Media, Culture & Society

For my last post, I thought I’d share this little video, produced by a former Chicago-area radio producer. Clearly, he’s not a fan of media consolidation–and he’s not alone…

Fairness and Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) the nation’s leading media monitoring organization, released another Media Advisory surrounding the 2008 presidential election.

FAIR contends that press coverage of the Democratic and Republican presidential debates is skewed.  Journalists and pundits seem wholly disinterested (and annoyed) with so-called “third tier candidates” among Democrats and yet, curiously, don’t seem to mind the “crowded field” of Republican hopefuls. Seems progressive candidates, like Dennis Kucinich (D-OH) and former Sen. Mike Gravel (D-AK) just don’t make the grade.

What’s significant about this is how thoroughly the press corps has internalized the values of corporate media and neoliberal economic and social philosophy to the point that progressive ideas are deemed to “lack any seriousness.” In short, the press corps limits the terms of the debate over what policy initiatives we should entertain.

Read the advisory here.

We’ve spent a great deal of time this semester discussing journalistic form and practice. While there’s an awful lot to be critical of, especially with US commercial media, there are plenty of journalists doing first-rate work here and abroad.

Here’s a link for a web site that should be of interest to any of you would-be journalists, and for those concerned with high caliber journalism.

In recent years, bottled water has become a type of status symbol in the United States–much the same way a cup of swill from StarBucks has been over the years. The up-and-coming bistros in big cities such as New York and Los Angeles have long subscribed to importing Perrier, Evian, Santa Lucia, and other European brands of bottled water to offer their customers the highest quality–quality that is termed “the snob factor.” However, because of the intensive production process and carbon-based shipping methods, these bistros are now looking at a less expensive, more environmentally friendly beverage: tap water–filtered and carbonated on-site. Global warming conscious consumers are increasingly more concerned about the health of the environment over the “snob factor” of their water. Does this mean Perrier will disappear from the US market? Probably not. But industry leaders like Coke, Pepsi, and Poland Spring are expressing interest in stepping up their domestic production and acquiring smaller domestic producers of bottled water. Perhaps now would be a good time to invest in Brita and PUR?

Read the article here

Adbuster’s campaign this week challenges people to turn off their tvs. The biggest problem is that we use television to find out about what is going on a lot of the time. Only one news organization, CNN, has been willing to air these “uncommercials“. I especially recommend watching the “uncommercial” with children in it. The looks on their faces show that there is no mental challenge or active processing going on. From my experience people definitely don’t look like that when they are reading a book or interacting with other people.

The impulse to ‘reclaim the airwaves’ is not a uniquely American phenomenon. For a quick overview of community-based radio movement in UK, check out this news item in The Guardian about an illegal broadcaster, with a community spirit, in London. [Registration Required]

Something of a ‘mash up’ of a news report from Democracy Now! featuring journalist Amy Goodman and our friend, Bob McChesney.

The Imus affair demonstrates the Achilles Heal of Big Media–advertisers. Although this item from Ad Age is intended for industry insiders, the message to media reformers couldn’t be more clear. Follow the money…

If you receive magazine subscriptions through the US postal service, you should read this item in Mother Jones. Seems Big Media is doing its best to create an uneven playing field at the Post Office–a situation that is completely at odds with over 200 years of US communication policy.

Grade YOUR news. This website pertaining to the San Francisco Bay area is a great example for other communities to follow. It allows for the public to speak up on how they think the news is doing. Interestingly it heavily criticizes electronic media and their choice of “trivial” news while speaking somewhat more highly of print media.