Media Archives - Page 15 of 20

Blocking the Net

Ron Chepesiuk September 27, 2005 Ron Chepesiuk

Vietnam's communist government knows that it is impossible to monitor the country's 5,000 cyber cafes, so it's forcing the cafe owners to be its eyes and ears. Last July, a government directive informed cafe owners that they will have to take a six-month course so that they can better monitor their cyber customers. The Vietnamese government is justifying its move for reasons of "national security and defense" - that is, to protect itself against online journalists who, it says, "provide sensationalist news and articles while others even publish reactionary and libelous reports and a depraved culture."

Crossing the Rubicon: An Interview with Michael Ruppert

Rob Williams September 13, 2005 Rob Williams

Michael Ruppert

Most people I know have some intuitive sense that the stories told about the way the world works in our culture of daily "news" (and I use the term loosely) are suspect. The real stories about power and the ways power is exercised lie buried beneath the surface. But how deep, to quote The Matrix's Morpheus, does this rabbit hole go? For those willing to crawl down the hole, U.S. investigative journalism has its own Morpheus, and his name is Michael Ruppert.

Anything but the Truth: The Art of Managing Perceptions

Greg Guma August 17, 2005 Greg Guma

In The Secret Man, Bob Woodward's new book about his Watergate source Deep Throat, he notes, "Washington politics and secrets are an entire world of doubt." Even though Woodward knew that the identity of his source was W. Mark Felt, then associate director of the FBI, what he could never be sure about was why Felt decided to gradually reveal the details of the Nixon administration's illegal activities. Three decades later, the Bush administration has made it immeasurably more difficult to be sure about what motivates many sources of information - both on and off the record - or trust that what we learn from the media will turn out to be true.

Media Reform in Post-Jennings Era at Disney/ABC?

Bob Feldman August 15, 2005 Bob Feldman

As 1960s U.S. antiwar activist Bill Ayers recalled in his 2001 book Fugitive Days, at the time of the October 1967 anti-war march on the Pentagon, the recently-deceased anchor of Disney/ABC's World News Tonight show, Peter Jennings, was the boyfriend of Diana Oughton's sister, Christina Oughton. [Diana Oughton would later perish in the March 1970 West Village Townhouse explosion that killed her and two other members of the Weatherman faction of Students for a Democratic Society]:

Congress and Corporate Lobbyists Rewrite Telecom Act

Sandy Leon Vest August 1, 2005 Sandy Leon Vest

Nearly a decade ago, Congress passed the Telecommunications Act of 1996 by huge bipartisan margins-91 to 5 in the Senate and 414 to16 in the House. The bill was touted as "the most deregulatory telecommunications legislation in history." President Bill Clinton had become a believer. The Telecom industry was just getting warmed up. Today the threat posed by that industry to what remains of citizen representation looms larger than ever as a new slew of mergers - including the takeover of AT&T by SBC Communications - threatens to sail through the regulatory process.

Mr. And Mrs. Smith: Brangelina Blows up the Burbs

Rob Williams June 30, 2005 Rob Williams

It is tempting to dismiss the new Angelina Jolie/Brad Pitt vehicle "Mr. And Mrs. Smith" as nothing more than mindless summer fun, in which Tomb-Raider Lara Kroft (sans padding), our sexy femme fatale and Girl, Interrupted, mixes it up with Fight Club's Tyler Durden, the newest incarnation of Achilles, our hero of Troy. Few folks I know would contest the idea of throwing down ten bucks (popcorn not included) to sit in a dark room full of strangers and simply watch Brangelina (are they in love for real?) on the screen.