Greek Protesters Occupy TV Stations

Today we live in a media controlled society, which many people mistakenly believe they cannot challenge. As we have seen over recent years activists have taken action in the most diverse means to get their word out there and raise the banner for not only a new media system, but a whole new society.

After the tragic death of Alexandros Grigoropoulos, a 15-year-old Anarchist, who was murdered in cold blood by Greek Police, protesters have been fighting in the streets for justice. One method they used was to occupy the means of communication. This has included state and commercial television stations. In one, protesters hold a banner in front of the camera reading: "Stop Watching. Everyone to the Streets!". While in another protest leaders speak to camera explaining their motives and asking for solidarity.

In response, a government spokesperson described the State TV occupation as “an attempt to overthrow democracy”. The action was also condemned by the old school, stalinist communist party (KKE).

Nepal debates "Revolutionary Journalism"

With the new Maoist government locked in vital debates over the future direction of their revolution the practice of journalism has not been left out.

This is a vitally important debate after recent worker mobilisations against an unreceptive parts of the mainstream media, in particular, the Nepali Times. The debate also seeks to clarify the position of revolutionary journalists to mainstream journalist associations who may be, in effect, upholding the old media system and undermining true media freedom

Photo: Anti-Maoist journalists protest

Check out a report on the Revolutionary Journalists Assoc of Nepal here

McChesney and Nichols on the Media Reform Movement

In this four-part video, prominent United States based media reform activists Robert W. McChesney and John Nichols talk about the issues confronting the media and their movement today.










Thanks to dangerousintersections.org for this all important vision from the 2008 National Conference for Media Reform.

Nothing But the Truth...from Venezuela!

Writer/Director Rod Lurie has attempts to provide a story that can put hope into the hearts of progressive writers across the globe with a film ripped from the news pages, with a slightly different twist.

In Nothing But the Truth, mainstream journalist Miller (Kate Beckinsale) convinces the world that Venezuela weren't involved in an assassination of the U.S. president, an attack which pre-empted a U.S attack on Caracas by outing a CIA operative within her newsroom. Miller's exposure of a CIA agent drew the ire of a warhawked administration intent on a war with Venezuela. Her decision to withold her source to protect them from the wrath of the United States government resulted in her jailing.

But with restrictive access to films being released in Australia of late (Battle of Seattle, for example), we'll just have to see if it able to gain a release down under anytime soon....

NYT's McCarthyist Witchhunt on Studs' Memory

Studs Terkel would have been appalled, but not surprised by the degradation of his memory in the obituary pages of corporate media over the past weeks.

In particular, Edward Rothstein's McCarthyist rantings in the "liberal" New York Times drew the eyer of radical historian Howard Zinn at the Progressive Online.

What's Wrong with a Fairness Doctrine?

The Fairness Doctrine has had a constant presence in the U.S. press lately. The little used requirement was abolished from the law books during the Nixon Administration. Many blame its abolition for the rise of far right wing partisan coverage, in the form of "shock jocks" across the airwaves.

The Fairness Doctrine demanded stations allow for counterpoints to be aired. This legislation, if implemented properly, would allow for the broadening of discussion and limiting of possible court action.

But with the Bush administration on the way out, shock jocks everywhere have been sent into a tizzy over the possible reintroduction of such legislation.

Will it happen? Probably not! But it certainly gives the right wingers a chance to hold onto their belief in free speech- that being the right to lie without repercussions, in a time of waning power.

Gore: Use Net to Save World

A big part of my project here at MediaVigilante is to start thinking about how the media can be used as a platform to promote discussion necessary for change.

After Obama's recent win, many will be expecting, possibly unreasonably that he is able to make the changes many people are expecting.

On the back of this, Al Gore has used his speaking engagement at a Web2.0 conference to stress the importance of using the internet in creating some of that discussion.

'Studs' Terkel Will Be Missed

Man of the millions, legendary Pulitzer Prize winning U.S. broadcaster and author, Louis "Studs" Terkel passed away on October 31 at age 96.

Terkel became best known for his interviews chronicling some of America's hardest years, through the eyes of the working masses.

His approach of amplifying the voices of the voiceless was an essential part of his various radio shows, plays, tv shows and books including Hard Times: An Oral History of the Great Depression (1970) and Working (1974).

His work became so synonymous with the struggle for a better world that he drew the eyer of authorties during the McCarthyist, anti-communist witch hunts during the 1950's. NBC chose to cancel his popular, but short lived, television show, Studs' Place, after he refused to say he was duped into signing political petitions by the Communist Party.

Studs represented a kind of journalism that has become a rare commodity in today's media environment. Never afraid of his radicalism, Terkel became a man dedicated to another vision of not only his own profession, but to the world as a whole.

He will be missed.

Radical Representation and Media Reform

In White Liberals, Glass Houses and the Black Radical Journalism Tradition, Jared A. Ball goes into what he sees as some of the faults of the Media Reform movement.

Particularly perking his gaze is the movement's failure to advocate for the representation of contemporary radical views, especially African American latter day radicals.

While the problems of the movement are not always understood by some of its well meaning participants, the call for a balanced collaboration is one that must be taken on if our movement is to truely gain the respect and involvement of all sectors of society.

Cuban "Journos" and the Secret Golden Handshake

As anyone who truly understands the media would understand, journalism is a loaded profession. If you are to fight for the rights of all journalists, you will inevitably come into conflict with your own belief in human rights.

This could not be more true of a country like Cuba, where some partisan "independent journalists" have been funded by U.S. organisations openly campaigning for the violent overthrow of the Communist regime.

As Legendary PBS broadcaster Bill Moyers explained in a 2003 interview,

"...the very concept of media is insulting to some of us within the press who find ourselves lumped in with so many disparate elements, as if everyone with a pen, a microphone, a camera, or just a loud voice were all one and the same...David Broder is not Matt Drudge. "Meet the Press" is not "Tempation Island." And I am not Jerry Springer. I do not speak for him. He does not speak for me. Yet 'the media' speaks for us all"

Read more in Sydney based Academic Tim Anderson's report for Green Left Weekly

There's also an interesting piece on Cuban Journalism at Project Censored, and some other interesting observations here and here

Understanding the media filter

In Keeping the Media Safe for Big Business, Media Lens adds to the discussion surrounding the way the media is run to benefit some and ignore/attack/trivialise others. Also addressed is how journalists become a part of this system, often without their own knowledge.
The debate builds on the works of Chomsky and Hermann in their landmark book, first published in 1988, Manufacturing Consent. The work aims to show the media is controlled in western democracies, without the need for any sinister conspiracy theories.

Melbourne Alt. Media Unity Symposium

The desperate need for community an alternative media to work together in fighting for space in the new technological age has never been greater.

Open Spectrum Australia is organising a symposium in Melbourne entitled Quality//Control on Friday 17 October. It will cover issues pertaining the future of alternative/community media and the possible need for collaboration.

It will involve several guest speakers and workshops to strategise possible ways forward for the media in Australia.


When: 9am-5pm, Friday 17th October 2008
Where: State Library of Victoria Theatrette
328 Swanston Street (corner Latrobe Street)Melbourne VIC 3000
For more information, please contact Open Spectrum Australia, by email info@openspectrum.org.au
Bookings are FREE and can be made here

Prince of Darkness takes the Reigns at PBL

Tim Parker is a man with a reputation for union busting, rampant sackings and costcutting. But for debt riddled PBL Media, it must all seem like good business sense to appoint him as their independent chairman.

PBL Media owns Channel Nine, Australian Consolidated Press, Ticketek and has a share in the NineMSN website. The debt vortex began in 2006 when PBL borrowed $4 million to buy into Ninemsn and ACP. An investment which was extended to include magazine group, EMAP; Ticketek and Acer Arena.

Parker is said to be worth $75 million, with stints as the chief at shoemaker Clarks, Britain's Automobile Association; and deputy major of London, under Boris Johnson, before suddenly leaving last month. As head of the Automobile Assoc, he shed half of their 7,000 staff.

Watch this space...

Aus and U.S. Differ on Net Neutrality

The heads of Australia's three largest ISP's have called Net Neutrality a specifically American problem.

Australian ISP's have become famous for their pay by the megabyte download charges. While prices have dropped, costs still are significant enough to keep many out of the broadband loop.

The "American" model, on the other hand, offers unlimited services. U.S. ISPs unhappy with their mega profits, are introducing tiered internet access.

The answer to this dilemma is that neither approach is suitable for the community service we know as the internet. Australia needs to introduce affordable near to unlimited broadband as soon as possible if we are to see the full use of the internet for all of its multimedia uses.

Read the one sided ZDnet report here

Ninjas For Net Neutrality

Watch as a random ninja gives a comedic insight into why we should support Net Neutrality!

ABC Chief Praises Murdoch, Calls for More Cash

In a controversial speech to the National Press Club, ABC Chief Mark Scott has praised News Corp boss Rupert Murdoch as the last great hope for newspapers and old fashioned journalism.

With a funding agreement coming up before the end of the year, Scott then went on to pitch the claim for more money to help ABC fill this extra 'space'. Central to this bid is a new C-SPAN like Public Affairs Channel and a commitment to its 12 international bureaus.

Should be interesting to see how it all turns out, as this funding agreement could ultimately decide the future of the abc.

You can read an extract of Mark Scott's speech here

Fairfax Strike Signals Broader Media Crisis

My commentary on the current situation in the Australian media has been printed this week by Green Left Weekly.

Check it out at http://www.greenleft.org.au/2008/767/39554


Also, just a couple of follow up articles on the Fairfax Strike...

Green Left Weekly's Margarita Windisch interviews MEAA Spokesperson Mike Dobbie here

Solidarity Online interviews a member of the Fairfax union house committee here

Youth Confused by News Format

A new study from North Western University (USA) has shown that news coverage of the elections only further confuses young people.

Far from the uncaring generation, young people are interested in online news that is able to get to the point, showing them what the candidates actually stand for layed out in an easy to read format.

Study here

Moore's Latest Film: Free On The Net!

In an internet first, Michael Moore's latest full length film, Slacker Uprising, will be be available for free online.

The film follows Moore's countrywide travels in the leadup to the 2004 elections, where he encouraged young people to take action and vote.

The film will be distributed by Robert Greenwald's progressive production company, Brave New Films. Brave New Films were the producers behind Outfoxed and War For Sale.

Check out the trailer and release date at the Slacker Uprising Website

Goodman: "Why we were falsely arrested"

Democracy NOW! host Amy Goodman has used her latest TruthDig column to address the wider issues behind her wrongful arrest at protests at the Republican National Convention in St. Paul, Minnesota earlier this week.

http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/20080903_why_we_were_falsely_arrested/

Cops Arrest Journalists at RNC

The normally dry, photogenic images the Republicans wants you to recieve from their National Convention has been enforced with an iron fist by the National Guard, in St. Paul, Minnesota, these past few days.

Several journalists, including prominant Democracy NOW! host Amy Goodman, two DN producers and an AP photographer have all been detained. All have been released, with pending court cases to fight charges of obstruction for Goodman and felony riot charges for producers Kouddous and Salazar.

It is believed that members of the secret service have also been involved in confiscating media passes of journalists covering the protests.

The I-Witness Collective, who have collected much praise for their work in exposing the wrongdoings of police during protest actions, have had their premises raided, with some equipment being seized. It is only one of the many pre-convention raids to marr the week of protests.


Video of Amy Goodman’s Arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYjyvkR0bGQ
Video of Nicole Salazar’s Arrest: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2jreRSEQ_yg

More on Tuesday's edition of Democracy NOW!

Fairfax Strike Ends With "Agreement"

On Monday 1 September, Fairfax media workers returned to work after what the MEAA describe as a "enterprise bargaining breakthrough".

During their four day strike, the media workers were involved in rallies at their various workplaces. Threats by management were made, but these were overcome by many journalists and other media workers unafraid to stand up to corporate interest.

The four days opened doors for people advocating for media reform in this country, in the limited space that is allocated outside the mainstream, and it will be interesting to see how the new dynamics in the media continue to evolve. One thing is for sure though, while media continues to put corporate interest, above all else, there will always be a reason to fight it. Our problem is coming together and being able to effectively advocate the changes we need and grow a wider movement around it.

More details here

Glover Slams SMH Editor

When Sydney Morning Herald Editor Allen Oakley was interviewed by Richard Glover on his drive programme on ABC Sydney today, he must have surely known what was coming for him.

While Oakley tried haplessly to defend his own management, Glover exposed the explicit short term profiteering that Fairfax is clearly involved in. While Glover's column will appear in the SMH tomorrow, because he filed on tuesday and the section is already printed, he warned that if the dispute is still going, he will refuse to cross the digital picketline. Glover even warned Oakley that he was willing to be sacked with Mike Carlton, and every other columnist who is willing to make a stand in support of journalist rights.

The precedent of being able to sack columnists on the spot is a dangerous one. It allows companies to undersell the rights of all freelancers and, in this environment of increasing outsourcing, this is a fate we should all fight to avoid.

Listen to the interview here

Media Workers Protest Mass Sacking

Strking Workers at the Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, Newcastle Herald an the Illawarra Mercury, have today been joined by other journalists and members of the public in actions against Fairfax's mass sackings. In Sydney, the actions directly confronted Fairfax boss, David Kirk.

See a video of the action here

In other related news...

All papers have continued publication with the assistance of scab workers...

Mike Carlton has been sacked for refusing to submit his column for this Saturday's SMH. Fairfax management has decided that columnists can not strike. The Workplace ombudsman is currently investigating the case and a petition in support of Carlton can be signed here

Although AMWU print workers have promised to not cross any picket line, it is still uncertain whether picket lines will be set up to disrupt the production and delivery of the weekend newspapers.

There could be legal trouble ahead for the MEAA. This is due to the current workplace laws that make any strike taken without a secret ballot illegal.

Another industry set to suffer from the Fairfax fallout are in-house Media Law Professionals. This is despite the fact that outsourcing this work will cost more and will limit the flexibility to report, especialy on latebreaking news.

The campaign can be followed at http://www.fairgofairfax.org.au/
The facebook group can be accessed here

Fairfax Workers Strike Kicks Off

Fairfax media workers have not taken the attack on their industry lying down. Today workers, in newspapers like the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Financial Review, have decided to strike until Monday.

Already this has resulted in a sharp fall in the Fairfax media share price. But the cost for the 550 workers, including a substential number of editorial positions, is clearly going to be a lot larger.

Regional Papers, like the Newcastle Herald and the Wollongong Mercury, are likely to proportionally be the hardest hit. It is perhaps a sign of the times ahead that today the Age and SMH featured stories from their respective cities zoos on their front page.

Media Crisis Hits Australia

One week after announcing a massive 47% rise in net profits, to $372 million; Fairfax Media (owner of The Age and Sydney Morning Herald) has sacked 550 employees across Australia and New Zealand.

The mass sackings included The Age's editor in chief, Andrew Jaspan. ABC Radio National's The Media Report has revealed that Jaspan had a "difference of opinion" with the management in Sydney. The sacking of Jaspan, who had served as editor for the last four years, has been seen by many as a first step in the further rationaliation of the newspaper.

Chris Warren, of the MEAA(Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance), has remained tightlipped on the possibility of industrial action. Warren instead used the opportunity to play Fairfax off against the Murdoch press. The problem with this, is that it not only unnecessarily promotes the idea that the Murdoch press is actually any kind of bastion for journalism. But it also ignores the fact that change is not needed by any single entity, but to the whole media landscape if we are to not only survive, but thrive out of the current crisis.

U.S. Digital TV Giveaway

One of the biggest stories, unreported by the mainstream press, has been the giveaway of the Digital TV spectrum to the same networks that already control the media.

With Digital TV offering the possibility of hundreds of new channels across standard definition, high definition and datacasting channels, the Black Agenda Report has rightfully labelled the giveaway an "opportunity lost".

The mainstream media has decided to instead cover the rollout of digital technologies. These vested interests are hoping that availability and take up are sufficiently large enough, so their advertising and profitability questions will hopfully work themselves out.

Sadly, however, the media is probably worst at reporting on itself and its own industry, unless what they are reporting will expose their competitors. This is why the real fight for media democracy cannot expect mainstream coverage.

See the Black Agenda Report Article Here

Trotsky's Fight for Artistic Revolution

Much can be made of Stalin's propagandisation of literature and art. This history has stained these professions with an anti-communist bias.

But contrary to Stalin's command and control styled bureaucratic state, to support literature and the arts is in no way anti-communist, in any true sense of the word.

In ousting Trotsky from the pages of Russian history, Stalin also was able to destroy the memory of the man responsible for formulating the ideas for a true cultural revolution, which would expand our collective minds to the power of literature and art, as a means of expressing our views and communicating with each other.

But fortunately we need not let Stalin's Pravda, be our own truth. Fighting for revolutionary arts need not limit us, for we and the society at large, have so much to gain from our own expression in the fight for a better world.

Trotsky's Literature and Revolution can be read online here

Wall Street Journal Crys Poor For Murdoch

Rupert Murdoch, the world's largest media mogul, whose empire takes in all media platforms and cotninues to grow across the globe is maybe best known for forcing governments to back down on media protection laws wherever he goes.

The Wall Street Journal, however, felt it most important to note that while Murdoch's combined salary, stock and bonus compensation rose 9% last fiscal year, to $27.1 million, his overall compensation dropped 14% due to accounting changes that slightly cut his retirement savings.

How Sad! ;)

While it is important we understand how much moguls like Murdoch are earning, especially in a time when the media is facing one of its greatest crisis and journalists are being sacked by the thousands throughout the western world. It is also important that these kinds of facts are backed up with the context that allows stakeholders to make valid decisions on the issue. But as both Wall Street Journal and its publisher Dow Jones are firmly planted under the Murdoch banner, it may be too much to ask.

Source article here

U.S. Media Stuck in Cold War Frame

Today, FAIR reports on the misreporting of the war in the autonomous territory of South Ossetia in the border region between Georgia and Russia.

With the old atlases many schools still stock, I guess it is no suprise that many people still believe that the cold war never finished and the United States is still fighting the 'red menace' with the help of their "perfectly democratic" friends in Georgia.

Read more here

Alternative views of the conflict can be viewed here and here

CIA GOES RECRUITING FOR JOURNALISTS

The history of the CIA in the journalism profession is long and illustrious. The spy agency have played a role in compromising journalism and putting journalists unneccessarily in harms way.

It is therefore unsuprising that the CIA sees journalism conferences as great recruiting ground. Particularly if they can find a way to compromise minority communities by doing so.

Recently, NPR (USA) reported on the CIA's activities at the recent Unity 08 conference. A particularly interesting point in the context of the current media crisis, though it is heartening seeing the resistance of many journalists to the CIA deciding to recruit at their events.

More Here

The Real News Alternative?

Below I have included an interview with Paul Jay, founder of therealnews, where he discusses the problems with current journalism practice and his own plans for therealnews on PBS.

Jay is hoping he can kick off a online video service funded purely with viewer contributions that will represent the story from outside a mainstream framework. The hope is that this kind of service can counter the mainstream news that supported the U.S government in its illegal invasion of Iraq and is currently cheerleading for an attack on Iran.

The problems with this model under the current system are numerous. Lack of internet access, lack of media alternative awareness, lack of financial ability. These are just a few of the wider (governmental responsibility) problems that therealnews is going to have to work around and without funding from foundations, corporations or state growth is going to be a hard slog.

View the Video here

Who's doing the real journalism?

Glenn Greenwald's article for Salon.com reveals some disturbing truths. First of which is the fact that it is not just bloggers that are not doing investigatory work. In fact, investigative works by the mainstream media outlets has dramatically fallen over recent years with niche advocacy groups picking up most investigatory work and with the media sparingly reporting on the findings.

Central to this has been the massive cutbacks in newsrooms, which has seen 6,000 U.S. media workers lose their jobs over recent months, according to recent reports.

In the name of convergence, media organisations are leading the cross media integration, not simply to create a better media environment, but instead to cut back on "the expensive parts"of their media businesses.



http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/07/24/journalism/index.html

What Is Net Neutrality Anyway?

It can be a little distracting talking media reform sometimes. This is because ultimately if we are going to grow a movement we have to be able to relate to the wider public.

Our job is made harder by the fact that the mainstream media has so far done a sterling job in leaving the real issues off the table when it comes to issues effecting their own industry. Meaning everyday people while hating mainstream media, have little understanding of the issues that confront the movement for change.

One area where this has been clearest is Net Neutrality.

For the uninitiated, Net Neutrality is about keeping the internet as an more or less equal space for websites and content. Some big companies (particularly Comcast in the States) are trying to (with the help of the overwhemingly supportive Republicans) slow down all content that does not pay special fees meaning the internet is turned into a two tier affair where access to mainstream corporate news sites would load up instantly, while access to news sites like DemocracyNOW! and TheREALnews would be delayed making it even harder for them to attract extra viewers and revenue.

Need a deeper understanding? Read what the Huffington has to say on the matter here

In response, Rock The Net, a cd featuring the likes of Wilco, Bright Eyes and We Might be Giants, has been produced by artists concerned about this clear case of the corporate takeover of the internet. All funds raised will go to the Save The Internet campaign. Check it out here http://www.thirstyear.com/rockthenet/

Media Needs To Promote Climate Solutions

The fight against climate change is one of the greatest fights our planet has ever faced. The media still has the attention of the wider public. The responsibility of the media is therefore huge.

The way the media portrays the issues of climate change is therefore paramount in what path is taken in attacking the issue. We need real debate, as well as a media that will reveal the horrible truths of climate change, while not forgetting to tell us about those advancements that can give us hope. But will our media, with its own corporate backers to appease and look alike governments to cover really get to the real story we need... Time will tell.

It's a huge issue that needs to be addressed ASAP, even the Colombia Journalism Review is discussing it. As you can check out at: http://www.cjr.org/feature/climate_change_now_what.php

Iraq War Censorship Out of Control

The Iraq war has been met with fierce censorship from United States army officials keen to see the real story kept away from the U.S public.

Central to this has been the story of freelance journalist Zoriah Millar, who was barred from covering the marines after releasing photos of a suicide attack on U.S. marines on June 26.

Millar's decision to post the photos on his website resulted in him being forbidden from working in the marine controlled areas of the country. The United States Marine commander in Iraq, however, is still trying to have Millar formally banned from United States military facilities throughout the world.

Even the New York Times were forced to admit that media coverage of Iraq is turning out to be the "opposite extreme" of the Vietnam War, which is often descibed as the "television war".

We should not underestimate our need for quality and reliable information to make the right decisions and the importance of Millar's photos are only fragment of what we should be expecting before allowing our troops to say in Iraq one moment longer.

An interesting point to remember in a time when the worlds eyes are on China and assessing their censorship, while conveniently forgetting our own.

Link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/26/world/middleeast/26censor.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

6,000 U.S. Newspaper Jobs Lost!...Now What?

Today, DemocracyNOW! features an interesting roundtable on the media crisis .

The roundtable involves Linda Jue, former head of the Society of Professional Journalists, Northern California Chapter; Chris Hedges, a former reporter for the New York Times and now with the Nation Institute; and Bernie Lunzer, the new president of the Newspaper Guild.

One of the biggest issues to come out of the discussion was the question of how new media models currently being promoted on the intenet can be funded in order to be able to offer competitive high level journalism.

Chris Hedges, while clearly very pessimistic about the future of journalism, understands the importance of decent budgets in being able to provide high quality journalism. The mainstream media has straggled at the sight of new technology, while alternative sources are held back by lack of resources.

The question is ultimately around what value will our society put into journalism in the future. Will either corporations or governments make the important investments needed to provide this and what will they expect in return?

These are all important issues that need to be discussed within the media reform movement as we fight towards a better (quality, structured and funded) media environment.

http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/29/newspapers_suffer_spate_of_layoffs_decline

Nine Throws Axe on News

Nine's decision to axe its Sunday and Nightline news programmes has sent revirbirations around Australian newsrooms this week.

It causes also could not have been simpler, with Nine bosses clearly labelling profitability and a competitive marketplace as being the fallguys for the shows, after over a decade on air for both shows.

The move marks a clear trend of commercial stations cutting back on news content and being slow in their willingness to take on new organisational models demanded by the new technological age we are entering into.

U.S. Unity Conference Takes on the Media, Race & Politics

Over 10,000 journalists gathered for the Unity Conference in Chicago to take on the issues of Race, Politics and the Media.

The Conference brought together members of the National Association of Black Journalists, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the Asian American Journalists Association and the Native American Journalists Association.

For the latest visit http://unitynews.org/

For a roundtable discusion on the topics of discussion this weekend on Democracy NOW!: http://www.democracynow.org/2008/7/25/race_politics_and_the_media_a

**Update**

Senegalese President Brings Controversy to Unity08

Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has caused plenty of controversy prior to his address to the Unity Conference in Chicago.

Souleymane Jules Diop, a Senagalese journalist, and Wade opponent, currently living in Canada, was punched in the face by a supporter of President Wade. The protest and counter-protest outside involved up to 100 people.

Wade's involvement in the G8 earlier this month has, however, lead to the Senegalese Democratic Party being viewed, by the Europe and the United States, as a leading democratic light in Africa.

Stokes moves in on West Australian

The Australian Seven Network, owned by Kerry Stokes, has increased its stake in The West Australian Newspaper to 22.3%, with a buy up of 4 million shares today.

The buy up follows a failed attempt to divide the present WAN board and win Stokes a seat in April. The implications of the move on the media barren west coast seem clear enough for anyone interested in media diversity.

Also clear is the way it brings into sharp focus the cross media ownership restrictions that the Howard government was able to abolish that made Stokes' expansion possible. We need the Rudd Government to finally take the chronic state of Australian media seriously. But it seems for now, it suits their purpose of quietening dissent...

What coverage can we expect in Beijing?

What games are the world going to see? That is the biggest question on the minds of millions across the globe in the lead-up to the Olympic Games in Beijing. As the New York Times' Brian Stelter explains in "Networks Fight Shorter Olympic Leash", this is a question that is still yet to be answered.

NBC, who has paid a record amount for the rights and expects to rake in $1 billion in advertising is set to find itself in a compromised position, when, not if, protest actions take place during the upcoming games. NBC, is owned by General Electric, a company that is continuing to deepen its investments in China. NBC has already started censuring its own journalists, in order to halt questioning over what is expected of them in Beijing.

China has been slow moving in handing out any rights to media companies. They are worried about the Tibet protesters that plagued their torch relay as well as China's underclasses which have been hit hard by the authoritarian capitalist regime. What we all want to know is whether the media will report or not report what is going on outside the stadiums and if so, whom will do the reporting? Will those that have the most to lose (like NBC) hold back and be upstaged by lesser known media outlets? Who will make the gains and who will fall by the wayside?
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/21/sports/olympics/21nbc.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ref=todayspaper

Stay Tuned...

Update 24/07/08: Chinese Authorities have declared special legalised "protest areas", that may be used for approved protest actions during the upcoming games. Similar measures have been enforced at most past games, so we'll have to wait and see how it is enforced. The IOC and Chinese authorities have been quick to point out that this allowance does not permit violations of the Olympic Charter, which forbids "political, religious or racial propaganda... in any Olympic sites, venues or other areas". More @ Huffington Post

War Spin Denies Public Truth

In "Stifling soldiers of Spin", The Age's Tom Hyland explains how closely controlled the coverage of the Wars on Afghanistan and Iraq really are. While the Australian Defence Forces do not allow journalists to be embedded, they allow jounalists to do short term "guided tours" where they are constantly tended to by ADF staff intent on getting their censored stories into the public consciousness. This is lead by the $22 million Public Affairs team that encompasses 200 staff working on what they call "strategic shaping tools", or what Hyland describes as "Spin". Add to this the fact Australia has no correspondants based in Afghanistan and the fact that the media landscape Australia offers so little in the way of diversity and you have a recipe for the failure of truth.

http://www.theage.com.au/opinion/stifling-soldiers-of-spin-20080719-3hvn.html

Social Movements and the Rebuilding of the Media

William K. Carroll and Robert A. Hackett were responsible for writing "Remaking Media: The Struggle to Democratize Public Communications" (2006). The book discusses the need for democratic media and stresses the central role social movements must play to promote media reform, as an important demand for both their short term and long term goals. It also discusses the ways community media, as it is currently understood, can become more democratic and act as a special aid towards media reform demands.

A talk on some of the basic premises of the book can be read at:
http://stc.uws.edu.au/gmjau/vol1_2008/hackett_carrol.html

Find cheap prices on this book at BooksPrice
http://www.booksprice.com

Melbourne Writers Fest Brings the Politics

The Melbourne Writers Festival is set to be held 22-31 August. Heading up the awesome line-up will be some great political speakers including Germaine Greer and John Pilger.

Greer will speak on rage and its uses in enacting social change on Friday 22 August at 7pm at Melbourne Town Hall. Pilger will address two talks; one on Power, Propaganda and the Silence of Writers, and the other on the global cost of free trade.

There is also talks on feminism, Aboriginal affairs, Rwandan genocide, corporate media, climate change and plenty more.

So if you're around Melbourne in late August, it will be definitely worth a look. Stay tuned to the MediaVIGILANTE for all the updates from the fest!

Visit http://www.mwf.com.au/ for more info and tickets to the big events.

GLW Publishes First Arabic Supplement: The Flame

Green Left Weekly, Australia's weekly alternative newspaper, has released its first Arabic Supplement, The Flame with issue #759 (July 23 edition).

Created with the help of progressive Sudanese activists, the supplement is aimed at engaging and involving the growing Arabic speaking community in Austalia. "The Flame" will cover news from the Arabic-speaking world as well as a progressive Arabic view on Australian political issues.

At the time of the 2001 Census there were 209,372 Arabic-speakers at home in Australia. Arabic is the second most commonly spoken non-English language in Sydney. The Lebanese community in Australia is the largest and earliest arrivees within the Arabic speaking community. In addition to Lebanese, the Arabic community includes Egyptians, Syrians, Iraqis, Palestinians, Jordanians, Sudanese. Many ethnicities also speak Arabic in addition to their language because they have lived in Arabic countries. They include Armenian, Kurds, Assyrians, Mandaeens and many more. The Arabic speaking community in Australia is increasing, with more arriving from Iraq and Sudan.

To find out more or get involved visit http://www.greenleft.org.au/

Moyers on how Corporate Media Kills Democracy

Bill Moyers addressed the National Conference for Media Reform last month in Minneapolis. In his speech, he told how the current media landscape is creating false consent in society and therefore helping to destroy democracy and give more power to the corporate elites, highlighting the current struggles for net neutrality against ComCast in the states.

http://www.inthesetimes.com/article/3790/is_the_fourth_estate_a_fifth_column/

Bill Moyers hosts the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS and is the President of the Schumann Center for Media and Democracy.

Geelong Addy Tries To Reinvigorate Dying Format...One Faultering Inch at a time!

Under headlines of "Readers Sack the Editor", one could be confused into believing that media democracy is just around the corner. But in a piece of Public Relations gold, the Geelong Advertiser has been able to gain mass acclaim, by not doing much at all.

The paper has started to allow its readers to vote on front page stories from a list decided on by the paper's editorial committee. It is hoped the campaign can help excite readers into buying the local paper because it would feature the stories they want to read about on the front page. This is an extremely corporate friendly and ultimately shallow view of how to gain reader empowerment, especially in this age of web 2.0.

Over recent months, the Advertiser has embarked on what it describes as a campaign focus. The key plank to think has been the "Just Think" Campaign against Violent crime. One of the key demands of this campaign has been to get more police on Geelong's streets. This has been a failed strategy. This is because in an effort to get more cops on the street, the Addy has forgotten to address the causes of a lot of crime and violent crime. Central to this are the social factors that surround us all. Geelong is home to some of the most underprivileged people in the state. Until these social problems are addressed, all the cops in the world won't stop violence. They will only heighten tension and make the broader community feel like we are living in some kind of police state.

So one must ask who is the Geelong Addy really serving? Are they really interested in media democracy? It seems that all they are serving is their own bottom lines while doing as little as possible to change their top-down approach to journalism. Let me know what you think.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,24031377-13480,00.html
http://www.geelongadvertiser.com.au/article/2008/07/15/16082_news_pf.html

My time at Climate Camp

The lack of posts over the last week was all thanks to my involvement in the first Australian Climate Camp in Newcastle. We were successfully able to disrupt the coal chain for over six hours. You'll be able to read about it over at my Punk Politic Blog http://punkpolitic.blogspot.com really soon. But be sure to check out the alternative media's coverage at http://sydney.indymedia.org.au and http://www.engagemedia.org .

O'Reilly's Producer Gets Slammed!

In what was the clear highlight of the recent National Conference for Media Reform in Minnesota, Bill O'Reilly's (of Fox News shame) Producer get journalistically slammed by Bill Moyers (from the Bill Moyers Journal on PBS) for his Pro-War sympathies.
Luckily some guerilla reporters were close by and able to record it and therefore expose the sly tactics adopted by Fox News as they attempted to "EXPOSE" a media reform conference for being partisan!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JN-vrcbHJVA

Right Wing Rails Against the Weather

Ever thought your television weather reports lacked a bit of context? In "Weather Reports are Missing the Story", Amy Goodman explains how the lack of context in weather reports reinforces the idea climate change is disconnected from our current weather patterns. It seems that for the right wing, even the weather could be termed as being "left-wing"!

http://www.democracynow.org/blog/2008/6/19/amy_goodmans_new_column_weather_reports_are_missing_the_story

Amy Goodman, is a Presenter on Democracy Now on the U.S. Pacifica Network and was a key speaker at the National Conference for Media Reform in Minnesota.

Tim Blair, Andrew Bolt...You are being Watched!!

Tim Blair and Andrew Bolt...Even their names repulse me. "No, they're not not Journos!" I scream, to anybody that cares. In fact they're far worse. They're right wing columnists at Murdoch's Sydney's Daily Telegraph and Melbourne's Herald Sun respectively. Nothing seems sacred for these two men, that continue to deny climate change or an Australian Aboriginal genocide even happened among other right wing conspiracies...Yet they continue to be employed by two of Australia's most highly circulated papers (yes, I'm disturbed too.).

Luckily, the people over at "The Blair/Bolt Watch Project" have been monitoring the ramblings of these two men so that we don't have to!!

http://blairboltwatch.wordpress.com/

W.A. Journos Promised Shield Laws

The Western Australian Labor Government are promising Journalists shield laws if they are re-elected. Currently Journalists face being brought before secret inquiries and can face three years in jail or $60,000 fines for refusing to reveal sources. It is hoped the new shield laws will prevent a repeat of the raid on the Western Australian newspaper office earlier this year.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23979268-5013871,00.html

Cops Overload on PR "Image Corrections"

In "PR for police spins to $10m", The Australian newspaper journo Natalie O'Brien reveals the exorbitant public relations bills that Australia's Police Forces are willing to pay out in order to "correct" their image in the media. The Police know the power of PR in helping to improve their image in the wider community. This kind of report goes some way to helping readers to understand the pro-cop bias that exists in much of the mainstream media.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23979270-2702,00.html

Media Concentration and the hopeless state of ACMA

In Taming the Watchdogs of Media Concentration, Sean Condon discusses the further concentration of the Media in Australia, Canada and the U.S. over recent years. Condon shows how these attacks on the media have shown the hopeless state of the media regulation authorities (ACMA- Australian Communication and Media Authority- in Australia). A state of affairs which limits the ability of the public to recieve diversity of opinion.

http://www.adbusters.org/magazine/72/Taming_the_Watchdogs_of_Media_Concentration.html

Adbusters is a magazine of cultural dissent that is well known for its ability of popularising the issues of media reform and relating them to a younger audience. Sean Condon is a senior editor at Adbusters.

Green Parties and the Media

In "Corporate Media Greens", Michael Barker addresses the issue of how Green Parties have ignored the issues surrounding Media Reform and how this has been to their peril. Central to this has been the lack of attention to the media reform issue by the Australian Greens, which I hope to address in future posts....

http://www.zmag.org/znet/viewArticle/14266

Michael Barker, is a doctoral candidate from Griffith University in Queensland, Australia and spoke at the Climate Change, Social Change Conference in Sydney earlier this year.

Media Reform as a Means of Social Change

Many of us have laundry lists of complaints against the media. This has mainly come from the mainstream media’s, lack there of and false, reporting on the issues that directly affect our work in the social movements. But what of media reform as a means of social change? In this piece, I hope to show that we can use media reform as a means of bettering the media environment and therefore grow the power of our own message and build our social movements.

Last month, over 3,500 people attended the National Media Reform Conference in the United States. It showed the growth in the dissenting voices willing to stand up to the mainstream media, the Bush administration and their corporate buddies in the States.

The movement has opened a space for debate, not just about how media is run but also more generally about how society is run as a whole. Many journalists are re-examining the control of the media and the values we hold for humanity. This has opened up a space for the social movements to influence the debate to not just aim for liberal reforms, but to see it as a part of a broader structural change that we need in society.

What is media reform?
The key areas being addressed by the media reform movement at present are:
- Legislating to end media consolidation and monopolistic tendencies
- Demanding that the broader public interest be served by media outlets
- More support for localized services representing diverse community voices
- fund public media properly
- fight for net neutrality and save the internet from corporate takeover
- expose corporate media and fake news

What can Media Reform achieve?

Opening up the media environment will allow the possibility for more messages to pass in to the public domain. The above demands will help bring alternative media into the everyday consciousness. This will show up the contradictions in corporate media and ultimately it can help promote further demands of community ownership of media and a changing in the role of journalists and media organisations from controllers of the news to enablers of public discussion. This has flow on effect, in getting people to think about how life in a capitalist state does not fulfill the needs of the people. This is important to Australians because we have one of the most consolidated media landscapes in the world.

Media reform is a huge issue that affects the entire community. It affects the community’s right to know as well as the right to become a part of the debate in society. However, this mass support has been held back by the current capitalist conception of journalism. Far from a “free market of ideas”, mainstream journalism today is a controlled entity. This allows for easier manipulation by the corporates that pay the journalists their wages. This has resulted in a media landscape obsessed with celebrity, crime and sex, and this is just in their coverage of parliamentary politics!

It is important that we do not look on this issue as simply a liberal demand. As Trotsky tells us in the Transitional Program, these issues can not only be pushed to create change in our media, but to take steps towards a truely democratic world.

Venezuela

The media reform debate directly affects the debate surrounding the current advances of the revolution in Venezuela. Contrary to what is printed in the mainstream press, many reformers are becoming convinced by the actions of the Bolivarian revolution in Venezuela. When the Venezuelan government decided to not renew the licence of a coup plotting corporate TV station (that restarted on cable!), a debate broke out in the alternative media sphere.

For example, In Adbusters an article appeared condemning the decision. In the subsequent issues many letters were published by the magazine criticizing the hypocrisy of such a decision by a magazine that calls for an end to lowest common denominator journalism that is being dished up by the corporate press. Adbusters allowed the debate to happen in a way which wouldn’t have happened in the corporate media. Two issues later, this resulted in a positive article on Venezuela being printed. Put simply not everyone in the media is ready to simply accept the right wing mainstream reporting backed up by the National Endowment for Democracy aligned organisations like Reporters without Borders and Human Rights Watch. Radical Canadian writer Naomi Klein echoed this sentiment at length in her latest book- The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. This is also shown in the work of U.S. based media advocacy organisation FAIR (Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting) and their popular magazine: Extra.

It is important we realise the money Venezuela has put into community media as a means of building a real sense of community throughout Venezuela. Our own government, on the other hand, continued to cut funding to public and community media. This has resulted in community TV stations not being able to make the switch to Digital TV and condemning them to certain death (as we have already started to see with Access31 in Perth shutting down and Briz31 in Brisbane on its last legs). These decisions have been a conscious decision by the powers that be in order to stifle debate. Why does the government need a propaganda ministry, when the corporate media can already do a good enough job of keeping people quiet?

The Present Juncture
This issue is especially important now because we are at an important juncture in time. Digital TV is just kicking off. Politicians are weighing up whether they can get away with enforcing attacks on net neutrality. A scary vision at a time when the internet is increasingly being used in more diverse and interesting ways to provide alternative news to the mainstream. An alternative vision to this exists. It’s all about giving the media back to the people to serve the interest of the community. It has to reinvigorate community which is all about intensifying real community debate. It is all about changing the nature of journalism and journalists.

The Here and Now of Media Reform

So what role do we have here and now? There are a bunch of possibilities of how we can help build the media reform movement in Australia. It’s all about supporting radical writers, creating more space for critiques of the media and encouraging media related demands at rallies. We should also continue trying to get more people involved in telling their own stories through the many forms of alternative media. Also, we want to try and grow the links between alt. media outlets. In doing this we also want to aim to build and extend the links between other alt media and the social movements while democratising their processes to allow maximum participation.

These are all small steps in growing awareness in the wider community that the media is in fact an area that we, as concerned citizens, can take action on. Not can we use it as a way of bettering our media environment, but as a transitional measure to fight for the better world we all crave.