June 2005 - Page 3 of 36 - Toward Freedom

An Interview with Noam Chomsky

Radio Ouverture, Canada June 28, 2005 Radio Ouverture, Canada

Mass Media, Globalization, and the Public Mind

Q: How important is it for the mass media, to control the public mind?

CHOMSKY: We always have to ask: important for whom? For the public, it’s important that they not control the public mind. For the public, it’s important for them to prepare, to present a free arena for discussion and debate and an honest acount, as much as one can, of issues that are important and significant. But that’s for the public. For the media themselves, that is the owners, the managers, their market, which is advertisers, and other power systems in the society, control of the public mind is extremely important. read more

Weapons of Mass Persuasion

LINDA MAMOUN June 28, 2005 LINDA MAMOUN

Anti-war TV challenges the corporate media “consensus”

By March 19, the major TV networks had done their advance work well. After months of promotion, millions of US viewers were eagerly anticipating a prime time extravaganza. Anxious for the catharsis of a neatly crushed Iraqi military, they watched with “shock and awe” as US and British forces launched their long-awaited sequel – Gulf War II.

However, there’s another US public, one not so eager or united. Due largely to advances in personal computing and electronic communications, opposition to the latest US-led war spread rapidly before it began. Although much has been written about the impact of the Internet on anti-war organizing, relatively little has been said about the advent of anti-war TV. Yet this recent development has informed, expanded, and mobilized the ranks of the movement while engaging millions who otherwise would be forced to rely on the empty, often inaccurate drivel of mainstream TV. read more

Television’s Reality Gap

CHLOE KOVNER June 28, 2005 CHLOE KOVNER

Not content with controlling wartime news, the US turns propaganda into entertainment

In drafting the US Constitution, one of the central goals was to insure a separation of powers. The basic idea was that each branch would be checked and balanced: executive power overseen by the legislature, legislative power evaluated by the judicial branch, a judiciary appointed by the executive but confirmed by the legislature, and so on. The approach was meant to maximize democratic rule by and for the people. read more

Winning the Marathon

DANNY SCHECHTER June 28, 2005 DANNY SCHECHTER

To succeed and thrive, we’ll need to make media and democracy the main issues

Those of us who have been in media for a while have seen the system’s transformation. We’ve seen the emergence of fewer and fewer companies, dominating more and more of the media spectrum. We’ve seen a merger between news biz and show biz. We’ve seen a dramatic cutback in news of the world.

On MediaChannel.org, we published a study that compares the extent of political knowledge in the US to six other countries, and finds that Americans are the least informed of any people in the world. The reason? US television. Americans depend increasingly on TV for their news and information, and US television increasingly doesn’t carry news and information. As a consequence, we’re in a process where politics itself has become politically incorrect. read more

Seizing the Moment

DAVID BARSAMIAN June 28, 2005 DAVID BARSAMIAN

Radio and the Internet offer affordable routes to new audiences

Solidarity begins at home. But too often we — and I include myself — may use this as a kind of rhetorical device, and yet don’t practice it.

I’m interested in concrete and practical ways of connecting with movement groups. I see my radio project as an audio vehicle for the movement to get messages out — be it Fifty Years Is Enough, Global Exchange, East Timor Action Network, Voices in the Wilderness, the Program on Corporations, Law, and Democracy, or numerous others. I’m really delighted to be aligned with them in this kind of audio venture. read more

On the Barricades

NJOKI NJEHU June 28, 2005 NJOKI NJEHU

Getting the stories out means assuming responsibility

The Washington, DC, mobilization to challenge the IMF was a truly remarkable experience. We had a press check-in, and ended up with a list of 996 journalists. Corporate media was being challenged, so many stories were getting out, and they wanted to understand what was happening.

If you think back to Seattle, the stories released by corporate media were supplemented, to a great extent, by other media people in the streets. Many media organizations missed Seattle. Activists call this the Woodstock Syndrome: "I wasn’t at Woodstock, but if it happens again I’m going to be there." So, as a movement, we’ve already done a great deal to educate corporate media. read more