Search Results for Toward Freedom Journal

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Global Notebook 8/00

Super User June 14, 2005 Super User

Indigenous Promised a Stronger Voice 

NEW YORK — In less than a year, a new UN Forum on Indigenous Issues will begin providing a platform for the world’s indigenous peoples to air grievances on both old and pressing problems. Representing over 300 million people in more than 70 countries, the Forum will have 16 members, all appointed by the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC).

According to the UN Voluntary Fund for Indigenous Populations, the Forum will enable such groups to "convey their positions on a broader spectrum of issues than is presently possible under the auspices of the Human Rights Commission." The issues to be addressed include human rights, social and sustainable development, health, the environment, education, culture, children, and gender. Currently, no UN body deals with indigenous issues in a comprehensive way. read more

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Global Notebook 6/99

Super User June 14, 2005 Super User

Indonesia Plays the Autonomy Card

DILI – After 23 years of brutal Indonesian rule, President B.J. Habibie has offered East Timor independence if people reject autonomy in return for accepting Indonesia’s permanent sovereignty. The announcement, setting a July vote, took the international community by surprise. But rather than expressing relief, pro-independence supporters in East Timor remain skeptical.

After Habibie’s announcement, right-wing militia groups, armed by the military, led assaults on sympathizers of Falintil, the pro-independence guerrilla forces. Hundreds have died during recent attacks, and over 18,000 people have been displaced since last November. read more

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Global Notebook 5/99

Super User June 14, 2005 Super User

Angola and Zambia Move Toward War

LUSAKA – A year ago, Zambia and Angola were whispering about war. Now theyre shouting, as Angola accuses its neighbor of helping to arm Jonas Savimbis UNITA rebel movement. In Lusaka, Zambias overcrowded capital, headlines about a possible invasion hit the streets every other day. One such story, which said Angolas military power is three times that of Zambias, led to the arrest of staff members at The Post and subsequent espionage charges. read more

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Indy Media Rising

Super User June 3, 2005 Super User

The October 2000 Vermont Independent Media Conference

The Independent Media Convergence Project (IMCP) was launched last summer not only to stage the October 2000 media conference but also to promote alternatives, create a network and/or coalition, and possibly launch a sustainable, new enterprise in New England. In the coming months, steps will be taken to create a more formal organization, with the support of Toward Freedom, and input from conference sponsors and others. We don’t know yet whether a follow up conference will be held. But obviously, other groups will be organizing. Plans are underway for a national gathering in San Francisco in April 2000, as well as a continental IMC meeting. read more

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Democracy and the Media (5/00)

GREG GUMA June 3, 2005 GREG GUMA

Introduction:  Watchdogs and Lapdogs

In the late 1960s, shortly after I started work as a reporter for a Vermont daily newspaper, an angry reader complained about my bias in a letter to the editor. "I strongly doubt that he could cover the proceedings of a dog show without incorporating a message," wrote the critic.

I took it as a compliment at the time. And I still do.

Perhaps that’s why I was so pleased to join about 1000 other progressive media-makers in New York City for a Media and Democracy Congress in October 1998. For three days, journalists and activists from across the country gathered to examine the problems — concentration of ownership, the relentless slide into info-tainment, an avalanche of gossip and "news" people really can’t use — and also debate some potential solutions. It was certainly inspiring to be among colleagues and friends who aren’t afraid of the A-word — advocacy. read more

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The Power To Mis-Inform (7/98)

GREG GUMA June 3, 2005 GREG GUMA

The US press has finally admitted what many suspected: it’s lost its grip on reality and ethics. On the surface, the obvious example is CNN’s retraction last week of a story alleging US military use of nerve gas on defectors during the Vietnam War. This followed closely the Cincinnati Enquirer’s front page apology to Chiquita Brands for the use of stolen voice mail in a story questioning the company’s business practices,

And let’s not forget those complete fabrications. Patricia Smith, a 1998 Pulitzer Prize finalist, was recently forced to resign from the Boston Globe after making up people and quotations for four columns. Meanwhile, New Republic associate editor Stephen Glass was fired after confessing he’d "embellished” a story about computer hackers. Apparently, he’d already invented news in dozens of articles. Glass also used bogus quotes in a profile of Vernon Jordan published in George Magazine. read more