOP is being called into action on the home front. They are being sicced on anyone who questions George W. Bush's dirty little war. And with them, they are drawing in formerly mainstream conservatives likewise moved by the bonfires of Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-918430532003-04-02T09:07:00.000-05:002003-04-02T15:57:22.000-05:00CONSOLIDATION DEBATE FRACTURES CONSERVATIVE MEDIA AGENDA
The lines were drawn in the conservative media sand last week. That's when a handful of moderate Republicans came forward in favor of extending the timetable of public debate on the issue of media consolidation. This week, a dozen of their conservative colleagues, and one Democrat - the right-leaning John Breaux of Lousiana - are making Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-917410832003-03-31T19:13:00.000-05:002003-03-31T19:13:14.293-05:00Political Strategy.org is on the lookout for Free Speech Terrorists - a commentary inspired, I think, by the firing of Peter Arnett.Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-917398492003-03-31T18:48:00.000-05:002003-03-31T18:48:57.280-05:00I had been unaware somehow that Seth Finklestein, possibly the Internet's most impressive free speech activist, has a weblog, Infothought. In a recent article, Conference representatives not speaking if a reporter is present, Seth says:
In an article discussing conferences and reporters, Edward Felten writes concerning companies not wanting conference representatives to speak to the press:
IAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-917301082003-03-31T15:56:00.000-05:002003-03-31T15:56:41.030-05:00NBC Fires Peter Arnett Over Iraqi TV Interview (washingtonpost.com)
American television network NBC said on Monday it had severed its relations with veteran reporter Peter Arnett after he told Iraqi television that the U.S. war plan against Saddam Hussein had failed.
"Peter Arnett will no longer be reporting for NBC News and MSNBC," NBC said in a joint statement with National Geographic, for Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-917234992003-03-31T13:52:00.000-05:002003-03-31T13:58:05.000-05:00War coverage could alter US media policy
By ANDREW RATNER
Just this past Thursday, [FCC Chairman Michael] Powell told the Media Institute, a nonprofit First Amendment watchdog group, that he found it "thrilling to see the power of the media and its reach, and shocking to see war brought so close." The Iraq invasion exemplifies the need to allow media companies to expand to have the resources Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-917230212003-03-31T13:44:00.000-05:002003-03-31T13:57:15.000-05:00NBC News Fires Arnett Over Iraqi TV Interview
By JIM RUTENBERG
NBC News today fired Peter Arnett, a correspondent based in Baghdad, saying it was wrong for him to have given an interview with the state-run Iraqi TV in which he said coalition forces had "failed because of Iraqi resistance."
Mr. Arnett, on NBC's "Today" show, said he was sorry for his statement, but added, "I said over the Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-917180992003-03-31T12:13:00.000-05:002003-03-31T12:13:23.733-05:00On Minot, N.D., Radio, a Single Corporate Voice
By JENNIFER 8. LEE
As the Federal Communications Commissions reconsiders media ownership rules for television and newspapers, many are examining the effects of the radio industry's consolidation, speeded by the Telecommunications Act of 1996. Opponents may try to drive the debate over media consolidation to the edges. Minot is one of those edges.
Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-916602622003-03-30T14:13:00.000-05:002003-03-30T14:13:09.903-05:00History News Network:
Apparently the U.S. media has apparently decided to begin doing their jobs and examine the warplan. So that's what it takes to wake the media up, huh? After the conflict starts and it isn't working out at all as advertised, as in it's not the "cakewalk" the Cheney-Perle-Wolfowitz cabal promised, that's when folks in the media suddenly decides to start asking questions.
AsAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-916589562003-03-30T13:42:00.000-05:002003-04-02T14:15:49.000-05:00Powell Wants June Vote on Media Ownership
FCC Chairman Not Interested in More Hearings
By TODD SHIELDS
WASHINGTON -- (Mediaweek.com) FCC Chairman Michael Powell said Thursday the Federal Communications Commission expects to vote June 2 on overhauling the nation's media-ownership laws.
Powell said the agency had tentatively set an open meeting for that date to decide the rules, which limit Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-916294392003-03-29T21:25:00.000-05:002003-03-30T13:31:23.000-05:00Freedom of speech threatened, Gore says
By MARGO RIVERS
MURFREESBORO — With fewer companies owning more media outlets, the lack of tolerance for opposing views increases, former Vice President Al Gore told a college audience here last night.
Using recent attacks on the Dixie Chicks that followed anti-war comments by one group member as an example, Gore said big corporations threaten the true Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-916280072003-03-29T20:43:00.000-05:002003-03-30T13:31:52.000-05:00Joan Ryan: 'Don't touch that dial'
Topic: Hate Radio
By Joan Ryan, San Francisco Chronicle
GOOD MORNING. I'm Pat Riotic, your host on the Excess in Broadcasting network. Regular listeners know I am not an angry person. But this morning every red-blooded cell in my star-spangled body is trembling with indignation at what I've been hearing and seeing.
You know what I'm talking about, folks: the Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-915137442003-03-27T19:55:00.000-05:002003-03-27T20:00:13.000-05:00The Media Companies' FCC Wishlist
By JEFFREY CHESTER
The public deserves to know exactly what the industry is asking for. Here's a thumbnail guide to the lobbying aims by some of the news media's most important companies with regard to the upcoming FCC decision. It doesn't include the many other political favors that the cable and broadcast industry are now seeking, including rules that will Lisahttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16422170453787341087noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-913819232003-03-25T20:41:00.000-05:002003-03-25T20:41:02.280-05:00Channels of Influence Channels of Influence
By PAUL KRUGMAN
By and large, recent pro-war rallies haven't drawn nearly as many people as antiwar rallies, but they have certainly been vehement. One of the most striking took place after Natalie Maines, lead singer for the Dixie Chicks, criticized President Bush: a crowd gathered in Louisiana to watch a 33,000-pound tractor smash a collection of Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-913241622003-03-24T23:16:00.000-05:002003-03-24T23:19:07.000-05:00Shut your mouth
by Tim Grieve
That with-us-or-against-us message may be starting to take root in the entertainment industry as well. According to Matt Drudge, CBS warned musicians not to speak out against the war during the Grammy Awards last month. Last week, radio and concert giant Clear Channel barred protest groups from distributing literature at an Ani DiFranco concert in New Jersey -- and Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-913138762003-03-24T20:09:00.000-05:002003-03-24T20:17:43.000-05:00PRIVACY INTERNATIONAL'S "STUPID SECURITY" COMPETITION
We've all been there. Standing for ages in a security line at an inconsequential office building only to be given a security pass that a high school student could have faked. Or being forced to take off our shoes at an airport that can't even screen its luggage.
If you thought the accounting profession was bad news, just wait till you hear Avedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03456062611156738009noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5200898.post-913120742003-03-24T19:36:00.000-05:002003-03-24T19:36:02.983-05:00Starter postAvedonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/04702100335744054401noreply@blogger.com